The Men in Her Life

Since Thomas has been complaining that there are no pictures of him on this blog yet, here is proud Papa snuggling with little Imogen.


Big brother Elliot got to hold Imogen for the first time this past weekend, now that he's over his cold. Idgie was ok with it at first, and then the crying began. Elliot is really great with her and likes to give her hugs and kisses when she cries. Here he is looking cute and concerned.

We also took a little video of the siblings' first snuggle. Enjoy!

Spelling and Pronunciation

My kiddos are going to be just like me - doomed to have their names either misspelled or mispronounced for the rest of their lives. I've cursed them! Since some of you have been asking about Imogen's name, here is a little background on the names of both kiddos.

Elliot's name (not spelled like Elliott from E.T., or like Eliot Hall of our Reed days, or T.S. Eliot, or Elliott Smith) is Hebrew and means "My god is the lord". Which has exactly nothing to do with why we picked it - we just liked it. His middle name is Mitchell, named for his uncle who died in 1999. Mitchell is also Hebrew and means "Who is like god?". Maybe Elliot will be a priest when he grows up. Or an atheist. Here's the trouble maker himself, snuggling with Mama a few days before his little sister was born.

Imogen's name is pronounced ihm-uh-gene and does not have an "e" on the end. It's a Gaelic name and means "maiden". Her middle name, Norah, is in honor of Thomas's aunt Honora who died this past year. It is an English name meaning "woman of honor". I'm sure she'll be an absolute angel, no trouble at all, as a teenager. We're calling her by the nickname "Idgie", which we shamelessly stole from the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. Here she is having an herbal bath with Mama a few days after coming home.


Now I'm going to get back to making sure no one spells my name like a spaniel, or a province in France, or, heaven forbid, a certain pop star.

Welcome Imogen!

The newest member of the McElroy family, Imogen Norah, arrived in the world on Friday, September 14th, at 11:33am. She weighed 6 lbs, 5 oz, and was 19 1/4 inches long. She came fast and furious, after 10 hours of slow labor and 1 1/2 hours of intense labor for Mama. Here she is at one hour old.


Imogen came home the next day to adoring big brother Elliot and has been kept good company this week by Mama, Papa, and Aunt Kate, and several friends and family members who have stopped by to meet her. So far, she spends a lot of time like this:



Poor Elliot was sick with a cold all week, but now he can finally get close enough to enjoy his new little sister.


Mama will be on her own with the two kiddos for the first time on Monday, so stay tuned for the adventures that are sure to come!