Mama (Liz) here, entering the blog as an author for the first time. Don’t expect poetic, well-written posts like John’s . . . these will be short squibs, little jots of memory that we want to keep both for ourselves and for Siena and Thalia later in life. Such as:

• Thalia chooses books and food with vehemence: a strong head-shake means “no,” and if she likes something, she says “Hi!” (or, perhaps, “Hai,” though I don’t think anyone’s ever spoken Japanese around her)
• She hates having her hair washed, and will tip her head forward during the process, thereby getting all sorts of water and soap in her eyes (Siena never minded it at her age)
• She loves the musical aquarium toy in her crib, and will hang out there for half an hour at a time, just turning it on and off and sucking her thumb
• She has recently learned how to give kisses, though she does so with her mouth open wide, which makes for rather sloppy kisses