like the dusty children in bright strange prints that people her books.

That? Is a gorgeous, gorgeous line.

I didn't cry when I came out, which made Mom think I was stillborn.

Jo didn't cry either. She came out with hiccoughs.

Which still floors me. How the hell can you have hiccoughs, when you haven't eaten anything, like, well, EVER?

Also with the "Dang, ita, that was good."

And on the freaky coloration shift tip, my beloved wife is half Armenian, with attendant Mediterranean coloring, olive skin, dark brown eyes and thick curly dark hair. Until she hit puberty, she had straight reddish auburn hair , light brown eyes and pale skin. The resulting difference between her childhood pictures and her current appearance has led to my occasionally suggesting that all her childhood memories are actually implants and that that's some other kid in those pictures.

Oddly, she seems reluctant to embrace this possibility.

I was an ugly baby, sufficiently so that when the curse broke, I thought that the tolerable pictures were of some other kid.

My sister, obviously, was unutterably gorgeous.

I like the bow on wee ita.

My mom says I was a pretty baby, but obviously she's biased. To me the pics look like every other newborn, like, ever. I had dark blue eyes and blondish hair, though not enough to talk about.

I don't think you're an ugly child, ita -- just kinda pissed off at the coiffure, you know.

And you do have that "I must kick you ass" look in your wee baby eyes already.

My mom says I was a pretty baby, but obviously she's biased.

I'm not sure if my mother ever called my sister cute. Me, she called Mao Tse Tung. As a result, I might have been the youngest westerner to attempt to read the Little Red Book.

I was a weird baby and born with dark brown eyes. Also, just one tuft of hair on top of my head -- the sides and back didn't really fill in until I was about a year old. But my coloring's stayed pretty constant -- only thing that's changed is that my hair went to dark red from about ages 8 to 10, then went back to brown. Never figured out how that happened, but I'd love to get that color back.

ita, your facial expression is exactly the same as the one of me on my fridge - I was aged about four and the general I Hate You And Hope You Die Glare (the family name for The Look) is firmly in place. In the picture, my father is cackling in the background.

You have a very similar expression. I'm in good company.

ita, that drabble is stunning.

Which still floors me. How the hell can you have hiccoughs, when you haven't eaten anything, like, well, EVER?

You do a lot of drinking/swallowing in the womb. Amniotic fluid is, after a certain point, mainly constantly recycled fetal urine.

I was a very pretty newborn--at least at first--on account of the non-squished c-section head. Big eyes, lots of thick, dark hair. There was probably a period shortly after birth where my looks went sharply downhill, corresponding with my placement in the bilibox. However, there exist no pictures of yellow me.