avablog

So I’m finishing up Ava’s bath a couple minutes ago, and she’s playing “The Coffee Game.” It involves me placing an order for coffee, and Ava takes her two plastic cups and makes up a piping hot cup of brew for me. I order. “Skinny decaf latte, please, one pump of vanilla.” “You aren’t a […]

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I don’t really have any idea what our family members are getting Ava for her birthday. We’re getting her plenty of gifts, actually, and she’s not in need of anything other than clothes and cash for her college fund. But I’m going to go out on a limb right now and predict that her favorite […]

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I forgot to mention that our weekend activities included our usual trip downtown to the farmer’s market and the coffeehouse. If we ever manage to get Ava there during the work week, there’s not usually time for a book, but we typically do some reading on the weekend. The book she’s looking at here is […]

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What a nice weekend. Not only was the weather great, but we got to spend time with our cool friends and drink wine on two separate occasions. On Saturday evening, we attended a wine tasting held at Mara and Rockne’s house, which is only a couple blocks from ours. It was tasty and informative. Sunday […]

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Ava and I were messing around today when I was doing some calibration (etc.) on the home stereo. Turns out Ava loves her air guitar, as evidenced by: I think Ava gets this from her Grandma Georgie. I’ll try to get some video of the two of them together in a hellacious guitar duel to […]

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Leah and I have somewhat different parenting styles, though I think we each do a pretty good job of acquiescing from time to time when one of us seems particularly vehement about a particular issue. Which brings me to this piece in the Journal today. Gosh, it’s good. The author has four boys, bless him, […]

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It’s no wonder I’m not involved in any way with a single one of Ava’s clothing decisions. This is the kind of thing I suggest: In this instance, I blame Leah for my inspiration. On the drive back from our anniversary getaway on Sunday, she got hold of the iPod and started rolling all sorts […]

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Leah finally reached her breaking point. After months of expressing her dissatisfaction with how long it takes to coddle Ava to sleep at night (sometimes as long as 45 minutes), the last few nights found Ava putting herself to sleep. The first night was the worst, natch. It turns out there’s no amount of preparation […]

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Another fun thing Ava did with her Gramary on Wednesday (who came up with the spelling of Wednesday, and can we change it?) was to visit the practice field used by the Iowa Marching Band. The band was there preparing for the big game at Soldier Field this weekend, and Ava rejoiced in marching along […]

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I know that one of the things Leah finds frustrating about not getting pregnant — aside from all her friends who are pregnant or new mothers — is that there are lots of people out there who are pregnant or new mothers who should probably never have had sex in the first place, let alone […]

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I guess I can imagine that some people would consider having kids as a key component of a successful marriage, but 65% of people thought this at one time? Seems high. Just four-in-ten (41%) Americans now say that children are very important to a successful marriage, compared with 65% of the public who felt this […]

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All this back to school stuff is killing me: Fashion designers are ramping up their effort to capture the teen market with a slate of new perfumes. Marc Jacobs, whose new Daisy perfume has ruby-red-grapefruit notes, launched a social-networking site where fans can create a Daisy profile in a virtual flower field. Young Sexy Lovely […]

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Our new house sports a dishwasher, a “convenience” Leah and I never knew at our old house. After living with it for a couple months, I’m not impressed. The problem seems to be finding that perfect schedule that will result in everything I need at any given moment being clean and ready to use. So […]

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Panties emblazoned with “Buy it now! Tell dad later!” Now, I wouldn’t have Ava dressed for 6th grade in a burqa (probably), but the thought of her heading off to school wearing any of this stuff gives me the frights. Doesn’t Carhartt make underwear for little girls? Even more distressing is the thought of Ava […]

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I just finished reading this on the WSJ’s parenting blog: But between work and family, I’m finding little time to keep in touch with popular culture. My iPod is mostly a mix of 80s tunes and bands that were popular when I was in high school and college in the mid-90s; I can’t remember the […]

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Two ultrasound videos of Ava. This is back when Leah used to refer to her as our “bun.” Original, I know. Anyway, Leah ended up having at least three ultrasounds. She heard about a clinic in town that trains ultrasound technicians. Turns out the place also has a religious-based, pro-life mission, but Leah’s desire to […]

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He’s at it again. Tormenting me. Consuming me. Contrary to what Mark might have said in his “que sera” post, I can’t seem to convince myself that “whatever will be, will be” when it comes to having another baby. I fervently, desperately want another child. We’ve been trying for eight months, with no luck, and […]

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Grandma Georgie has decreed that posts on this blog featuring Ava (as well as pictures of Ava on my Flickr account) should be password protected. I aim to please; and if you’re not registered here, now’s a good time). But I’m posting this video out in the bright light of day because, firstly, it’s so […]

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Has it been 24 hours yet since I mentioned the Planet Earth DVDs? Once again, Ava was sitting on the couch this morning in front of the TV, slippers on(?), eating her eggs while she watched her new favorite portion of the program. It’s on the Ice Worlds section, which contains many, many super cute […]

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