Welcome, Annikka!

If you're reading this, you probably know that Dana and I have a new baby daughter, and her name is Annikka Salo Howe.

Here's what you need to know about Annikka:

Date of birth: Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Time: 7:45am
Weight: 7 lbs., 14 ozs
Length: 20"
Location: Samaritan Regional Medical Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Pronunciation:Annikka, like Hanukkah; Salo, "Say, Low"
Intangibles: She's precious.

We've received a number of questions about Annikka's middle name, "Salo." Apparently Salo is a character in Kurt Vonnegut's novel, The Sirens of Titan "(thanks, Steve Boyken for pointing that out). But that's not where we got it. Salo is the maiden name of Dana's mother, Jeanne, who passed away in 2004. We wanted to honor Jeanne and her family. We decided that using Salo as a middle name is a great way to do that.

As for "Annikka," there's no real story there. We like the way it sounds, and we like its meaning (it's Hebrew for grace). As with Salo, there are some literary and cinematic Annikkas that we were not familiar with.

According to my cousin Jessica, there is some sort of half human, half cyborg thing on Star Trek named "Seven of Nine" whose human name is Annikka. Interesting.

And one of Pippi Longstocking's best friends is named Annikka, which kind of makes sense because, as I now know, the author of Pippi Longstocking is Swedish.

But enough of the talk, here are some pictures:

Minutes (seconds after birth):



Annikka being manhandled by a nurse:


Annikka being weighed:


After seeing her for the first time, our doctor was surprised at how large Annikka was; she predicted 8.5 to 9 lbs. Turns out she wasn't even eight pounds. Those cheeks are deceiving.

Proud parents:


Grandma and Grandpa (Kathy and Dave Howe) admiring Annikka right after birth:


Dana giving the good news to Papa (Dean Larsen, Dana's father) and Uncle Aaron (Aaron Larsen, Dana's younger brother):



Reading the sports page to Annikka:


Dana and Annikka, the first day back home:


Annikka:


Dana took this picture at 3am in the middle of a "cluster feed," when Annikka was insatiable.

The cats (Anani and Oliver) reclaiming the bed while grandma watches Annikka so mom can get some rest.


We should have some more photos soon.