T.G.I.F.

Maggie enjoyed her Friday morning bath. Dressed in purple for the first time, she's ready for the weekend.

She Loves Grandma

Maggie is one week old today. She is modeling a fetching onesie and receiving the royal treatment from Grandma in this picture.

Safe at Home

We're getting settled nicely at home. Maggie had her first checkup today, which she passed with flying colors. The "Champ" (so-called because of her take-no-prisoners approach to nursing) weighed in at a full two ounces above her birth weight. No problems at all getting her to eat. Sleeping at night, however, is a different story so far!

Now Playing: Maggie's First Days

Since Maggie arrived late on Thursday night, she had all weekend in the hospital to receive visitors. Many friends and family paid us visits, and Maggie had a delightful time with her cousins from Boston. As the video shows, the feeling was definitely mutual.

Home at Last

We had a great trip home this afternoon. Maggie slept the whole way. We all just ate, and I'm lying down with her for the first time. It's really nice to be home.

Swaddled and Sleepy

Maggie gets some long-overdue rest after a busy day of greeting visitors. She's all set to come home on Monday morning.

Wide Awake in America

NYU Medical Center - I took this picture at about 7PM, right before we left Katie and Maggie for the evening. Maggie was just waking up, and I finally was able to get a shot of her with her eyes wide open.

Daddy's Little Girl

NYU Medical Center - This is the first official photo of me with Maggie, courtesy of my brother Joel. It has been a busy day for everybody, filled with many visitors on this hot August day. Mother and child are holding up beautifully. We'll all be home in a couple days.

Maggie - Saturday

NYU Medical Center - With every hour, she looks a little different. Back at the hospital with the grandparents.

Maggie - Day Two

The combination of a newborn baby, a sophisticated brand-new cameraphone, and a blog is a powerful one, indeed. After a quick trip home ultra-early this morning (or ultra-late last night, depending on your preference), I returned to the hospital this afternoon and snapped this shot of Maggie as she rested with Grandma. Taking a nice-quality pic with a phone is cool enough, but I just found out that it gets even better. Thanks to the magic of technology, the picture can go straight from the phone to this blog - no computer necessary in between! I think it's safe to say I'll be using this technique quite often from now on.

Katie, Maggie, and I are delighted to be able to share this wonderful occasion with everybody. Indeed, we've been overwhelmed today by the outpouring of congratulatory wishes from our friends and family. Thank you all for being there with us throughout this journey, which has been a long and ultimately rewarding one. A new adventure now begins!

Introducing Margaret Renée de la Fuente

We're very proud and excited to announce the birth of our daughter, Maggie. She was born at 11:16 PM on Thursday, August 23 at NYU Medical Center in Manhattan. Maggie weighed in at 7 lbs. 9 ozs., and both she and Katie are recuperating well. We look forward to having her meet many of you in the days, months, and years ahead. Click below to see some of her first moments.

Now Playing: Nesting

The waiting game continues for the baby to arrive. In the meantime, nesting is fully underway. After Katie tackled the wallpapering of the bathroom, her sister cautioned that, at this stage of pregnancy, Katie might feel compelled to rewire the entire house herself. It turned out that the interior walls were next on our list, rather than the circuit box. We (mostly Katie) have managed to do quite a bit of wall-dressing lately, while taking care to set aside plenty of space for the pictures that will be taken in the weeks and years to come.

Afternoon in Princeton

With beautiful weather and no pressing chores or errands to do, we decided to drive out to Princeton to try some ice cream we had read about in a magazine. Katie and I walked around a little bit on campus, then made our pilgrimage to the Bent Spoon. Katie had Peanut Butter Streak ice cream, I had Nectarine (made from fresh NJ-grown nectarines), and both of us had the Chocolate Cherry. It was truly decadent, and well worth the trip.

We stopped in at the Princeton Record Exchange, which yielded some great vinyl finds for me:

• Arthur Rubinstein: "The Chopin I Love"
• Stravinsky conducting "The Firebird"
• Gérard Souzay singing Schubert lieder
• The Deller Consort: "Madrigals of Thomas Morley"
• G&S: "The Yeomen of the Guard" and "The Mikado" (D'Oyly Carte)

All that for $10...aren't records great?

We were still hungry, so the record clerk recommended Massimo's for pizza, which is on Nassau Street. Their pizza has thick crust - not quite as thick as Chicago deep-dish, but very close to it - and they had some interesting offerings. I chose BBQ chicken, and Katie opted for Tomato/Garlic. Though mine was pretty good, the Tomato/Garlic was the standout.

All in all, it was a great little afternoon trip. Princeton isn't far at all, and it's arguably more convenient to us than New York. This time it was for pizza and ice cream. Next time we can try something else, as long as we stop at the record exchange again on the way out of town.

If you cannot see the slideshow above, click here.

Fresh Wallpaper

Never the idle sort (even at 8+ months pregnant), Katie wallpapered our bathroom. To top things off, we added a new cabinet above the toilet. It was tough to get the anchors and screws secured. Before I finished the installation, an inch-long section of a drill bit ended up permanently embedded in the wall. In the end, it all worked out and we couldn't be more pleased with our "new" bathroom. Our next task will be addressing the lighting situation in there.

Click here if you cannot see the slideshow above.

Now Playing: Sudsy Simon

Simon was dirty, so we gave him a bath. He's always a good sport about it, because he knows what he gets when it's all over.