By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
It’s always nice, twice a year, at both Rosh Hashanah and the secular New Year, when we can highlight members of our community who have given birth to the first Jewish baby. It’s even more fun when the parents of the first baby are friends.
That’s the case for 2008, with the birth of Erica Vanessa Tarlowe. Erica’s the daughter of Michael and Dafna Tarlowe and the new sister of 3-year-old Samantha. Erica was born, by appointment, at Swedish Hospital on First Hill on Wednesday, January 16, coming in at six pounds, 12 ounces, and 20 inches long.
“Everything went well,” new mom Dafna says. “She had the cord wrapped around her twice, but she was good.”
At just six days old when JTNews spoke with Dafna, the family, home just a few days from the hospital, were settling in and trying to figure out how to deal with a new routine.
“Second-time parenting is easier, I think,” Dafna says. “Not as many anxious moments.”
Erica’s big sister is adjusting since finding out that she’s no longer the center of attention.
“Samantha is actually doing awesome,” Dafna says, “she’s so gentle with [Erica], she calls her ‘my baby’ — she’s very sweet.”
Samantha even lent her new little sister her “special blanky,” says Dafna. “That’s a huge step.”
One thing Dafna says she’s not looking forward to: going back to diapers.
“Just changing them all the time,” she says, “no fun.”
Erica is named for Michael’s great aunt, Estelle, with whom he was very close. Vanessa, Erica’s middle name, “is because we liked it,” says Dafna. Her Hebrew name is Rivka, named for Dafna’s father’s sister Rebecca.
All four of Erica’s grandparents have already met the new arrival. Since Dafna had scheduled a Caesarian delivery several weeks before the birth, her parents came in from San Antonio, Tex. and Michael’s flew in from Long Island, N.Y. All but Dafna’s mother, who’s sticking around for a couple more weeks to help out, have already left.
The family lives in the Issaquah Highlands and belongs to Herzl-Ner Tamid. They’ve been in the Seattle area for about six years. Dafna worked at Microsoft before retiring to become a stay-at-home mom, while Michael recently took a job at Amazon.com after running his own record label for several years.
That it took more than two weeks for the first Jewish baby of 2008 to be born seems a bit suspect to us here at JT headquarters, but despite contact with local synagogues and putting the word out to you, our readers, it appears that the Tarlowes really did clock in at first place. And that suits them just fine.