Introducing Anna

Anna Elizabeth Tyler was born almost three weeks before her due date, at 10:53 a.m. on Monday, October 30th, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio. She weighed 5.45 pounds, and was 17.25 inches long. Her entrance into this world was more dramatic than we had hoped, since she had to spend eleven days in the NICU to monitor her breathing. But, after the initial scare, she is nursing well and growing appropriately at home.

Anna at just a few days old

Anna is the only one of our eight grandchildren who has spent any time in NICU. At one month of age, she is still small, but she is finally outgrowing her preemie clothes and moving on to newborn sizes.

It's hard to be more than 1200 miles away from family when they need help, but contemporary forms of communication make that much easier than it used to be. Nevertheless, Bill and I were glad to join our daughter, Erin, her husband, Reed, our grandson, Will, and baby Anna, for Thanksgiving. We got to see for ourselves how their whole family is thriving. We were also pleased to spend some time getting to know Reed’s mother, Kathryn, who has been staying for a few weeks to help out.

Erin, Will, and Anna

We were not surprised when we heard the baby’s name for the first time, since we were expecting that Erin and Reed would choose a classic name for their daughter. Her name, "Anna," means "favor," "grace," or "beautiful." Her middle name, Elizabeth, is the same as Erin's middle name, and is also Reed's sister's name. In addition, we could stretch a point and say that she is named after her Great-Grandma Bauer, whose given name was Beth. "Elizabeth" means "God's promise" or "my God is bountiful." I think our Anna Elizabeth has a beautiful name with an equally beautiful meaning.

Anna looks a lot like Will's baby pictures, but she is already developing her own personality. She seems to be a bit stubborn at times, like her mother before her, and she is definitely a mover. Those traits certainly helped her navigate the first few, challenging days of her life. 

Anna's head and feet are disproportionately large in comparison to her arms and legs, but that should even out over time. The biggest surprise about Anna's appearance, though, is her hair color. Her hair is dark, almost black, just as mine was when I was born. She is the first of my ten biological kids and grandkids to have hair like mine!

Reed's hair is dark now, but he started life as a blond.

I know I am blessed to have six of my grandchildren living so close to me. It is more difficult to be a long-distance grandparent. It was even harder during the pandemic, when we went eighteen months without seeing Will in person. Bill and I both met him when he was brand new, but we totally missed the rest of Will’s baby-hood! Now, we have the opportunity to see both Anna and Will much more often, but we will have to make an effort to make that happen. In the meantime, I know I can entrust them, and their parents, to God's loving care.

Will, almost four years old, holding almost four-week-old Anna

Children are a gift from the Lord…

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭127‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬