UPDATE (6/30/2009): More pictures added… including a pony party!

And, perhaps more exciting, I’ve put several new videos on YouTube.  Watch them on my channel page.  You’ll witness a live baby burping demonstration performed by a three year old.

UPDATE (6/30/2009): More video added, too!

So far Josie is very even tempered.  She rarely cries for more than a minute or two and she has been sleeping very well.  She’ll conk out for hours at a time during the day if we let her.  But we’re worried that sleeping all day means being awake all night.  So we’ve been trying to wake her up and keep her engaged.  The coolest thing however is how Josie (even at this early stage) really watches whatever Ellie does.

And Ellie, for her part,  has been a wonderful big sister.  She is eager to help out with bottle feedings, diaper changes, and all the other little baby tasks.  (Her favorite is burping the baby… and she’s good at it!)  Obviously this is a big adjustment for Ellie, and there have been a few moments when she’s acted out.  But overall she seems very happy about the changes to her world.  We are trying to stay very attentive to her needs and feelings.

Oh hey, another thing.  I added a few more pictures to the gallery in the post below this one.  New ones start here.  They are as cute and precious as you might expect.  There are a number of adorable videos that I will get online in the near future, as well.

7lbs 10oz.  Born at 2:30 am, June 18th 2009 via c-section.  Mom, baby (and dad and sister) are all doing fine!

In my continuing effort to get all our media more accessible, I have put many of Ellie’s little video clips in one location on our Google Pics page.  It’s not the best solution, but it puts everything in one place.  If you have the bandwidth, be sure to click the “View HQ Video” link.  Go watch!

We’re going to have another baby!  Another girl!  And she is due any day now.  No promises, but there’s a decent chance I’ll have the requisite motivation to begin updating again.  I have to admit that this blog was a fantastic way to keep our family and well-wishers up to date about Ellie’s early days.

If you are one of the handful of people that have ONLY been following this blog, then you have missed a lot of pictures and other goodies.  You may want to start with the new Galleries page.  Or just take some time to enjoy some recent Ellie pictures:

For the truly dedicated… here is some video footage clocking in at over 10 minutes: Ellie_in_the_Catskills.wmv (76MB)

And here are some pictures:

It’s been wonderful watching her transform from a baby into a toddler… and we are now bordering on “little kid” territory. She is active, playful, and imaginative. She is also quite silly and enjoys laughing heartily with very slight provocation.

Her vocabulary has absolutely exploded over the past few weeks. It’s gotten to the point that I’m not even surprised anymore when she correctly uses a new word. She mostly uses English, but she’ll throw in a few words in Spanish for spice. She consistently speaks in two or three word sentences, too. It is a very strange feeling to have a rudimentary conversation for the first with someone you’ve known for two years.

Here are your long overdue links to gallery pictures: May through August and Septmeber through January. We hope you enjoy.

And you may well have already seen this… but if not, it’s sure to impress. Here’s Ellie counting to ten from a couple months ago. (These days she can count all the way to sixteen! Why sixteen? I have no idea.)

My next project – if I can find the time somewhere between chasing after Ellie all day and collapsing at night – is to create a sequel to last year’s critically acclaimed Ellie’s First Year video. Hopefully I can have it ready in time for her birthday!

It’s wonderful.

She also expresses herself much more easily now. She has an arsenal of words (or approximations of words) that convey her emotional state, her wants and needs. Many of her words are clearly understandable as either English or Spanish. Some are only understandable to her parents. Some are only understandable to Ellie, herself. Some examples are “Didoh” and “Bahdoo”. Personally, I find these words the most entertaining.

At 16 months old, Ellie is taller and heavier than many two year olds she knows. She still loves to read books, watch Sesame Street, and climb up and down stairs. She visits the playground almost every day, and enjoys swinging, riding in cars, and playing ball. She’s also fascinated by water in all its forms. She likes drinking it, bathing in it, splashing in puddles, and watching fish. Maybe she’ll be a sailor one day. We’re looking forward to swimming this summer!

And now for the good stuff. I’ve put a slew of new pictures online for your enjoyment. First, I added a bunch of to the bottom of Ellie’s April through June Gallery. Here is a prime example:

Next, I created a new mini gallery devoted to Ellie’s various zoo trips. So far, she has only been twice, but I hope to add more after each visit. Think of this gallery as an exotic safari through animal pictures, baby pictures, and unbridled cuteness.

Ellie at the Zoo

Finally some housekeeping notes about this blog itself. First, In case you hadn’t noticed, those of you that signed up for e-mail notifications about blog updates have not been receiving them. These notices just never worked properly and I finally disabled them. But I have an alternate solution. Keep an eye on your e-mail for more info.

Second, a fair number of spam comments have been slipping through my filters and appearing in random posts. Some of them are rather disgusting. I’ve been deleting them as soon as I find them, but some may slip through. I apologize for the inconvenience.

She is still rather wobbly and unsure of herself, but her progress has been amazing. The most she’s done has been about 5 little steps in a row. But we fully expect her to smash this record over the weekend.

And finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… I’ve done a massive photo update! I actually added three separate galleries.

• The first chronicles Ellie’s ninth through twelfth months, and thus finishes up her first year.
• The second is devoted entirely to her first birthday party and all the debauchery that ensued.
• And finally, I started a gallery which will host pictures from Ellie’s second year of life.

I don’t necessarily promise to do a better job at updating this blog. That never seems to work out. But I’ll see what I can do.

Today is Eleanor’s first birthday! We simply cannot believe how fast this year has gone by, nor can we believe how much our lives have changed. Thanks to everyone that sent along birthday wishes and/or attended her super-fun birthday party two weeks ago. Our family is lucky to have so many loving people in our lives.

Ellie is such a pure joy. She is almost always happy and calm, and loves to play with anyone and everyone. These days she is always on the move. She chooses not to crawl, but instead scoots all over the place on her rump. It’s adorable. She can stand up, too, and likes to cruise around coffee tables, book shelves, the cats… She also has a lot to say.

Although I have not updated the official picture gallery in a while, I have compiled the absolute best hundred-or-so photos from Ellie’s first year in one, easily digestible gallery. You may view them here:

There is also a 14-minute long video version that contains a number of added video snippets and sentimental music accompaniment. I hope you enjoy!

P.S. Ellie really, really loves cake.