Calista Catherine and Cassandra Claire Brady: First Birthday!

About Calista and Cassandra

Calista Catherine was born at 5:32 am on February 15, 2007. She weighed 8 lb 1 oz and was 21" long. She was born with a "true" knot in her umbilical cord, which is rare (it only happens in 1 out of ~8,000 births) and is supposedly both auspicious and a sign that she will be wise. She was excited to show up for the birthday of her grandmother Eloise, so they now have that in common along with a middle name.

Cassandra Claire was born at 5:37 am on October 17, 2009. She weighed 8 lb 4 oz and was 20.5" long. She is a quintuple Libra - her sun, moon, rising, Mercury and Venus are all in Libra - so we think she will be very fair, balanced and aesthetic. Her middle name is Brisen's paternal grandmother's middle name (Evelyne Claire Vannice).

Both girls were born at the wonderful CPMC in San Francisco, in Laurel Village, in the exact same delivery room (one of only two big rooms!) which their mom thinks is a very special thing.

Calista and Cassandra both derive from Greek mythology. Calista means "most beautiful," and is part of a myth involving Zeus, Hera and the Ursa Major constellation. Cassandra was the daughter of Hecuba and Priam, the king of Troy, and endowed with the gift of prophecy but fated by Apollo never to be believed. (We've promised our Cassandra to take her predicitions seriously!)

Sunday, February 24, 2008

First Birthday!

Calista turned one on February 15 and we had a party the following day. Oh my -- what a special day for us. Words can't begin to describe our gratitude to all our friends and family who came and made the celebration so fun and memorable. Special thanks to my mom and Kirsten who drove/flew down to help out. Couldn't have pulled this off without them! Calista did so well during the party -- with 30+ people in attendance it was quite the fete in our little apartment. Everyone brought amazing gifts - thanks so much. I think the photo of chilling out with her books, then napping in our bed is priceless. Classic "post-party" shot. All I can say is...it feels really good to have survived the first year. Looking forward to all that life has in store for us for year #2. Thanks for sharing the adventure with us! xoxoxoxo (P.S. My amazing sister took over 100 photos -- here's a small sampling of the party. Hope you enjoy and thanks again!)