avablog

Ava, our beautiful girl, at 13 7. *sigh* It seems like she’s losing some of her childlike ways recently, though she still loves a Garfield strip and a stuffy at bedtime. Sometimes I wish my brain weren’t wired to forget all the challenges involved in raising a child, if only so these rose-colored glasses I […]

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It’s impressive to see how good Ava’s become on her bike over the last couple weeks. I volunteered at the Hoover bike rodeo yesterday afternoon, so I got to see Ava in action among her peers.

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Ava’s just started riding her bike to school in the last week. It seems like we’ve waited a long time for our daughter to take to her wheels, but now that she’s up, it’s difficult to get her to slow down. The new method of transportation also seems to have reestablished her friendship with her […]

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We’re certainly at a stage right now where AGP and ECP are fighting for dominance/attention at home. They can usually manage to sit together for about five minutes before one of them hits, pinches, or otherwise annoys the other to the point that a fight breaks out. So your dear narrator could be forgiven the […]

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AGP takes some time out to give her little nephew a snack. As cute as TLD is here and the two of them are together, I’m particularly struck by how beautiful my daughter is. Here is the person she really is. This is her steady state. I only wish she would return there more often.

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After hearing Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night” on the very short drive to drop off Ava at school this morning, I was totally incensed and all fired up to write a blog post about how, back in my day, songs weren’t such steaming pieces of shit. And if you haven’t heard Katy Perry’s “Last Friday […]

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I’m sure you’ve been waiting impatiently to see pictures from our recent trip to lovely Isla Mujeres. Well, I’m hereby rewarding your lack of patience! Enjoy!

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“Gosh,” I hear you saying to yourself, “I wonder what Ava and Emmett look like these days.” I’m glad you mused. These shots are from our trip to Sass Family Farm last weekend.

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Apologies to Neil Diamond.

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There she goes. Whenever I look at one of these momentous shots of my girl, this is really all I see:

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When I saw AGP this morning, sitting on the porch swing with the morning sun shining through her side pony, I had to force her to sit for a portrait. Sometimes when I look at yet another picture of either of the kids, I wonder why I never get tired of looking at pictures of […]

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We had a nice weekend in Decorah at Nordic Fest (no matter what Rachel tells you!). It was fun to see Baby Tristan and to sample Norwegian delicacies. I think we might go back next year, especially if they can get Michele Bachmann to appear in the parade!

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Big news out of The Ranch in the last 24 is that ECP expressed interest in — and did then subsequently use — the potty for #2.

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By Ava, done using one of the myriad free doodling apps for the iPad.

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Emmett’s seemed like a pretty steady little guy, really, temperament-wise. But lately he’s becoming more physical and more obstinate at the same time, which is a frustrating combination.

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Good ol’ Ben let me borrow a nice lens over the weekend. I promptly availed myself of the new glass by shooting one of my favorite subjects ever: Thanks for the loan, Ben! And thanks for the awesome genetic material, Leah!

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I wouldn’t trade these two for anything. Not even for a MacBook Air and a Canon 1DMKIV with an 85mm f/1.2L. Really! Honest! Luckiest. Dad. Evar.

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Ava finallylost her first tooth last night. That thing’s been hanging on by a tiny strip of gum (I think I’m getting ill) for a couple weeks now, but last evening Ava had finally had enough.

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My ongoing mission to get photos of the kids together bore fruit today at the Iowa City Fire Department. Thanks to Cpt. Hickman for showing us around and for letting the kids sit on the bumper for this shot! Such nice people at the FD….

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It seemed like it thundered steadily all night last night. Ava typically awakens after one or two good booms (Emmett does OK, so far), so last night I stood at the bottom of the stairs and listened between claps for sounds of her crying in her room. Nothing came. Minutes went by, and I waited. […]

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