After shopping around for the best, most functional, low-cost plastic bath, mum sent dad to target with exact instructions on make & model. Lucky for me, dad spotted this bathing system and performed an impulse purchase (much to mum's amusement).

Now I can bath in the safety, luxury & convenience of this small hammock. Believe me, this is much more comfortable than when dad attempts to replicate the Cocktail-style hand movements & flips of the nurses from the bathing demonstration at the hospital.

I especially love having a warm washer draped over me (and also appreciate the modesty it provides).

For Bianca, 9 months was a long time to go without eating her favourite foods like Oysters, Sushi or Sashimi. The temptation was particularly high (i.e. torturous) when we visited Japan at Christmas. Today, as part of a series of practice outings we ventured to the fish markets.

Bianca made up for lost time...

And started introducing Elimena to culinary delights...

By the end, Eli was plum tuckered out :)

Mum & Dad say I have gorgeous long elegant fingers and hands.

When I wake up distressed (i.e. hungry - the world is ending and there is NO FOOD!), I like to wave my hands in the air like Peter Garrett does when he dances. On seeing this Mum likes to laugh and sing me midnight oil songs, 'cause she knows that food is but minutes away.

Who is this Peter guy and where does she get these songs?
...and how come after all these years mum hasn't learnt to sing better?
Come on mum this is the naughties not the eighties...get with the times!

It is day two at home and mum has been wandering around the house trying to settle me. After quite a while mum gets selfish and thinks I'll just check my email.....

Mum sits down, rocking in the office chair, surrounded by the buzz buzzing of computers and the tap tapping of the keyboard.....and HEY PRESTO! I'm off. I'm sleeping as deep as the ocean.

Wander how long this technique will last?
I'll let mum and dad get a false sense of security....he he he

Elimena is a very rare name that has been used in a few different places. The web carries dubious non-referenced definitions listing it as Latin, French, Biblical or unknown in origin; but most search results on the name seem to be for people with a Spanish speaking background.

We came up with Elimena by combining the names Eleanor and Ximena (both of which Bianca loved but I couldn't quite commit to). We later found limited references to Elimena (and Elemena) on the web, confirming it's rare use as a name in the past.

Sceptical about the accuracy of the web sources above, I summarised the info and cold-emailed Dr Greg Fox who specialises in Palmyrene Aramaic, Classical Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Lithuanian & Pacific linguistics with the Ancient History Department at Macquarie University. He very generously and wisely responded as follows:

I think you will find that [Elimena] has no connection with words in Latin or Greek. Your idea of combining two words into one make it a word in its own right. I would not seek for further etymological light - what you have uncovered sounds fishy - but just rejoice in a name that is truly euphonious.

We've taken his advice, and would also like to offer our own interpretation of the name:

Name: Elimena
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: el-le-mee-nah
Rarely used and without clear origin, yet familiar in sound, Elimena offers unlimited possibilities and the potential to be whomever you'd like to be.

Additional information from Trevor Evans (another expert): The two previously attested spellings [NW: Elimena & Elemena] (probably variants of the same name, since there are close links between the vowels 'e' and 'i') look Greek to me (the -mena ending is a characteristic type). If Latin played a role, I suspect it would have been as an intermediary. I've had a quick look in the standard classical Greek dictionary without turning up anything of interest. ... It is a fact, though, that the original meanings of names can sometimes be very hard to recover.

Elimena Margaret Wallace was born in Sydney at 11:48am on the 9th May 2007. Weight 3.51kg (7lb 12oz), height 52.5cm, head circumference 35.5cm.