Rolly Poley.

Thanksgiving.

Elliott reading.

Michele (SIL) and Aisling.

Elliott and Grampa.

David (BIL).

Debi (Gramma).

First food (take two).

We're trying again...

So far so good...

"Do I want to get mad again?"

The second time around went MUCH better. The first time he was already hungry, so trying something new, coupled with being in a hard and uncomfortable chair put him over the edge! Now he eats really well, opens his mouth when the spoon comes near, and hardly spits any out at all!

First food.

"Hm...what's this?"

"Buhhh..."

"Why did you DO that to me?"

How I wanted to spend the afternoon...

After bead shopping with Susannah for gifts for her coworkers and Sebastian's assistants I wanted to spend the afternoon doing laundry, cleaning the library spic and span, getting all the food from Sam's Club put away and then possibly starting making jewelry.

How I did NOT want to spend the afternoon: cleaning frozen dried egg and egg shells off Andy's car and my car in gusty 40 degree weather.

He rolled over!

That's right! He rolled over from back to tummy. I laid him on his play mat on his back, he rolled over to his side and was reaching down to grab his feet (his new favorite thing of interest besides daddy's hair) and I literally stepped away for ONE minute and when I came back in he was on his tummy. I was so upset that I missed it! I was also in shock about it, Susannah had come over and I pretty much yelled in her face, "HE ROLLED OVER! AND I MISSED IT!" I was so rambunctious about it that Andy came running downstairs thinking that the commotion was that someone had gotten hurt. I was a little over-zealous in my excitement, but I think it was also partially trying to not be upset in front of company that I missed this first.

Pictures really are to follow (a whole lot!), I just need to upload them. Look for: thanksgiving, playgroup, sleeping and first cereal!

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...