Calista Catherine and Cassandra Claire Brady: Nonnie and Aunt Kirsten's Visit!

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!)

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Nonnie and Aunt Kirsten's Visit!

My mom and sister came to SF for the 4th of July weekend. We had a blast taking Calista to the Bay Area Discovery Museum on Saturday (followed by a lovely glass of wine and juice box at the newly opened Cavallo Point), and the SF Zoo on Sunday (where she showed us how big she is in comparison to the guerillas). We also went to Chow for brunch on Sunday, and Calista walked a bunch of the way home. One morning, while Scott and I slept in, my mom and Kirsten took Calista to a local playground, and taught her how to say "swing." Amazing. They also sang "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" with her a bunch and now Calista can chime in with more animal sounds --including sssss for snake. I think my mom was pretty happy because she said "Nonnie" too. Calista also played telephone with them a lot -- it's quite amusing how she sticks the antenna in her ear! Little missy was clearly in heaven all weekend (despite not napping much -- too much excitement going on!). It was such a treat to see Nonnie and Aunt Kirsten, and I can't wait for my trip to Ashland later this month.