Monday, November 13, 2006

And Her Baby Brother . . .

When Julie was born, I had just gotten divorced and been accepted back in college. I was broke. So, Julie wore Richard's hand-me downs. For babies that age, pants that allow them to crawl around and not get their knees dirty or cold are a good thing, anyway. However, they didn't correctly identify her gender at all.


Added to the masculine look of her clothes, she was bald, bald, bald. She was born early and they had to feed her intravenously, and since babies move around a lot and can dislodge needles, that meant shaving her head, using a vein in the scalp to feed her, and tying her little hands down. It was the saddest thing to look at that I ever saw -- trapped in an isolet, tied down, with tubes in her head. And then, as her hair grew in, she rubbed it off, as babies often do. The upshot of this was that Richard had this lovely head of red hair and long lashes and Julie was this bald baby in boy's clothes.

People would stop me on the street and say, "What a lovely little girl you have! And her baby brother is cute, too!" I tried scotch taping bows on her head, but somehow that wasn't very satisfactory.

And so, I skipped my coffee on campus for a week, bought supplies at the bead shop, made a number of pair of bead ear rings which I put out on consignment in a Telegraph Avenue shop, and used the profit to buy Julie two real dresses.

And then I took her picture in them both, just for the satisfaction of it all. You can see how startled she was to be wearing dresses. This happened in the winter, as evidenced by her chapped cheeks.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great story. You were so practical, both in re-using the clothes and in making something to sell so that J would get her dresses.

I think she looked adorable dressed either way. Babies just are cute by nature.

J said...

Oh, the sacrifice! I never knew you had to give up your coffee and sell earrings to buy me the dresses. :) What a sweet mom you are.

Anonymous said...

That is quite a sacrifice! Great pictures! J has one of those faces that just doesn't change.

Gina said...

Yes, she was adorable and never outgrew it!

Ginnie said...

Those pictures are priceless...I love the look of amazement on Julie's face !

Tracy said...

Julie was a beautiful baby. Love those rosy cheeks! And you're right...she does look like she's thinking, "Mom...what's the deal with the dresses?"! Cute.

Anonymous said...

It was so nice to see Julie's baby picture. She looked so sweet and dainty. Thanks for sharing the pictures and a little bit of Julie's past I never knew.

Cherry said...

Oh.. look at those cute Julie toes!

Autumn's Mom said...

You have such a beautiful daughter, both then and now. I'm happy to call her my friend. Love these stories.

Joy Des Jardins said...

Julie looks pretty adorable to me J...in pants or dresses. What a sweet sacrifice....you're a good mom. I think her pink cheeks are cute.

Anvilcloud said...

She seems more at home in her boy clothes though.

Ms. Mamma said...

How touching. Very sweet.