Copy Cat

I don't think I've ever seen anything as cute as this. My little cousin Rebeka is 2 1/2 years older then Alice. We frequently visited my aunt Pavla and her family, it was my refuge away from the tiny apartment in Prague. Those visits helped keep me sane while I was so far away from home. Rebeka loved Alice from the start and being a typical girl loved to play with her dolls. She named them all Alice, and after watching how I fed Alice decided she had to do the same with her baby Alice. I remember once she got so frustrated trying to take off her own shirt, she had a little fit. She wanted to feed her baby so badly and the shirt just wouldn't come off! What a site. She went through this breastfeeding phase for about a month. It was nice not being the only one breasfeeding :-)

Baby Mozart

How early is too early to decide your child is gifted? I think too many parents expect too much from their children. They play them music and enroll them in activities in hopes that one day they'll have a little genius. In the end they feed them such crap they ruin any chances of that. I say just give your baby a 23 year old piano, sit her in front of it and let her have a go. The result is what you see here. Pure and totally enjoyment = when a baby realizes she can make so much noise! I tell you she loved that thing. It was her dad's when he was little and then she got to have it. I don't think this made her smarter, or in any way musically gifted, but she thoroughly enjoyed playing that little piano. Still, she does seem to be a natural at it :-)

Oh to be a baby again

I think one of the reasons we love babies so much is we get to see just how good we had it when we were little, we just didn't appreciate it at the time but we do get to enjoy it through our own children. I definitely enjoyed Alice when she was oh so tiny, even though no one understood why I was determined to photograph and videotape every moment. To me she was interesting and beautiful.

The first thing she mastered was basic bodily functions, not all that exciting. But soon she started smiling and then became aware of her own body. Her hands, fingers and feet were of special interest. Every baby is different but they all have something in common: they put EVERYTHING in their mouths! They are also incredibly flexible and can do things us adults only dream of. They are also masters of funny faces. Why can't I be so cute with food all over? This photo took me weeks to get, she just dind't want to show me her first two teeth! They started to come at 6 months and luckily she didn't have much discomfort. They did give me reason to be afriad though, most people have no idea just how sharp those things are.

And like most moms I can't help think how gorgeous mine is. But you have to admit, I do have a point.

The Parents

Though Alice has grown up with me most of her life and doesn't know what it's like to be in a two parent household, I always want her to know that she is loved by both her mom and dad very much. She was created out of total love and was more welcome then she can ever imagine. She has a

mother and a father who both love her very much. I'm honoured to be her mom, to have the chance to know this wonderful soul. I hope I don't mess things up and that she grows up to be the wonderful, beautiful woman I know she is meant to be. I just hope she realizes how amazing she is, and that she deserves only the best. Don't ever settle honey.

And so her name is Alice

She came into my life on Thursday September 25, 2003 at 11:12am (Prague time). She was born in a town just outside Prague. Though the way she entered this world wasn't exactly as we planned, she was perfect and healthy though tiny weighing only 2.35kg and measuring 47cm. But she was mine and lovely. It was a bit rough at first, but we learned and soon she was growing and getting cuter by the moment. Just as she had in my tummy, she had hiccups about 4x a day, her whole tiny body quivering with every one. As all new moms learn, it's pretty much eat, sleep, poop for the first few weeks and only mom can somehow find the beauty in all this. Luckily they get only cuter with time. At 6 weeks she starts to smile, at 3 months starts to laugh and no music is sweeter then your baby laughing.

Right at 3 months, just on Christmas Alice got her first fever. Oh the joy. Something every new parent dreads. What do you do? What do you give her? What is safe? With time you learn, and you always look back and wish you could tell your past self what to do. No matter how many mistakes you make as a mom your child seems to grow anyways and is still beautiful and healthy. Alice was certainly no exception. She was happy and social from the start. The first thing to make her laugh was a silly little squeaky toy her Babi Hanka gave her. Every time she heard that squeak she'd let out a giggle, it was so cute! How wonderful to be able to find joy in something so simple. Maybe that's why we all love babies so much, they are so innocent and loving without even trying, something us grownups forgot how to do long ago.

First Entry

Though I am not as articulate as some friends of mine, I wanted to make a space just for my Alice. Though being a mom is one of the most difficult things I'll ever do, it is also the most rewarding. I'd like to dedicate this space to my beautiful daughter, so that she and others can look back on it and remember things that all too often end up lost in our memories. This is for you Alice.