Swordplay.net

I’ve been remiss in posting here on the blog. But there hasn’t been too much to talk about. A few more pictures have trickled online in our general gallery. You can see a representative sample of their cuteness over on the left. View at your own risk.

I also uploaded a bunch of pics from Uncle Stu’s 50th birthday party. There are some great shots of Ellie with her great-grandparents, and other assorted family members, including little two-year-old cousin Molly. The two of them are so adorable together, it hurts.

Ellie is almost one month old and she has really been coming into her own. She’s so much more alert than ever before. She follows you with her eyes and head and is really taking the time to examine things
around her. It’s so cool!

I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Baby, Family

Big few days for the Sweet Pea. Lots of firsts. Seventeen new pictures added to the gallery.

Tara and Ellie went to a La Leche League meeting on Wednesday. I think Tara found their approach to be a little over-the-top, even if we agree with most of their advice. The group leaders seemed rather inflexible in their views of “proper” nursing and childcare practices. Nonetheless, I think Tara found the experience useful. It was good to be reassured that we haven’t been doing anything horribly wrong. Also noteworthy, this was the first time Mom and Baby spent any length of time together alone away from home. Everyone survived.

The next day, emboldened by the previous day’s adventures, we attempted another first. The three of us went out to eat at a restaurant. It went quite well. Ellie slept for a while, but then started fussing once the food arrived. Tara was able to discreetly nurse her while continuing to eat, herself. There might have been a little curry sauce dribbled on the baby. I plead ignorance.

On the following day, not much happened with Eleanor. But I actually went in to work for several hours. It was the longest I had been separated from her since coming home from the hospital. I found myself missing her much more than I thought I would. :(

Then today, both Tara and I went out for a few hours while Nana Betty and Grandpa Bruce babysat. Again, it was surprisingly emotional. We are just so used to always having The Little Wriggler with us at all times. But we know it is good for us. And Ellie did wonderfully with her grandparents. Plus it was nice to be able to walk around outside doing adult things. Even if it was just running errands, eating lunch, and doing our taxes. Wee.

Tomorrow is the last part of our whirlwind of activity. We are going to Great Grandma’s house out on Long Island to celebrate Great Uncle Stu’s 50th birthday! It should be fun. And this will be, by far, Ellie’s longest journey. In fact, this will be her first time leaving New York City. She did leave Manhattan twice to go to the Bronx. Once for a doctor visit, and once to shop at Target. But tomorrow will be her first journey outside the confines of the five boroughs. I hope it isn’t too much of a culture shock for her!

Baby, Life

Love,
Eleanor

Disclaimer: My Mommy had nothing to do with this cruelty. Daddy dressed me up and made me pose like a performing monkey.

Baby

Ellie’s cord stump fell off today. Kinda gross. I suppose it was one of her first rites of passage, though. Hooray for Ellie!

I’ve just put another handful of pictures online. Most are of Ellie visiting with cousins Raina and Nicholas. And there are a few just generally cute baby pics thrown in for good measure.

I guess our sleeping patterns have improved a little bit, but we are still a long way from any sort of established routine. At least we’re getting good at tricking the little muffin into going back to sleep when she wakes up at night. The only real “complication” is that she simply will not sleep unless she is being held. Even if she is completely conked out, if we place her in her crib, she’ll be awake within 10 minutes. For right now this is fine. She currently sleeps with us in bed either nestled between us or on our chests. And we are happy to accommodate her snuggly demands. But this could be problematic in the long run. Y’know… like when she has to go to college.

That’s about it. I asked Tara if there was anything else about Ellie that we should report. She said only to tell everyone how cute Eleanor is. Consider it done:

Baby, Family, Life

I’m getting the hang of this parenthood thing. I just washed a full sink of dishes with only one hand, without waking the baby in the other! I rule.

Baby

Eleanor went for her first doctor’s visit on Monday and got a clean bill of health. She was ever-so-slightly jaundiced, but not enough to cause a problem. The doctor recommended that we let her hang out by a sunny window, but unfortunately our apartment is rather dark most of the day. So we decided to go out for a walk yesterday since it was quite beautiful despite the cold. Getting her bundled up and settled into the stroller was a challenge to both baby and parent alike. It felt like an old Keystone Kops routine, except with more crying. But once we got outside, I found the experience to be quite enjoyable. Ellie got to take a nice nap in the sun and Mom and Dad were given a break in our routine. Plus we proved to ourselves that we could take the show on the road. Good times.

The doctor also told us that Ellie was the same weight as when she was discharged from the hospital. This is also normal. She most likely lost some weight and then started gaining it back. But it got me thinking. What if she stayed this size forever? That would be fine with me! She is such a cute little sweetheart, and her needs are so simple and pure. We are enjoying her so immensely just the way she is. Of course we’d probably go completely psychotic from the lack of sleep… but hey, you can’t have everything.

Anyway, more Ellie pics have made their way online. Please enjoy. Which reminds me, I’ve changed the organizational scheme for the pictures, so some older links may be broken. I’m sure you’ll survive.

Baby, Family

We’ve spent the past couple of days at home getting to know Eleanor (or Count Squirmula, as she is sometimes referred to). The days have been long, and the nights longer… but sleep deprivation has never been this fun. She’s a big sweetie most of the time.

I’ve gone ahead and added some new pics for your perusal. More cute stuff! Mostly various family members enjoying some quality Ellie-time.

Oh, and I think we’ve figured out who she looks like. Mom brought over some old snapshots. I submit the following pictures for your consideration:

Joel, 1974

Eleanor, 2006

And as further proof of life’s continuity:

Joel and his Dad

Ellie and her Dad

Joel and his Aunt

Ellie and her Aunt

Baby, Family, Life

Hooray! The hospital gave both Mommy and Baby a clean bill of health and sent us home. And let me tell you, it feels great to have Eleanor on our own turf. It’s like having home field advantage. She is sleeping in my arm as I type this. And while it’s slow typing with only one hand, I think I’ll be learning to do lots of things one-handed.

For the most part, Ellie is pretty mellow. Yesterday she was rather congested and miserable so she fussed all night. But today is a different story, When she’s not conked out or eating, she is very alert and quietly spends her time staring at whoever is holding her. I have to say, it’s quite magical.

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has sent along their good thoughts and well wishes. It means so much to us to know that Eleanor is arriving into a world full of people rooting for her. The messages people have been writing to us are some of the nicest words we’ve ever read. The love we feel is palpable.

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for! I’ve just put a bunch of pictures online. So go check out the:

What are you waiting for? Go see ’em!

Baby, Family, Life

Hi everyone! I’m about to head back out to the hospital, but I wanted to share at least a glipse of Eleanor. The following two pics and movie clip were taken when she was < 1 hour old. I hope you think she's as cute as I do!

Eleanor Cries

The New Family

Baby

On January 31st, at 11:40pm, Tara gave birth to:

She weighed in at 8lbs, 5oz. Labor lasted over 16 hours. Momma and baby are both doing fine and sleeping peacefully. Tara made it through the experience demonstrating incredible amounts of strength, humor, and courage. I love her so much.

I would write more, but I’ve been awake for almost 23 hours. Tomorrow (well today, I guess), I have a million phonecalls to make and e-mails to write. I’ll also have pictures to post! But I wanted to get something up online to reward all you faithful blog-checkers.Check back later!

Baby