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New Year�s infant shares day with big brother Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Sendi Asusena Vela is Jackson County�s first baby of the year 2001. Her big brother, Aldo, greeting her with a smile, was born Jan. 1, 1998.The children�s parents said they are happy to have two healthy children, holiday births or no. ASHLAND � Jackson County�s first baby of the true millennium may hold a special place in local history, but she�ll still have to share birthday cake with her brother. Tiny Sendi Asusena Vela debuted at 3:08 a.m. New Year�s Day at Ashland Community Hospital, just in time to mark the third birthday of brother Aldo, born Jan. 1, 1998. The coincidental births didn�t seem to faze mother Socorro Vela Caldera, 20, or father Felimon Vela Pacheco, 26, a reforester. Through a translator, the Medford pair said they were relieved and happy to have two healthy children, holiday births or no. "Excited? Yes," said Pacheco, lifting up Aldo to see his new sister. Sporting a luxurious crop of dark hair, Sendi weighed in at 7 pounds, 14� ounces. Mother Socorro checked into the hospital after midnight as New Year�s Eve celebrations peaked in other parts of the city. The baby was born soon after. Sendi beat by several hours the arrival of New Year�s Day babies in other area hospitals. A boy born at 12:30 p.m. to Lee David and Jennifer Milligan of Medford marked Rogue Valley Medical Center�s first delivery of 2001. Monday evening, the birth center was still empty at Providence Medford Medical Center. Like all first babies born in a new year, Sendi and her family will receive a collection of gifts supplied by area merchants and well-wishers. It includes items from Flower Thyme, Treehouse Books, Small Change Children�s Store, Ashland Flower Shop, Unicorn Gifts and Toys, Western Bank, Ashland Drug, Umpqua Bank, Perfect Shoes, the Ashland Community Hospital Auxiliary and Safeway. Though he was born at about 6 a.m. on Jan. 1, 1998, at the Ashland hospital, Aldo was not Jackson County�s first baby that year. That year, RVMC won the local New Year�s delivery derby. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.