avablog

Tonight was the night.  Ava spontaneously used her little potty a number of weeks ago, and Leah and I immediately began to suffer under the delusion that this whole potty training thing was going to be a cinch.  Of course, Ava promptly lost all interest in using her potty the minute her tiny butt came […]

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Miles Davis died on this day in 1991.  It’s not a fact I have in memory; I heard it on the local Jazz station today at noon as I was driving downtown for lunch. By 1991, I was aware of Miles only as an image on a stage blowing long (by that time, high, often […]

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As I write this, it’s 6:08 a.m. and pretty much pitch black outside.  The darkness, combined with the cool temperatures at night, is making it fairly impossible lately to get out of bed in the morning with any sort of conviction.   Compounding the problem is that Ava’s been sleeping soundly through the night for the […]

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Else we might have had to resort to something like this. *shudder*

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Pretty much the day after her second birthday, Ava started in with the “why?” to everything we said. “It’s time to go inside, Ava.” “Why?” “Because we have to eat supper.” “Why?” “Because food gives us energy.” “Why?” “Because it has vitamins in it.” “Why?” And on and on.  It’s great to see her be […]

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Leah and I have been somewhat dismayed recently to run into so many parents who have little girls named Ava.  Leah even met someone the other day who had an Ava Grace.  It’s like these people were thinking the exact same thing we were three years ago, which went something like, “Ava’s a nice name.  […]

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A man’s greatness is not estimated by the size of his body or of his purse; not by his family connections or social position, however high these may be. He may bulk large in public estimation today, but tomorrow he will be forgotten like a dream, and his very servants may secure a higher position […]

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My brother always creates handmade cards for birthdays, Christmas, etc. I love them. He’s really followed in my dad’s footsteps, artistic-wise, which is great. This is the card he made for Ava’s birthday this year. The design and colors are great; it’s downright Egyptian.

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I had this impression of Iowans as a hardier lot.  The temperature got down below 50 this morning, and everyone here at the office is walking around talking about how “freezing” it is.  Sheesh.  I have no idea what these people are going to do in the middle of February. In other office-related news today, […]

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We’re just back.  The big stats: 32″ tall (long) 22 lbs. Ten and 5% of “the norm,” respectively.  Although she’s tiny, our doctor did comment that Ava’s probably the only two-year-old she’s ever heard say “stethoscope.”  So, we’ve got that going for us.  Which is nice.

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Words hardly do justice to the splendid meal we had at Simone’s Plain and Simple last Friday night. It was everything I hoped it would be. And a little bit more. Here’s the menu: An assortment of Hors d’oeuvres ‘Gougère bourguignonne’ – a wreath of puff pastry with mild Swiss cheese ‘Estouffade de Bison’ – […]

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Well, maybe that’s too strong a word.  “Frustrating” isn’t quite right, either.  “Disheartening?”  Maybe. I love taking pictures of Ava, if you hadn’t noticed.  But I’m not a great photographer and I don’t have very flexible equipment.  So I keep telling myself that comparisons of my shots to shots by people like this isn’t really […]

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I wish I could’ve come up with a pithy title for this post. Yesterday morning I noticed a bunch of weird orange…stuff on the ground in the park next to my office. I was about 150 yards away, so I couldn’t make it out very clearly. I figured if it’d been trash, someone would’ve come […]

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It’s very, very cool to see how excited Ava is getting about her birthday this year.  I think what’s neatest about it is that she’s not excited at all about any presents she might get (I’m not entirely sure she really understands the whole present thing yet), but that she can’t wait for her (not […]

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There’s a box sitting on the floor in my garage that contains hard copies of just about every paper I wrote in college, complete with handwritten commentary from my classmates and professors. It seems like I should empty it into the recycling bin on Friday, but I don’t know if I can muster the guts […]

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This is an amazing story.  Via BoingBoing. It’s incredible the way we (humans) are still stumbling around in this world, almost completely blind.

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The Apple iTV, available Q107. Bah! Why does Steve hate me?

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Sometimes I think Ava must be one of the most-photographed kids in the world.  An exaggeration, sure, but it seems I’m just as used to seeing her displayed on a small LCD as not. Even with all the shots I’m taking at home, Leah still likes to have “professional” shots taken on milestones like birthdays […]

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This morning, Ava was lying in bed with us after she woke up.  She started tickling Leah and me, and then we started tickling her back.  I must’ve tickled her too hard, or something, because she said, “Stop, daddy!”  The she rolled towards me, pursed her lips, and said, “No, no, daddy!  You go on […]

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The Gerbera daisies and the big red box from Redenvelope. What could it be? Detail shot of one flower in natural light. Oooh! The bottom of a box! Thank you! A jewelry box in rose-colored leather. “What’s this piece do?”

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