Lena's two years in pictures: The first six months

Lena is turning 2 in 10 days. As a way to celebrate on our blog, we're putting together Lena's two years in pictures. Many of you may have seen some of these pics before, but this should be fun. Unless you're a cold-hearted person who doesn't like baby pictures. But I pass no judgements.

Lena, our little SuperBaby miracle, was born August 24, 2006, at 10:09am at the Theda Clark Hospital in Neenah, Wisconsin. She weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs, 7 oz and was 18 inches long. So she was a big kid, just like her Dad.

We had rushed to the hospital the night before around midnight, and I'll tell you, nothing compares to becoming a Dad. We had waited five years for Lena, and we were so glad when she came. For the next baby though, I'm going to have a bag packed for a month before the baby's due (Lena was 2 1/2 weeks early).

This is little Lena a couple days after she got home. Because she was so small, none of the clothes we had fit her. So if she looks like a kid wearing her Dad's circus shirt, well, it's because that shirt might have been closer to fitting me than her.

And like many first-time parents, we spent those first few days staring at our little Lena.

This is also from her first week. Lena is laying on Babbo (Kathleen's Dad) taking one of her many daily naps. (Babbo said, "Hey, I was watching that."). Those were the days. She's not much of a cuddler now because it's not quite as exciting as running, jumping, dancing and eating.

A couple months after Lena was born, it was Halloween time. Now I have to admit, I was a little skeptical when we picked out the giraffe costume (compete with a tail). But she was adorable. We went to the church Halloween party, Lena in her little outfit, Mom as a math geek (no stretch there), and Dad as Clark Kent/Superman (no stretch there either). It was a lot of fun.

Then we dressed Lena up again and put her in a rocker by the door for the arrival of trick-or-treaters. I love hosting kids on Halloween, and it was a fun Daddy-Daughter bonding time. (Though I think Lena was thinking, 'When the heck are they taking me out of this thing? This tail is digging into my back.')

Lena was given a name and a blessing on December 12, 2006, by her father. Her full name is Lena Louise Mangum. Both of her names pay homage to great-grandmothers, Lena being my mother's mother, and Louise Kathleen's father's mother. They are two of the most influential women in our lives, and we could think of no better tribute to them and no better heritage to give Lena.

My parents came up for the occasion and saw Lena for the first time. It was a week we'll never forget.

This is a snapshot of Lena's first Christmas, which was much more exciting for us than it was for her. She was more enthralled by the ribbon than by anything else. Still, the first Christmas as parents is magical, and it was great to spend the time together as our little family of three.

When Lena was 6 months, my friend from work Lauren Kren volunteered to take her pictures. These were Lena's first 'professional' pictures, and they turned out great. Lena's room was decorated in a safari/jungle theme, and for some of the pictures we surround her by her stuffed animals. Interestingly enough, she still sleeps with stuffed creatures, though now it's most frequently Elmo and Grover.

I do a great Elmo laughing impersonation. Just don't ask me to do it when Kathleen's around; she hates it.

Here's another of Lena's 6 month shots. Lena watched an unbelievable amount of football with me during her first six months, and one of her very first tricks was being able to do a touchdown signal on command (which she still does). Here she is, just like Daddy taught her.

So that's a little look at months 0-6. Next time we'll tackle 7-12.