A Comparison of My Daughters

Our camera is broken. I can't think of a better, more sophisticated word for it, only "broken". The pictures it takes now look like this blurry one of Me over here. I have found the camera I would like to replace it with but I have yet to convince my husband that we actually need a new camera. The hints I'm dropping are not working! And when I say hints I mean I'm telling him, "Hunny, the camera only takes blurry pictures now. Here's the camera I want. On the top 5 list of digital cameras with the best features for the best price, it is number 1 and it's only $149.99 at Target." The research has been conducted and I'm ready to BUY BUY BUY. The camera is the Canon A590 by the way.


Since I can't take any new pictures and I want to keep blogging with pictures, here is a comparison of Raquel (as a newborn 4 years ago) and Maxine (currently 3 months old).




This first comparison is Raquel and Maxine (respectively) at the moment of birth:


This second comparison is Raquel and Maxine (respectively) in a carseat at about 1 month of age:

And this is Raquel and Maxine (respectively) at about the same age (1 month old) just kickin' it on a blanket:

As their mother, I can see and have experienced the differences in their features and personalities. It is astonishing the difference in behavior and playfulness the girls have exhibited. Raquel smiled at me, a real smile, when she was 12 days old. Maxine was 3 weeks old when she gave me her first real smile. I say real because fresh newborns smile a lot on accident (when they're sleeping, stretching, pooping) before they actually give you a smile that reflects the way they feel (about you) when they're looking at you and listening to you talk to them face to face.
Raquel was one week overdue, meconium was in the sac (cause for concern), she weighed 6lbs 1.2oz and was 19 inches long. I was diabetic so there was lots of extra amniotic fluid. I think this is why the meconium did not affect her health at all (fluid to meconium ratio was high).
Maxine was 1 week early and weighed 6lbs 7oz and was 19 inches long. I was not diagnosed with gestational diabetes (tested at 8 months) but was glucose intolerant. By the time I was 9 months along I did have some extra fluid so I think I probably was diabetic by then but undiagnosed. Both girls were healthy when born.
Personality-wise, Raquel's was very apparent from birth (especially with 20/20 hindsight). She was very wide-eyed and calm when born and laying in the incubator. I wasn't allowed to hold her for the first hour due to the nurses watching her closely to check for any problems from the meconium. As a newborn she was very bright, coquetious, precocious and seemed to have a wonderful sense of humor. I didn't realize this until I experienced Maxine's more bland personality. I thought Raquel's intuitiveness, funny face competitions and ability to keep up with her parents' in-your-face humor (and even offer us comebacks!) was normal for all babies. Now that I've seen how laid-back Maxine is, it seems Raquel as a newborn was much more expressive and confident in herself. Maxine has taken a lot more time to offer us as much of herself. She has chosen to sit back and watch us first rather than have the devil-may-care attitude her older sister had/has.
Nobody may care but her father and I but I think this is all extremely interesting. And Raquel's attitude hasn't changed, it has only increased in texture and richness. She is extremely willful, defiant, a true comedienne, dramatic, very happy, intelligent and well-spoken. And I'm really proud of her.
Thanks for reading!