The Arrival of Joli: A Story in Pictures

I took a lot of photos, and there's a lot of story. But let's just simplify it down to this very happy series of vignettes...

Lisa called to say her water broke. Grammy (that would be me) jumped on a plane and flew to San Diego. It turns out Lisa's water hadn't broken after all. But Joe and Lisa were very happy to see me anyway.

Since the baby wasn't ready to arrive yet, we all went out to breakfast at IHOP. Here's Joe telling baby it's time to come out now.

Later, Lisa, Lisa's mom Gaye, and I all went shopping. That's what girls do when there's time to spend, yes? We went to Seaport Village and they have a Pirate Store!!!! Here I am in front of the Pirate Store's Christmas tree. I want one of these.

Another fun thing to do while waiting for baby to arrive - visit a hat shop. Here's Gaye in a lovely red lobster cap, Lisa wearing the latest in hot dog shaped apparel, and me donning a classic flamingo chapeau.


A few days later, still no baby. So Lisa and I went to the beach.

We walked, collected shells. Lisa chased a lot of seagulls. She said she had a contraction every time she chased a seagull. It was an exceptionally low tide and we collected a lot of sand dollars. Here's Lisa throwing a live sand dollar back into the sea.


We walked a long long time. We walked one direction all afternoon. When the sun started to set, we turned around and walked the other way.


Lisa complained that it didn't feel very much like the holidays. She missed the cold and snow of the north. I have to admit that having come from that snow and cold only days earlier, I was happily enjoying the warm weather. And as for getting in a holiday mood, well, apparently San Diego believes that anything that doesn't move is fair game to be decorated. It was very festive everywhere we went. Here's the Del Coronado Hotel from the beach all decked out in lights.

All that walking did the trick. A few hours after we went back home, there was no doubt this time, Lisa's water broke. We picked up Joe at work, Lisa's mom met us at the hospital, and a long but successful night was spent birthing a baby. Everyone at the hospital was amazed because she had her naturally. It amazes me how rare that apparently is these days. Here is the new family looking tired but happy.

A wee babe, she inherited her father's rather large head, much to her mother's dismay. The little skull cap the hospital provided didn't fit so I brought this cap, which made her look like a little pea in a pod or perhaps a baby Jolly Green Giant.


We all got to go home the next day. Here's the new daddy wooing his baby daughter.

And the new mommy equally smitten with her perfect little girl.


And just to prove I was really there, here's a tired but content grandmother rocking with her fussy but adorable granddaughter.

And finally,the best for last, the new arrival herself - the happy ending to a lot of flying, walking, shopping, laughing, timing, contracting, and pushing - baby Joli.