Way Back When-esday: First Smiles

Francie, Rob, and Me
Date: September 1999
Age: 2 months

This picture of Francie's first smiles and giggles was taken by my mom, shortly after we moved into our home on Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, NC.

It was the culmination of a postpartum odyssey that involved giving birth to Francie in Florida; coming home from the hospital and packing out the house; driving up the eastern seaboard with a two week old infant; living with my parents in PA for 6 weeks while Rob was training, reporting for duty in NC, and waiting for base housing; moving down to NC during a hurricane; and, the coup de grace, having surgery to remove my diseased gall bladder.

It was a crazy two months, and when they were over, Francie wasn't the only one smiling.

As an added bonus, and to make up for the fact that I still cannot find the picture of me during my kindergarten rodeo phase, I am posting this lovely little gem below:



I think I was three or four, and this is one of my many dance recital costumes, complete with parasol. Check out my headpiece -- that is not a hat, it is a single panel of some shiny yellow material, and I'd love to know how my mother got it to stand up on its own.

For more flashback fun, check out the rest of Way Back When-esday over at Twinfatuation.