Lena Has Grown

Lena turned two weeks old on Sunday. It's hard to believe we've only had her two weeks. Here she is on Monday hanging out in my home office with me while I worked on my part-time job. She was a good sleeper that day.

We take pictures all the time, but usually if we manage to get a picture with her eyes open the light is pretty dim, like in this photo. Here she is hanging out on the bed in her Boppy Lounger.

We went to the pediatrician's on Friday. She is back up to her birth weight of 9 lbs. 4 oz. and a bit longer now at 22 1/4 inches. She had already outgrown most of the newborn clothes, but doesn't quite fit most of the 0-3 mo. clothes yet. Her footed pj's just barely still fit. My hope is that they last until the morning.

Out for a Walk

We took Lena for a walk on Monday, March 21, 2011. I have several options for slings that I've been trying out. This is the Moby wrap. It was easier to put on than I thought it would be. She's so small and this wrap held her very secure. We walked Bradley to the local library and back. It was our second walk with Lena.

We found a lamp post that had been tagged by KWitta at the Lakewood Library. It made me very happy to see this in my neighborhood.

We had a good walk. It was cloudy, not hot and not cold, with a nice breeze. It felt good to get out.

Power to the People

Lena is 10 days old as of today, March 23, 2011. 

Holding Lena

From top, clockwise: my Mom, Todd's Mom, sister Sarah, friend Consuelo, friend Nicole, my Dad
Center: Todd and me

Faces of Lena

March 18, 2011

Lena's Name

Cora Marie and Lena Elizabeth Davidson, 1909

When we were thinking about names for our daughter we pulled out the family tree that my grandmother typed out in 1991. There were some great names. Her name was Winona, which I've always loved. Her mother's name was Jally May and Jally's sisters have perhaps the most interesting names I've ever heard--making Jally sound like a perfectly common name--including: Mant, Zona, Ettie, and Effie. There's also Maggie, Bessie, Ethel, three girls that died young, and a boy named Oliver. Jally's mother was named Elminia and Jally's mother-in-law was named Elvira Josephine. We had plenty of choices for unique family names.

I never met my grandmother's sister Lena, but I grew up hearing her name. She was accomplished at needlework and a large piece of her embroidery now hangs in my parent's house. Lena died of diphtheria in 1928 three weeks after marrying--I remembered that story from childhood too. I thought passing on her name might be a way to both honor her and my grandmother. 

Marie and Lena, ages 2 and 4

Besides that, we fell in love with the name. It fit our criteria completely. We wanted something short, simple, and distinctive. If you look up the meaning of the name Lena you'll find a wide variety of meanings, for example in English it means palm tree. Since it seems to mean everything, we've done some selective editing and prefer to follow along these lines: in Greek it means sun beam or moon ray; in Scandinavian it refers to "torch", a metaphoric representation of something that shows light and leads the path; and it is a derivative of Helena which means light and shine. 


So, for us Lena means light.

Our Lena at 6 days, Sat., March 19, 2011

The Orchid Bloomed

When we left for the hospital on Saturday night I had noticed that the orchid in the kitchen window was about to bloom. This is what we found we arrived home on Tuesday. 

By Wednesday, there were two blooms and many more buds about to bloom. We weren't home to confirm it, but I like to think that it bloomed when Lena was born. I inherited this plant from my Mom when she had to get rid of her plants after coming home from the hospital. I don't have very good luck with plants and have never had anything as delicate as an orchid.