The Mystical Hand Dance of Ji-Ka

The nurses in the delivery room immediately commented on Josephine's hands and the length of her fingers --- "oh, she'll be a pianist for sure." But Mike and I (of the regular to slightly longer than average finger length only) have our doubts: we have proof positive that her natural inclination is to be a hula dancer. See for yourself in this small movie.

Spoiler alert: Josephine looks cute, but skeptical of life; she often moves her hand in an undulating wave; Laura waxes predictably maternal and trite. All in all, a chick flick suitable for first dates.

Do let us know

if all these baby photos get tiresome. On the other hand, though, that is sort of the point of this blog! I mean, you can't honestly expect us to do much about it. But I can imagine an exchange:
Grandparent of Jojo: Hi! Just wanted to let you know, we're sick of Jojo photos. How bout a nice political rant?
Parent of Jojo: Wha???? This does not compute.
Okay, okay, maybe my imagining powers have been diminished somewhat by lack of sleep. The point is, if you're sick of photos of Jojo, you've come to the wrong place.

The latest in the JojoPhotoSeries comes compliments of Ashley Parker-Fraze.

Happy Birthday!

Tonight we will celebrate Josephine's first week on earth with a:

1. Lovely shot of breastmilk
2. Cute spell of lookin'-around time; perhaps we'll look at black and white blocks, or maybe a drawing of a happy cow (since that's how at least one of her parents feels)
3. Big long nap!

What we won't do is have any more coffee, not even a tiny little cup.

First photos, hot off the presses!

We have proof positive! There's a web photo gallery at this link at Kodak Picture Galleries on line. Some of the grandparents have been requesting developable photos, so this is the place to get them.

By the way, here are some stats:
• Birth Weight: 7 lbs on the nose (So she likes whole numbers!) But, as is normal, she dropped to 6 lbs 3 oz after the birth swelling went down.
• Birth Length: 21 inches (Just like her dad, who was fatter at birth)
• Eye Color: Blue/Brown/Grey/Smoky violet... hard to tell, still.
• Hair Color: Basically brown, but with little reddish-golden highlights. The stupid nurses confused us at first, who insisted her hair was blond, and because it was wet and the lighting was poor, we may have misinformed you at first.

I won't bore you with the details of feeding times and lengths, etc, because I have already been so far outclassed with the amazing metrics page of Trixie.

The Ultrasound Development Movie

Here's a quicktime version, and here's a windows media file version.

Why Josephine? Why Isis? Why Kasenter?

Why Josephine:
Reason 1: Precedent
Well, because of Josephine Baker, of course, and also Napoleon's Josephine, but also because of Josephine Cochrane, the lady who invented the dishwasher.

Reason 2: Wacky Honor
Laura's sister Juliet has long been known as Juju (it was either Casey or Phoebe who came up with this abbreviation in the throes of their own babyhoods.) And Juliet named her daughter "Lauren" in what she says was partial tribute to Laura. In return partial tribute, or at least for maximum comedic naming value, (especially for family reunions when Certain Family Members who have Trouble With Names under the Best of Circumstances Have Big Mental Lapses) we now have an Aunt Laura/Niece Lauren/Aunt Juju/Niece Jojo Quadfecta of Zaniness.

Why Isis:
Reason 1: Rock and Roll, Indecipherably Cool Lyrics
'Cause Bob Dylan spoke to Mike.

Isis, oh, Isis, you mystical child.
What drives me to you is what drives me insane.
I still can remember the way that you smiled
On the fifth day of May in the drizzlin' rain.

True, it's October now, but Mike answered the question "what do you want to name your daughter?" sometime back in the spring of 1999, no one's really sure when, but he was unequivocal about Isis.

Reason 2: Paganism Ahoy!
And also because it's witchily magical.

Why Kasenter:
'Cause the Man always passes on His Name, of course.

And all together, lots of nickname possibilities: Jojo, of course, and later perhaps if she wants, Josie. Plus there's the acronmymistic possibilities: JiKki, Ji-Ka, J-ka, etc.

And here's another testy photo

Okay, this is a photo of Mike working on the crib.

Jojo's first closeup

You can tell she's not a kangaroo, right?

hello

Hi
Here's Grandpa Kasenter, dissambling the changing table in Pennsylvania.