Calista Catherine and Cassandra Claire Brady: Shoes and The Origin of Curls?

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!)

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Shoes and The Origin of Curls?

Calista is constantly trying to put shoes on. I think she associates shoes with going outside and doing fun things. Plus it must be fun to test her motor skills.

By the way -- look at those cute curls! I am wondering if they come from the Vannice side of the family (technically my dad's mom's side = the Jensen side of the family). Check out my dad with my Grammy Evelyne when he is 15 months old, my dad with my Aunt Susan, and Calista's Great Great Great Grandma Flora Martin (I hope I got that right). All have curls. Flora, by the way, was born in the Azores Islands of Portugal but died in Watsonville, CA (at the very young age of 31 of Tuberculosis -- one more reason we feel strongly about vaccinating Calista on schedule!). As some of you may know, Watsonville is the artichoke capital of the USA. Scott and I love artichokes, so I will always think of Flora when we eat them now and whenever we drive through Watsonville, which is between Santa Cruz and Monterey. And as some of you may also know, Scott and I took our first "getaway" to Monterey and he proposed to me in Half Moon Bay which is also nearby. It is fascinating to me to think about these intersections of our family history...I live literally around the corner from Grammy's middle school (Everett)...Grammy and Grandpa met at Cal and must have strolled through Sather Gates as did Scott and I when we were getting our MBAs...Nanny and Poppy owned a night club on Kearny and Post (The Ace of Spades) which is also literally around the corner from where Scott and I had dinner last night at Cafe Claude before going to ACT...and now here are Calista's curls! We're going to have to check the Brady archives next to see about their curls! :-)