The First Three Months

 

Ava Sophia was born at 5:38 pm on Wednesday, August 14th, 2002 at Akron City Hospital

 

Here she is!   If you don't count the ultrasounds, then this is her very first picture, taken only a few minutes after delivery and after I'd wiped the tears from my eyes.  At the start, she seemed to take after her father and his family in her appearance.  The big surprise was her hair, her cousins on Mommy's side had relatively little hair at birth.

 

Ava's vitals at birth: 6 lbs. 15 oz. 19½ inches absolutely  beautiful

 

 

Baby, Mom and Dad only about three hours after delivery. Ava's stork bites are evident here, but they have gotten a little better each day.  Val is grimacing a bit, but only because (as she soon told me) I was sitting on her IV line!

 

Grampa John and Grandma Rita saw their fifth grandchild (and fifth granddaughter!) the next afternoon.  Grandma Rita was very moved and--as you can see--cried a little.

 

Two very proud grandparents!

 

A little later, Aunt Leslie (Val's sister, obviously enough) visited with daughters Brianna (L) and Valerie (R) to see the new cousin. The older cousins now look so grown up by comparison...and notice that their hair eventually came in quite nicely!

 

Welcome home!

 

Some of the very nice flowers that were waiting for Val when she and Ava came home...

 

After about a week we finally captured her on film with her eyes open!  At this point it wasn't clear if they'd be blue, green or gray in the end, but her hair was looking more and more blonde each day.

 

Cousin Jessie and Opa & Grammy Reischuck didn't get to see much of Ava's lovely eyes on their first visit here, when she was only three days old, but they were no less thrilled to see  grandchild number six, and the first new Reischuck girl in over 45 years.  Uncle Chip was there, too.

 

A black and white picture taken with another camera at the same time.

 

After much anticipation, Aunts Valerie and Linda (Daddy's sisters) got to see their new niece the following day.  Cousin Mickey from Massachusetts also got to see her, so, by the end of the weekend she'd seen (well, was seen by at least) six of her nine first cousins.  Cousin Peggy in New York City (born 22 years ago in the same hospital) eventually saw Ava in October (see below).  That leaves only cousins Tom and Susan, busy at college on the East Coast, and of course their dad (Linda's husband) Uncle Tom in Massachusetts, whom we are all thinking about and wish the best of health.

 

It was a nice afternoon, as four-day-old Ava was awake for all to see.

 

 

Val's Brother Mark and Family also got to see the new cousin on her first weekend home.  Here, Aunt Renee and cousins Megan and Morgan get a closer look.

 

Five-year-old Cousin Morgan holds Ava all on her own for a little bit.

 

And of course, Ava is being watched over by two very nice cats, if you please.  They've taken to her very well and are very respectful and protective of her.

 

 

Ava was about a week overdue, so we feared that our friend Masayo might not see her before her return to Japan.  Luckily, she was able to see her on the last possible day before her return, and only moments after her KSU graduation (she showed up in her cap and gown, actually!).  Carter Bean also got in on this picture, doing his patented inverted-couch-scratch.  This was a bittersweet day, as we said goodbye to our dear Masayo-san and we know that it will be some time before we can meet again.  

Meeting is the beginning of parting - Japanese Proverb

 

 

All of the Meyers family gets to see Ava...a repeat visit for Leslie and the girls, and the first visit by Uncle Brian.

 

Excellent potential babysitters, if you ask me....

 

Sitting on Daddy's lap on the new rocking chair, with her hair recently combed by Mommy.  I did my best to appreciate these moments when I could keep her on my lap for a while without her getting restless to explore everything around her.

 

Ava's hand in Mommy's in the first weeks.

 

A lullaby from Daddy puts Dodger Bean and Ava Bean to sleep quickly on a hot afternoon at the end of August.  She's seen here in her first "bouncer," a battery powered vibrating contraption that (as you'll see below) often created the best situation for portrait pictures (picture by Valerie/Mom).

 

Another moment to cherish...quiet time!  She's not always this good!

 

...awake again and ready for action, and looking more like her Mom each day, if you ask me.

 

 

Ava clearly started to connect  with us in her fifth week, and, even though I didn't manage to catch it here, she definitely smiled and giggled in direct response to things we said and did at this time, which was an incredible thing to see.  The first five or six weeks are a lot of work and worry, but that first genuine (that is, deliberate and not gas-induced) smile is a thrill to behold.

 

Napping with the Pooh Bear that Grammy Reischuck gave her, and caught with the Napoleonic hairdo she gets when she's due for a bath. 

 

And awake again.  At about six weeks, her attentiveness became notably more intense, and here's one of the first pictures to prove it.  This is also a better look at her in a pink outfit...It matches her bright pink face.

 

And her attentiveness is evident here, too, in this picture also taken on the eve of her six week mark.  Her eyes look a little green here, but probably because they are reflecting the green things around her.

 

Her first trip to Grammy and Opa Reischuck's apartment.  Opa gets down on all fours to get a better look at (and sing "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" to) his special guest.

 

Ava's vitals at six weeks: 9 lbs. 10 oz. 22 inches

 

 

Here we can see that Ava's sense of humor is definitely coming along.  Val is especially good at evoking belly laughs in her, but, sometimes Ava giggles for reasons completely unknown to us.  Maybe next summer she'll tell us why..

 

It's looking more and more likely that her eyes will be blue in the end.  What do you think?

 

 

Cousin Peggy from Brooklyn (center, with Cousin Jessie) finally gets to see her newest cousin in early October.  

Peggy's been waiting a long time to see Ava, checking this site frequently for updates.  Now she's a part of it! 

 

By this point I saw a lot of Val and her family in Ava at times...

 

By the way, Peggy had a great knack for getting some monster burps out of Ava.

 

Ava's vitals at nine weeks: 11 lbs. 1 oz. 22½ inches

 

Ava loved her first bath, but we didn't photograph any of it; then we remembered to line up the camera for the next bath, but she hated that bath for some reason, so we didn't document it.  We caught the next one, which went pretty well.  Here Mommy works quickly to get that funky stuff out of the folds of Ava's neck.

 

But, by a few minutes later, it was time for some tears...and for some wild curly hair!

A pensive picture, taken at eleven weeks by Mommy while Daddy was at work.  Maybe that's why she looks a little sad?  I'd like to think so, but once again, who knows what she's thinking most of the time.  The beautiful quilt was a gift from the School of Art secretaries Tonia, Becky and Susan.

 

...and a full image, taken at the same time by Mommy.

on to The Second Three Months