Calista Catherine and Cassandra Claire Brady: Connecticut Part I

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!)

Friday, August 29, 2008

Connecticut Part I

We had a wonderful family vacation in Connecticut. Eloise and Mike's hospitality was so generous, the weather was perfect, and little missy adjusted in one day to East Coast time. She was a real trooper on the plane (both ways) too. It had been a year since Calista had visited Madison, so she discovered all sorts of new things this time right away -- like climbing up and down their stairs, rolling over on the beach ball that Nonni got her (she made up that game herself and was howling with laughter!), and stomping in warm summer rain puddles with new boots from Gma and Gpa. Fun galore!