(no subject)

[lollardfish]

Photos: Nico is home.

Note: The last three of Nico and Dad are there because Nico is wearing a nightie that I wore in the first weeks of my life. The wife of my godfather and namesake (her name is Toni) batiked it and gave it to my mother, and for all these years mom could just never throw it away or give it to anyone. So it moved from Buffalo to Indiana to Nashville to St. Louis, and now to me. My son sleeps in it at the moment.

Comments

[creidylad.livejournal.com]

The pictures were adorable enough to justify the crick I got in my neck trying to see the portrait photos you'd posted as landscapes!

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

That looks so right! Home is the place to be.

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

We don't really spend any time working with them. Take them from the camera onto the laptop, go to fotki and hit upload. Otherwise, we'd never actually load anything. :)

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

I love the ones of Nico and Mom! Not that the ones of Nico and Dad aren't excellent... :-)

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

you're trying to kill us all with the cuteness. i see through your evil plan!

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

me too! me too!

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I've a photo of Hnery with that exact same dark-eyed, wrinkled forehead expression. They all do it!

Amazing how Nico makes that little baby nightgown look big.

K.

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

So tiny!

Hooray for instinct!

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Here's pictures all in a row of 3 different adults holding Niko. Every one of you is holding the baby in the same position, looking directly into his face, which is 8-10 inches away from yours.

Did you all know that newborn baby eyes have a fixed focal length of 8-10 inches? And that baby brains are hard-wired to look for the 4 basic shapes that signify a human face and lock in on the eyes? The utterly cool thing is that whether they know that or not, adults invariably hold a baby exactly the right distance away and stare at its eyes, even when the baby is asleep (as Nico appears to be in these pictures).

I learned that in developmental psych many years ago, and I'm amazed all over again every time I see that pair of interlocking instincts in action. Great pictures, btw. The nightie is beautiful, and looks like it should last through several more generations of babies.

Re: Hooray for instinct!

[zinzinzinnia.livejournal.com]

adults invariably hold a baby exactly the right distance away and stare at its eyes

Except when they hold them at arm's length and peer at them with a bewildered expression. Sometimes not at their eyes, either, but at regions from which suspect matter may fall without warning.

This is my favourite one in this series -- very Maddona-esque... with the added detail of the cat in the background appearing to deliberately ignore the new competition... :)

The best photos tell stories! :)

Re: Hooray for instinct!

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that picture makes me all sniffly. The best picture, actually, exists only in my head. If I were a painter, I'd paint it, too - the two of them on the bed, Shannon half-curled around Nico, neither really awake. Alas, Shannon wasn't actually dressed at the time (what with the nursing, but better for Renaissance paintings), so no photograph. But I can see it in my head and get all sniffly too.

And yeah, the cat's funny. She wanted to be close, but not looking or something. The other cat crawls close and sniffs, then when Nico makes a noise, flees.

Re: Hooray for instinct!

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

That's a lovely observation. He seems to be tracking movement too, so hopefully his eyes are ok.

[90-percent-sure.livejournal.com]

He's so cute! I love the fuzzy wittle baby head.

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

I like making it all spikey when his hat is off.

[pameladean]

Awww. What a cutie.

I'm glad everybody has come home.

P.

[madtruk.livejournal.com]

Aw...shucks.

[zantony.livejournal.com]

I am a bit late to the party, having just now caught up on a week's worth of LJ.

Congratulations! Nico is absolutely beautiful. I am sure it is a huge relief to be home at last.

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

Hey there! Thanks a lot, and it surely is.