avablog

Leah, Em, and I had a nice moment on the porch yesterday, during which he smiled at me — on demand — no fewer than three times in succession. The importance of this event was that Leah was sitting directly across from Em and me, so she witnessed the whole thing. She dismissed the first [...]

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What a nice weekend. Leah and Em had a baby “sprinkle” to attend on Sunday, which meant Leah had to have her hair done on Saturday. So Ava, Emmett, and I toodled around downtown for a spell while Buzz did their worst with my wife’s locks.

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I’ve clearly forgotten what it’s like to have an infant in the house. I feel kind of stupid for being surprised by the things Emmett does that are the same things Ava did when she was his age. In my defense, I guess it has been almost five years. Maybe when it seemed like we’d [...]

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So this morning I was — again — transporting the boy to his changing table to dispatch a soiled diaper. On the way back out of his room, I looked down at him in my arms and was talking to him in a funny voice (not dissimilar from my normal speaking voice, alas) about the [...]

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I have a general sense that Ava’s getting used to having Emmett around. A small poster, created by her, appeared on her easel the other day that reads “I LOVE EMMETT.” She’s also having an easier time going places without us, such as school, which makes things easier.

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I woke up early this morning to take Emmett for a diaper change. As I walked into his room, I glanced down at him. In the heavy gray pre-dawn light, I could’ve sworn I was carrying a snuggly, wiggly little Michael Chiklis in my arms. This day can only improve.

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Don’t tell Ava that Emmett is a much easier baby than she was. Ava was notorious for howling like crazy every time she was set down somewhere, which made for a really rough first three months home from the hospital. Emmett, by comparison, pretty much eats and sleeps, with an occasional fussy period now and [...]

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Leah and Ava (and Emmett, I guess?) got me a new external flash for my camera for Father’s Day, and so far, this is my favorite shot with it: I’m such a huge fan of natural light photography that it’s going to be a real transition to using this flash more, but I can already [...]

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Aunt Rachel bought Em this cute onesie as a getting born gift. Leah tried to squeeze him into it this morning and found that it’s a little snug. Emmett didn’t seem to mind. Even so, I decided I’d better get a picture to document that he did actually wear it (it’s like hats and bandannas [...]

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So far, the coolest thing about having Emmett in the house is how much more I’ve come to appreciate Ava.

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Oh, life with baby. It’s one thing right to another. The little fella continues to eat, sleep, and defecate with regularity. He’s even entered something of a routine at night, fussing for an hour or so before falling asleep sometime around 9. Then he sleeps until 12 or 12:30, eats, sleeps another couple hours, eats [...]

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I was reminded today that there haven’t been any posts to this blog in five days. And I was like, “Really?” But I see it’s true. Why would MySQL lie?

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We’re just back from Emmett’s first doctor appointment. Turns out the little scribbler has gained 12 ounces since the Mercy home visit a week ago. He now weighs 8 pounds, 15.5 oz. (75%), is 21.75″ long (90%), and has a 14.75″ head (75%). If memory and my MySQL database serve, Ava’s only ever been as [...]

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Oh, Emmett. The tiny little brown stub of what was left of your umbilical cord fell off today. It’s only the first in a long line of losses that will mark your growing older. When your mom mentioned it to me today, the news of the event made me a little sad. This day is [...]

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Before I left the house this morning, I made Ava pinky promise that she’d give her mom a break today. It’s Leah’s first day home solo with both kids, and I’m sure it’ll be trying.

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Whew. This morning was a doozy. Ava was insistent that she didn’t want to go to school, and Emmett’s fussiness from last night carried over into the daylight. At one point, both kids (weird…”both kids”) were crying away downstairs, Emmett on my lap and Ava to her mom on the sofa in the TV room. [...]

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Just uploaded this video of Emmett last evening. It’s some of the first footage of him with his eyes open, which seemed noteworthy to me (they’re still blue/gray, BTW, but we expect that to change):

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Konnichiwa, Emmett. Today at lunch I sat on the sofa in our living room and held you for a while. You squirmed and thrashed and teetered to and fro on your back like you were fighting off a swarm of no-see-ums. It was pretty amazing to look into your eyes and wonder about what must [...]

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I’d always considered Ava a tiny little thing. Until recently. I held her on my lap this morning for some cuddles before leaving for work, and she seemed downright huge. It was really odd to have that big hunk of kid on my legs after toting Emmett around on my forearm last night for some [...]

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Hey, Emmett, it’s your very first moment of cuteness post! Huzzah! I anticipate many more to come. Your Uncle Kevin took this shot for me while I held you. He and your Aunt Rachel visited last weekend. It was nice to have another photographer in the house, since I often find myself wishing I could [...]

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