avablog

As of this morning, we’re on to month 12 of the Great Baby Hunt. Leah’s pretty upset, as usual, but I’m trying to remain optimistic. Not necessarily about having another child, which really strikes me as something that’ll happen or not regardless of how badly we want it, but about the odds of life going […]

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My MacBook was busy this weekend ripping and encoding a number of DVDs. Handbrake‘s latest version really does a nice job encoding DVD rips with 5.1 channel surround via default settings. I was able to get through Monsters Inc., Cars, The Incredibles, and two Caillou DVDs before the weekend ran out. I wish I hadn’t […]

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Ava and I got to spend some one-on-one time together yesterday while Leah was off at a baby shower. We went up to the high school and played with her ball on the front lawn for a bit, then walked around back to look at the running track. I had her practice a couple sprint […]

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My friend and colleague Marcia is, among other nice things, an absolute fiend for Classical music. She goes through CDs like other people go through milk, or bread, or Manolo Blahniks. She has rack after rack after rack of CD storage lining her living room (she and her partner, Dennis, hold the current record amongst […]

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I never thought it would happen this soon, but there it was, last night at the dinner table, when Ava looked over at Leah and asked her where babies come from. The topic came up in the course of Ava discussing again how much she likes babies. Leah’s a big believer in laying out the […]

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I really enjoy photography a lot, primarily because I believe it’s a medium that lets people express themselves in ways they might otherwise not. A certain angle, lighting choice, or expression can provide insights into a subject that aren’t obvious at first glance. I feel this phenomenon particularly acutely when I’m taking pictures of Ava. […]

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Leah was giving Ava a bath two nights ago, and I was in the bathroom with them for a time. I stood and looked down at Ava as she splashed around in the tub, sitting sideways with her little head sticking up out of the water, and I was struck again by the fact that […]

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We took a drive out to Squire Point yesterday to take a stroll along the paths. We told Ava she should keep an eye out for pretty leaves, and we’d collect them to bring home so we could make a collage. She paid heed. It was just about a perfect day for a hike. Ava […]

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Some days I feel like my brains will run out of my ears if I tilt my head too far in one direction. Today is one of those days. Leah just called me at work (she has Fridays off) to let me know Ava has a fever and is draining copious amounts of green mucous […]

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We had a great time trick-or-treating last night. Ava was totally juiced for the event, and she went hard for two hours before hitting the wall about the time we arrived at Grandpa Chuck’s house. Next up: Thanksgiving. I came across an article in the WSJ this morning that has me thinking. I’m trying to […]

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