Greetings

This is a test posting of sorts—to make sure we know how to create postings.  We were hoping to have something as aesthetically pleasing as the blog that our friends Chris and Darcie created for their children, but neither Cindy nor I have the requisite internet skills.  In any case, we'll post photos, videos, and all the news that's fit to print about Eléa at this site.  And as Seren pointed out, since Blogger is owned by Google, it probably won't be disappearing anytime soon.

lamenting the current state of affairs

Eléa is 24 days old today.  I fluctuate between thinking she looks rather large and still quite tiny.  Cindy and I are already very used to her.  It is difficult to imagine what life was like before she was around.  Cindy has been trying to get a "nice" photo of her so that we can include it in our thank-you letters.  Unfortunately, the faces that Eléa has been making this morning, while certainly humorous, do not fall under the heading "nice" in the mind of Mrs. Cindy.  I thought they were fine.  But yes, it is true that we don't want our family and friends to think that our little DNA vessel is perpetually scowling, as they might make subsequent inferences with regard to our parenting skills (or assumed lack thereof in this case).

Then again, her scowl quite pleases me.  I like to think she has a discriminating mind, and that she is already showing her displeasure with our plebeian ways.  That being said, I would hate to think that she is getting too big for her britches, or diapers as the case may be.  Perhaps we shouldn't have given her an elite toy at such a young age.

with her elite toy

"Elite toy" you say?  Yes.  Her auntie, Ariane, has given her an expensive French toy.  It is a rubber giraffe named Sophie, which is supposed to be excellent for teething.  Apparently this is what all elite babies play with.  Ariane actually received the toy for free from a colleague who happened to have a brand-new, unused Sophie.  Why social workers in the south Bronx have extra elite toys lying about, I don't know.  In any case, we're not ones to look a gift-giraffe in the mouth, especially when it's French and its name ends in "-ie" rather than "-y."  So now cute little Eléa is the proud owner of a handmade, non-toxic, even-toed ungulate citizen of la République.  Vive les giraffes!