Tiny hands and feet

I finally was able to get Cianna's handprint and footprint. I tried after we came home from the hospital, but she curled up her hand. It seemed messy and impossible. At 7 1/2 weeks, in the bath, after a few nights of trying, I got the handprint! The foot turned out to be easy by comparison.

Five years ago it took me 2 months to get Nathan's. During that month in the hospital, I figured it would be wrong to bring in an ink pad and mess around when they were busy with the more important business of saving his life and growing him big enough to come home. Once we got him home, he seemed so fragile, and handprints seemed trivial. It took me a while to work up to trying. He was asleep and totally passive. Getting the print was so easy I got several more and made cards for his grandparents. Then I washed off his hand and foot while he slept on.

Now I've got these prints, hanging on the wall, side by side, taken at very similar ages. The contrast amazes me, Nathan's little hand, with his transverse palmar crease so clear, is so tiny compared to his sister's. Hers just looks stronger, more forceful, less fragile.

And this is just one of many things that will be different. It's kind of bittersweet, brings back my memories of a tiny Nathan and makes me realize how fast Cianna is growing and developing, how different her trajectory is. Part of me wants to keep both of them tiny, to freeze those moments, and part of me wants to see the growth and development unfold.