Okay, okay.

Yes. I know it's been almost a month since I've last posted. To be honest, I have sat in front of the laptop with the 'new post' page up several times, and just haven't been able to figure out what to type. A bit of writer's block, if you will. I can no longer put it off. So, what has been going on lately? Let's see, first, Elliott is getting a tooth, despite what our 130 year old pediatrician says ("Teething gets blamed for anything and everything.") It's small and white, and he's drooling and chewing like crazy. He also can officially hold is head up and loves playing airplane with daddy, and bouncing in his doorway chair thing. He also is giggling a LOT. Mostly with daddy, especially when he rubs daddy's hair (which is apparently very funny looking/feeling), or when daddy tickles his neck with his beard. It is so funny - we love it! We had his four month appointment yesterday and while his percentile for weight dropped to the 50th from 75th, he is still up there for height at 26" and has a big old noggin in the 90th percentile. Wonder who he gets all this from? (Have you met Andy?) Daddy's new favorite thing to call him is squirt, while I've started calling him string bean or punkin head.

What else? We have a new washer and dryer! I am so terribly excited by this, I can't stand it. It was delivered last night, and I think I've done 4 loads of wash, including washing some things that were already clean. I can't help myself. It also plays a chipper song for you when it's done and that only validates the fact that, WEE, laundry is FUN! Elliott wore his first fluffed diaper today - which was a huge improvement from the air-dried, stiff things he had been wearing before. I got to dry off with a towel that wasn't hard and scratchy and covered in dog fur. How have we gotten by this far without a dryer? It's crazy.

My Etsy is being featured in a blog online. I have gotten TONS of views from the feature, but not a single sale. It is very frustrating and disheartening when you put so much work into something and it feels like you are the only one who appreciates the efforts. My mom pointed out that my jewelry is very personal, and people aren't shopping for themselves right now. I hope that's the case.

Friday we go to Ele and Finn's house for our first play date with multiple babies. I can't wait to see how Elliott responds to all this. Last time he was very interested by Finn, and is showing a lot more interest in his surroundings in general. This includes stuffing toys in his mouth, actually bouncing and spinning in the doorway chair, watching the dogs eat, trying to grab my glass when I take a drink, playing with his 'boy parts' in the bathtub, staring out the window when he's in the car and smiling and laughing when we interact with him. I hope he isn't too overwhelmed and that we'll get the chance to enjoy some company, and maybe meet some new people!

Speaking of that, we also joined a meetup.com group called 'Parenting Beyond Belief'. This is a group of people who have chosen to have and raise their kids without any sort of religious dogma. This doesn't mean that our kids won't be exposed to it, but hopefully they will have the opportunity to decide what's right for themselves without any sort of indoctrination. We can't attend the December event because it's on a Sunday night and I'm working, but hopefully we'll be able to get together and meet everyone soon!

New pics to follow...