Eli learned how to jump!

Okay, not really. But you can see this and other photos on our photo site here. As you can see from the photos, Eli is more awake and alert every day. You may not be able to tell this, but he is growing fast! His 3-6 month clothing is getting snug already. His 2-month birthday is Thursday and we also go for his 2-month Dr. appointment this week. He seems mighty healthy!

TS Hanna spares all of Wilmington--except us!

Yes, TS Hanna was pretty kind to Wilmington. She made landfall about 40 miles from here, near the NC/SC border. This meant that we were on the Eastern side of the storm, which did not carry much rainfall. We did get some sort of heavy winds, but while I was awake with Eli last night, I remember thinking, "This is it? This just seems like a bad rain storm". Then when I got up this morning Chris told me to look out the window, and this is what I saw.

So he went to buy a chainsaw this morning and has been busy chopping up the tree today. Tomorrow will probably be spent picking up the rest of the debris in the yard. Meanwhile, all the other houses in our neighborhood, and it seems in all of Wilmington, are mess-free. It's like Hanna came by and just hovered over our yard. At least the tree didn't hit anything or cause any significant damage. We were lucky.

Eli had his best night of sleep in a long while. He didn't seem to mind all the noise of the storm one bit, it actually seemed to put him to sleep.

We took our walk early today--Tropical Storm Hanna is on her way!

Normally, Chris, Eli, and I go for a walk around the neighborhood at 7 PM every night. However, with Tropical Storm Hanna on her way, Eli and I walked early today. Chris has been busy stocking up on water and ice--just in case, although it looks like this is going to be a relatively mild storm and forecasters are still unsure about where it will make landfall. Any input, Tony?

Preparing for a storm has been slightly different this year. Neither Chris nor I can even hope to get any time off work, as I'm already off and Chris works from home.

So keep an eye on the storm with us and hope that Ike leaves us alone! Also, a few more photos have been posted on our photo site here.

Finally, a photo site

Okay, I have finally gotten on the ball and created a site for our photos. I must admit, I was inspired by my dad. If he can do it, I can do it. There will be a permanent link to the site on the left side of this page under "Links", or you can click here. The address is http://talleybaby.shutterfly.com. Enjoy! Now that I have the photos organized, I just need to get better at taking them more often.

Back in Wilmington

Well, we have returned to Wilmington and settled in after our first trip to Cincinnati. Eli was incredibly good on the plane. Our flight up was very uneventful; I held Eli in a Moby Wrap (see photo--not me) on the plane and he slept the entire flight and throughout the airport until we got our rental car. We had a wonderful time in Cincinnati, sharing Eli with his grandparents especially, as well as neighbors and other family. While we were there, his umbilical cord fell off (finally!). He has also mostly outgrown his newborn clothing and is safely in 3-6 month clothing, despite only being 6 weeks. He is growing fast; at more than 6 weeks he is getting some chubby legs and cheeks and weighs more than 10 pounds.

Our return flight was a bit more stressful, but Eli was the champ again. Due to a broken part and then thunderstorms at the airport, we were stuck on the plane for 3 1/2 hours before taking off. Our flight was then 1 1/2 hours. He slept the whole way and didn't cry at all. What a baby! Of course, he didn't sleep well last night after all that, but hopefully he is back on schedule.

Thanks to the loss of his cord, he finally had his first real bath today. He wasn't crazy about it, but he enjoyed being wrapped up in his towel afterwards. We'll try to post more photos soon. We're really bad about taking, saving, printing, and posting photos, but we'll try to do better. We miss all our Cincinnati family and friends! Hope to see you all again soon.

Happy Birthday Eli!

Today is Eli's one month birthday. He's doing well, sleeping well, eating well, and generally being cute--even his burps and farts are quite cute. At least, his parents and grandparents think so. Today he made his first trip to the beach and tasted a bit of ice cream. It seemed like he enjoyed it. At least, it made him quit crying for a minute. Best of all, we were accompanied by Grandma and Grandpa Wimmers for these two firsts. We treasure every moment together.

What's been going on...