avablog

My dad was over for dinner last night. Just pizza, nothing fancy. Ava was running around, doing her own thing, while my dad and I sat and talked in the living room.

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So I’m trying to implement the comments RSS feed on both my blogs, each of which is running the same version of WordPress and using the same theme. I’ve modified code in my header.php file so that the comments RSS link will appear at the top of this page; you should be able to see [...]

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I can’t figure out if all our friends had babies or if we started becoming friends with more people who have babies, but whatever the trajectory, I feel like I’m seeing babies everywhere I turn this last year. And they’re all adorable. You hear that? I SAID, THEY’RE ALL ADORABLE! So easy to bruise feelings.

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embark on a blog post if you don’t know what you’re going to write. That’s my advice to you, should you ever happen to find yourself with a blog.

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Ava was off school today for conferences. Fortunately, Gramary freed up some time and was able to spend the day with Ava. Their activities included planning a party for us after work, which Ava hosted. Here she is opening the door for us upon our arrival: A good time was had by all. And especially [...]

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I love getting a random, hearty chuckles from the Internet. My recent favorite comes — as they often do — from an Amazon review. This time it’s of Danzig’s self-titled debut release, “Danzig:” Reallly You need a reveiw?, January 31, 2009 By Dean Buy this album. I just wanted to give it another 5 stars! [...]

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Ava got all dressed up for Leah’s birthday yesterday. She was particularly pleased with her little red belt, which she’s been wearing a lot lately. I don’t recall what that thing is she’s holding in her hand, but there’s a name for it. It’s some piece of paper she cut up with scissors and then [...]

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Unborn baby: You’re a mover and a shaker. We were at Uncle Kevin and Aunt Rachel’s this past weekend to celebrate your mom’s birthday, and you helped entertain everyone with all your pokes and prods from inside the womb. You also got a kiss from your Aunt Rachel! I doubt you felt it, but it’s [...]

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We spent the weekend in Madison, shoveling snow and eating tasty food, the latter as part of my dear wife’s birthday celebration. Now we’re back to the banal I.C. day-to-day routine (which is actually kind of nice). By this time next year, she’ll be a mother of two.

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Depending on how long you’ve been on the Internet, this could be either the first or the 40th time you’ve read a story just like this. In any case, I’ll keep it short.

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You’re growing away, unborn baby! Your mom feels you kicking and rolling all the time. Your big sis enjoys putting her hands on mom’s tummy and marveling at how you move. It’s a fun time. I took more shots of mom yesterday, and I really like a couple of them. Por ejemplo: We’ll see you [...]

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So Ava’s lying in our bed this morning with Leah, feeling the baby move. Talk at one point turns to breastfeeding, as it often does in these situations, and I’m standing at the closet door when Ava lifts up Leah’s shirt — revealing her breasts — and exclaims, “Wowza!” That is all.

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It stands for Ear, Nose, Throat. Ava and I visited one today to see if he could give us any information on why Ava’s getting so many strep infections. As frustrating as her recurring bouts of the virus have been, dealing with them sure beats obsessing about whether to circumcise our next child, should it [...]

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We’re thinking we’re on the downward slope of this whole lice business. At least until some parent at school sends his kid back with more bugs. It’s bittersweet. Sweet that we don’t have to lug every blanket, pillow, and stuffed animal in the house to the laundry every other day. Bitter that I won’t get [...]

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My pal Ben and I got together Sunday for a (really COLD) photo walk. It was a blast. I really enjoy driving through the countryside with a cup of coffee and good conversation, stopping every once in a while to snap some photos. Our destination was Muscatine (yes, Muscatine). Here’s our proof: PS — Has [...]

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I think I’ll only post here every three days now. Leah gave me a lot of hassle the other day for never posting to anonymark, which in her mind equals hating our unborn baby. As I like to say, “w/e.” We had a pretty nice weekend. Lots and lots and lots of romance on Saturday, [...]

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I was waiting for Leah to come pick me up at work the other day, and as I stood just inside the door to our building, I found myself contemplating the unlikely perfection of the buttocks on the Herky statue that adorns the promenade outside our plaza entrance. I tried to put myself in the [...]

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Ava and I walked downtown yesterday afternoon to give Leah some time to rest. The trip down was nice. Ava insisted on bringing her dog along for the walk, and so we tripped along through the puddles with Spot in tow. It started raining when we arrived at the Co-op, but our friend Kerry was [...]

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Rachel and Kevin were in town over the weekend. It may be their last visit. Not only did they help us scour the whole house to eradicate the lice that Ava brought home from school, but Rachel left with a terrible case of strep (probably; she hasn’t been tested yet, but Leah got a positive [...]

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And to frustrate me. FACT: Anybody who knows anything about anything knows that The Jerk is the best movie Steve Martin has ever done. Second place? PT&A. The only reason anyone would EVER put The Jerk at #9 on a list of Steve’s 10 Best Films is to generate controversy, thus conversation, thus Web traffic. [...]

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