1 July 06
Bright Like a Sunflower, Growing Like a Weed
(Yes, pictures below!)
Having a baby is an amazing thing. The sights, sounds, smells of a tiny person of your own flesh and blood is something that can not be understood if you have not had a child yourself. You can try to imagine it, like I always had, even convince yourself that you know what it’s about, but the fact is you can never really know, truly know, the emotions you experience until you have a child of your own.
Even I wasn’t sure what to think for the first couple of weeks Elyas was here. That’s not to say I wasn’t happy, on the contrary I was exstatic, but I guess having reached the halfway mark of my own life, child-free, I had become a bit used to not having such responsibilities and therefore the new experience was a bit slow to sink in. That’s not the case anymore, Elyas is now about a week shy of two months old, and I can’t leave him alone (except when he needs to be left alone).
Anyway, Elyas is growing fast; he already seems twice the size he was when born. It’s amazing that just a diet of mother’s milk can make a baby grow so much. He’s strong, both in strength and in will, and he’s just recently discovered how to smile. That is a wonderful and welcome thing, I assure you, because he’s even better and making horrible faces and crying a lot.
Okay, without further delay, here’s a few more photos to keep the wolves at bay.
Photo 1: Elyas giving one of his first smiles, and holy cow, the boy does it right. His very first smile (not this one) was reserved for Hanane during a tender mother-son moment. I captured this picture a couple of days later when he began experimenting with those muscles again. Now he gives smiles pretty easy; especially if you tickle his lips.
Photo 2: Another award winning look, if I do say so myself. This is the most recent photo of all presented here. Notice how the smiling technique has been improved (never mind the drool); it’s done with more ease and control now, reflecting a measure of practice, yet revealing an intention to charm the unsespecting adult.
Photo 3: This is one of my favorite photos we have taken so far. The one I’m showing below here (all of these in fact) has been edited for use on the Weblog, but the high resolution photo is just fantastic. There’s a certain tranquility in this photo that you rarely get to have from Elyas when he’s awake. Here he’s at comfortable peace, seemingly contemplating big things. Truth is, Elyas is going through a real farty period right now. The poor pickle is full of gas all the time and it hurts him if you hold him upright, or if he’s sitting or on his back. However, when he’s on his stomach he lets loose like a fog horn without problems, and he’s appreciative of it. This might be one of those appreciative moments.
Photo 4: Here’s the prince in his yellow jumper, sleeping soundly. This is the oldest of the photos here. You might notice he has some little red pimples on his cheeks (he also gets them around his neck where the skin creases). He actually goes back and forth with these, they come and go. Doc says it’s normal and nothing to worry about, but I have to say I don’t recall ever having seen these on a baby before, but then I’ve not really been a baby inspector until recently. We’ll be keeping an eye on those.
Photos 5 and 6: Finally, here’s Elyas with a couple of props for support.
I should probably point out (again) that I have plans for putting a great deal of photos online, not like I’m doing here, but rather in a photo management service where you can view high quality images and order them at your choosing for print delivery. We are not handling print photos for people ourselves—too damn much work. We’re going to let the wonders of Internet services handle that; allowing you to order photos autonomously. I’ll make it more clear when the time comes.
Having said that, don’t hold your breath for it to happen soon, but do know that I’m planning a complete redesign of the Colloquial Tongue (I’m very sick of the way this site looks and feels), and the photo thing will be a part of that overhaul. Lot’s of improvements at many levels. I’m very excited about it myself.
Nathalie :: 1 July 06 :: #
Charming pictures. I love all of them but I appreciate particularly those with Dad and Mum. Thanks for sharing them.
I’m really expecting your visit soon..
Nathalie.
isabelle :: 1 July 06 :: #
superbes photos ! The first few months of a firt child are truly “magic” ....
about the pimples on the cheeks … I panicked like mad when my first child turned 3 weeks old and then was told by a very bored doctor that is was simply some left over hormones from the mother getting out of the system of the baby … why don’t they warn new parents at the maternity , I wonder ????
How is the prepartion of the Tour de France going ? Are you going to be grounded for some hours on one or two days if it passes in your street ?
isabelle :: 9 July 06 :: #
hello, hoping that you three are going on all right in spite of the summer heat …. have just re-read your comment about your name ….you know what … I have an aunt who used to take photos every few years at a well somewhere near her holiday place, so that she had a collection of them with her children at different ages at the same well ….=> have you ever been to the small village of Destry in Lorraine ????? Now that your baby has arrived, why not make it a pic nic destination on a Sunday and take a few shots of you three (I suppose you have or can borrow a three legged camera stand …)IN FRONT OF THE panneau which indicates the entrance to the village …. Mothers over here are all into scrapbooking with their photos … I was so shocked to discover the quantity of supplies available for sale for decorating photo albums … I ‘ll never have the time to do all that myself but I started some separate albums at the birth of both children,very simple ones, and only for the eldest did I have the time to write witty comments … the idea being that it will be a sort of 18th birthday present for each, and they are made of prints that I order for that purpose, keeping a record of all my photos anyway ….it’s just that when it came time for us to share family photos with my sisters, sometimes it was not easy so I thought I would nip that future problem in the bud by preparing in advance for each their own personal “archives” ! ... just by putting a few photos of them every month or so in ordinary “classeurs” under punch files pockets in which I inserted thick “fiche bristol” ... their hands being not always the cleanest when it takes their fancy to have a look at them …. they now know that it will be entirely theirs when they are 18 but in the meantime the “classeurs” need to be treated carefully and we can all look at them when we want ….actually, I took the latest classeur for each of them fo use during the plane trip to come over here and talking through the whole album easily occupied a whole hour of the transatlantic flight, which was quite welcome I tell you ….
...and now, my son is voicing his complain about my having stopped doing the albums last May … am still in some sort of culture shock but it is one of my next mid-term project = to start again assembing copies of nice photos for each of their album since we moved over here … it PAYS to start EARLY …. the birth of your child is a good starting point …. that was just a suggestion in passing, ...my children really like looking at their own albums, escpecially in the early days after the move when they still felt unsettled ….
must stop for now, hope to hear from you sometimes …. Isabelle.
Tracy Krauss :: 10 July 06 :: #
Hi,
Its nice to see pictures of the 3 of you and you all look so happy.Shona :: 13 July 06 :: #
Heya Des,
Elyas is turning out to be a real charmer just like his daddy. LOL. He is the most cutest thing going. I love all the pics that you put in here and I can’t wait to see more of him as he grows. I think he looks a lot like you and Hanane both. But you can really tell he has his great grandma’s nose. You and Hanane are truly blessed. May God be with you always. Love ya all very much and miss you also.isabelle :: 23 July 06 :: #
Tour de France ! Tu dois être content Destry qu’un compatriote ait gagné le tour de France !!! Et vive les cyclistes américains !
Isabelle.
Destry :: 25 July 06 :: #
@Isabelle: I’m aware of the village, Destry, but have yet to go there. I do want to do that, and indeed get a few photos. I don’t know about the well thing though, that’s a bit too dedicated for my spirit, but the panneau, yeah, I’ll be getting a shot of that. As for scrapbooks, we do have some good stuff to go into one, like Elyas’ ultrasound images and other curious things. Hanane has yet though to start anything more than just a manilla file; we don’t have a lot of time on our hands. Maybe when he’s a bit more self-entertained she can get back to that project.
@Tracey: Hi Tracey. Thanks for dropping in.
@Shona: Oh, he’s a charmer all right, and a gassy cryer too.
@Isabelle, again: Mai oui! Bien sûr! C’est la norme maintenant…”Le Tour Americains” ;)