Swordplay.net

As usual, I’ve been a recalcitrant poster. It’s not because I don’t love my readers. I do! But you know how it is. One day leads into the next, there’s always something to do, and then suddenly I haven’t posted in weeks.

To atone for my inaction, here’s a picture of Ellie with a cookie on her head: (She is going to be so mad at me one day…)

I’ve added several additional pictures to the latest gallery page. (Sorry, Mom… they’re the ones you’ve already seen!) And while you are there, please check out the spiffy new gallery software I’m using. Since I had to transfer my entire website to a new host, I decided to take the opportunity to upgrade. The new gallery is a lot more powerful and flexible. But unfortunately, it broke many of the links from older blog posts. At some point I’ll probably go through and fix them, but in the meantime you may find broken links.

As I mentioned, I was trying to find a good way to let people sign up for e-mail alerts for blog posts here. I found a good plug-in, but I haven’t gotten it working 100% correctly yet. But since I can at least manually send out notifications, I’ve decided to start letting people sign up. There will be a little box for this that lives over on the right. But for now, you can enter your email right here:

As for Ellie updates, there’s a whole lot to report. She’s such a joy to have in our lives. She is sweet and mellow most of the time and loves to examine things around her. Her naps still usually only last about 30 minutes, but every now and then she’ll take a nice long one. She is still chubby and jiggly. Every few days she adds a new sound to her repertoire. She is still rolling from back to front, but has not yet mastered the reverse, front to back. Although now she’s getting more comfortable with tummy-time.

I guess the big new development is that we have started experimenting with “solid” foods. And by “solid” I mean “mushy” things like oatmeal and apple sauce. At first she didn’t know what to make of these strange substances in her mouth, but after a few tries she figured out that she is supposed to swallow them. It was so cool to see her reaction the first time she tasted the sweet apples. Her eyes got super-wide as she processed the experience.

And while we are on the subject of Ellie’s mouth, I am pleased to announce that Ellie’s first tooth has poked through her lower gum! I’m sure she’ll be biting us in no time.

Baby, Blogging, Life

Eleanor rolled over by herself for the first time today! We’ve been expecting her to do so “any day now” for over a month, but today was the big day.

I missed it, unfortunately. Tara says Ellie was just kinda playing on her side and then gave a big kick and flopped over onto her tummy. And then, just as suddenly, thrust with her arms and went back on her back. We could not get her to repeat this feat later on for me to see, nor would she cooperate for the video camera. Oh well. Maybe she’ll be in the mood tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I got some bad news yesterday. The company that hosts this website is going out of business. I only have until July 1st to find a new host. Hopefully there won’t be any interruptions. But if this site vanishes for a few days, you’ll know why.

Baby, Blogging

I know, I know. Weeks upon weeks without a post! It’s disgraceful. Let’s hope that Eleanor inherits her work ethic from her Mom rather than her Dad. But I pledge to do better.

A lot has happened since the last post. But in the interest of actually publishing content, I’m going to start small. I’ll begin with the most recent information.

Ellie turned four months old last week. She went to the doctor today and had a perfect check-up. She is 15 pounds, 11 ounces of cuteness. She is 24 ¾ inches long. And she is reading on a seven month level.

Last weekend Eleanor went on her first swing ride. I’m not sure she really knew what to make of it at first. But I think that she ultimately enjoyed herself. Through the magic of Internetronics™, you can experience it for yourself!

I’ve also posted a number of new pictures in various locations. I finished off the Month 4 gallery with a few more pics, and then started the Month 5 gallery.

I have also created a separate gallery for pictures from Eleanor’s Naming Ceremony. I will go into more detail about the ceremony another time. It was such a wonderful day that it deserves its own post. But you should enjoy the pictures now.

In general Ellie is doing great. Every single day she becomes more and more aware of the world around her. She gazes at people, observing their every action, and seems to be especially fascinated by other little kids. She is also getting much better at manipulating objects with her hands and feet, and has a 86.375% success rate at getting things into her mouth. And she is still sleeping through the night.

Alright, I feel better now that I’ve posted. I’ll have more to say soon. By the way, would anyone be interested in some sort of notification system? Say, for example, you could sign up to have an e-mail sent whenever I update the blog? That way you wouldn’t need to fruitlessly check the site when I haven’t updated. Just a thought.

Baby, Blogging