avablog

This happened a couple days ago, but I’ve been telling myself I need to write it down so I can have the account in the official record. Ava’s outgrown naps, for the most part. In truth, she was never much of a napper. Nor a sleeper in general. The only time she naps now, really, […]

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Sorta like the chicken pox, Ava got her first exposure to the movie “Cars” at daycare. We were trapped inside today during the latest snow storm to hit the area, and after baking cookies and exhausting our other indoor entertainment options, we finally fell back on a little good ol’ video. I was scrolling down […]

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Guess who got a haircut yesterday? I love Ava’s hair like this. I think it really accentuates her little round face in just the right way. Also, it makes if more difficult for her to twist her hair into knots that then must be cut out with scissors.

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In lieu of reporting on all the insanely romantic things I did for my long-suffering wife this morning (of which there are none), I’ll present this picture of Ava’s breakfast: Heart-shaped French toast, just in case you didn’t recognize it. Happy Valentine’s Day! <3

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Cindy posted a cute pic today of two of her kids in the tub. It’s such a classic photo. I wonder if any parents anywhere in the world have ever been able to resist the urge to take one of these shots? I know my parents couldn’t: And of course you know I have absolutely […]

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We attended sweet Lila’s one-year birthday today. I took a whole snotload of pictures but managed to get things down to a manageable number before uploading to Flickr. Since it’s still so snowy and cold outside, I thought I’d pass along this picture: There are a lot more pictures of super-cute kids from the party […]

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One of the highlights of our trip came at the Best Western we stayed at in Alvin. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the Texas-shaped waffle: It wasn’t our last encounter with the Texas-shaped waffle. They had them at the Airport Inn we stayed in near the airport the night before we flew (most of […]

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If I never take another plane trip again, it’ll be too soon. Today we’re stuck in Madison at Rachel and Kevin’s house, waiting out a major snow storm that’s spread from Madison to Iowa City. It’s supposed to mitigate here sometime this afternoon, but we’re not sure how things will be on the road once […]

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When your naked daughter jumps up on your made bed and takes a leak all over your down comforter, grinning devilishly at you all the while. Really, there’s nowhere to go but up after a start like that. Also, Leah’s paternal grandmother passed away in Houston last night. We’ll be driving to Madison in the […]

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I took a bunch of pictures around the house the evening, including when it was Ava’s story time. This kid sure does love her stories. Sometimes she likes to take the book when we’re done and read it herself, but she only reads back what she memorized us reading on each page. It’s a neat […]

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Hi! Look at me! I’m the first parent who’s ever lamented that his child is growing up too fast! In truth, I do have a sense that Ava’s growing up pretty quickly. This morning I sat and looked out my window as the high school kids parked up all the available real estate on the […]

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The weatherman (or, as Leah says, “weatherperson“) tells us the temp is going to drop something like 70 degrees by this evening. Seriously. That’s crazy. The threat of 45-mph winds and extreme cold (I even heard the word “blizzard” within the first hour of being at work) have already intimidated the local schools into closing […]

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Thank God for my blog post yesterday, or I’d have no proof that I actually lived through a weekend over the past two days. I hate sitting at my desk on a Monday morning and feeling like yesterday was Friday. But it’s OK. I have my work cut out for me this week, as usual. […]

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My mom was set to come over and sit for us last night while we went to dinner with friends. But as we were getting Ava ready, she insisted she wanted to stay overnight at Gramary’s. Leah and I weren’t sure, but Ava was super excited and insisted she would be OK. So we agreed. […]

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All right, so the headline is a bit of a reach here. But I try to make a Marty Feldman reference at least once a month, out of respect. This is Ava’s “eye thing.” She busts this out every once in a while for no apparent reason. Sometimes she’ll do it as she looks at […]

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Ava and I were hanging out yesterday while I put some new media on our server. At one point, I expressed some frustration at the Apple TV needing to reboot, and Ava — who was on the sofa next to me — put her hand gently on my arm, looked up at me with her […]

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Hey, it’s been a while, huh? Taken this morning as Ava cuddled under her hearts blanket (which is getting a bit small for her by now).

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The view as I walked into the office this morning: Not bad.

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That number represents our chances of getting pregnant each month, according to the doctor we saw this morning (when we conceived Ava, our odds were more like 18% to 20%). If we undertake IUI, that goes up another 2%. If we do IUI with a drug like clomid or letrozol, we get another 2%. So […]

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I thought I’d post a little video of our takeoff from Chicago on the way to Cancun, a.k.a. Ava’s first plane ride. It was also her first time chewing gum, which we told her would come in handy if her ears started to pop. She was far more excited about the gum than the plane […]

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