By Hand

The photo above is Sonia surrounded by all the soft, cushy things people made for her. I really did not expect to get even one. I have never been able to stitch or knit more than a square so even attempting one of these projects, let alone completing it, is pretty impressive to me. Babies just inspire generosity and love. I took the picture in part because it is so awesome to see it all at once and in part to show Sonia when she is older. Do not, however, feel guilty if you did not contribute a craft; we all give in different ways.

I have been trying to get pictures of Sonia smiling. When she smiles, they are beautiful, but brief, moments of light. Usually, I do not have the camera handy. If I do, she stops smiling by the time I get it together to shoot. I think the best one is below, though her eyes are smiling more than her mouth.

Now the fun begins. Alan and I make sounds and ooogling faces at her whenever we think she is in the smiling mood. Oddly, the time she is mostly likely to smile seems to be just before or after she cries. It makes me think of a time a few days after I had her. Jeff and Tammy had brought dinner to the hospital for Alan and I. I started to giggle at a story and found I could not stop. Then, I started to cry and found I could not stop that either. It was like laughing opened the emotion gate and everything came tumbling out. I felt much better afterwards.