avablog

I know it’s too early to start talking like we’re going to have only one child, but there’s some interesting research out there lately that suggests only kids aren’t the hyper-entitled terrors they were once thought to be. I’m a member of the “que sera sera” camp; If we have another child, great. If not, […]

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Ava woke up last night just as Leah and I were getting to bed. She was crying and calling for me, and I could tell by the sound of her little sobs that she was probably just having a bad dream (we’re told it’s normal for kids to start having “night terrors” at Ava’s age). […]

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OK. Deep, dark parental admission time: I never really wanted to have a boy. And I’m not sure why not. It’s not that I was hoping we wouldn’t have a boy. I was indifferent as to the matter of sex when our baby was growing in Leah’s womb; I just wanted the baby to be […]

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This is the 7,000th image I’ve uploaded to flickr: Coulda been better, coulda been worse. Over half of those images are of Ava, so if you’re not on my friends or family list or otherwise connected, you’re missing out.

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I’m looking forward to next month. There’s a lot going on. I’ve always looked forward to September, as it’s my birth month (go Virgo, it’s your birthday). But over the last couple years I’ve managed to heighten September’s importance through sheer determination and shrewd strategic planning. First was the wedding: September 6th. Then the baby: […]

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Now Ava’s streak is going in the other direction. Two bedtime accidents in a row! I got her to go potty twice last night right before bed, but she still had an accident. It doesn’t seem right to put her back into pull-ups now, after she had been doing so well, and I guess it’s […]

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So I’m lying with Ava last night at bedtime after reading her a couple books, and of course I doze off. Must’ve been around 9:30 or so. Some time later, I awoke in a clammy start in her little single bed and felt the side of my t-shirt. Wet. Did her water bottle leak? I […]

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How could I have missed posting about this until now? The night of Sunday, August 12, 2007, Ava slept all night in her big girl underpants for the first time and woke up the next morning dry as a bone (same as the sheets).  It was quite a milestone, and Ava was thrilled as we […]

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Ava talks. And talks and talks and talks. She has a pretty good vocabulary (I don’t have anything to measure it against, but it seems impressive to me for a three-year-old), and her pronunciation is surprisingly sharp (Leah noted with due parental affection last evening how cute it is that Ava pronounces “belly” as “bewwy”).

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I love to walk around like a total tourist when I’m visiting a place. And particularly cities with lots of cool architecture. I think it would be sad if you lived or worked every day somewhere like downtown Chicago and became inured to the beautiful buildings all around you. I suppose it’s inevitable to some […]

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What a day.  We headed down to Navy Pier this morning to take Ava to the Chicago Children’s Museum.  What a zoo.  Congestion aside, it’s a nice museum.  The mark of excellence for these kinds of places is the quality of the arts stuff they have on site, and this one had really nice arts […]

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There have been a lot of flies in our house lately. Ava derives great pleasure from following them from room to room, screaming at me to “Get them!” But she turns tail and runs as soon as one heads her way. Until last evening.

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We have little two-step footstools that Ava uses to reach the sink and get into bed.  Just now, I asked her to get onto her bed so I could put some sunscreen on her, and as she climbed, she said, pointing at her stool, “I call these ‘upstairs,’ because I get up with them.”

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I was driving home from Decorah last Saturday morning and had just come through Cedar Rapids when I saw a small billboard that read, “God is Pro-life. Are you?”

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Ava doesn’t like rain or thunder. When we picked her up from daycare yesterday, she was huddled on the floor next to her friends with a blanket draped over her shoulders.  She wore the blanket all the way home. But she loves jumping in puddles after the rain. So, it’s a great opportunity for a […]

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We’re driving up to Decorah this afternoon for a little getaway at Leah’s parents’ house.  Rachel and Kevin will also be in town, as Rachel is throwing a big birthday bash for a good friend.  Ava’s already looking forward to swimming, the coffee shop, making cookies with G.G., and looking at all the animals down […]

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(Over)heard this morning, as I was getting the bike out of the garage and Ava was waiting for me on the stairs leading down from the kitchen: “Darn it!  I got another bug bite.  Those little smageetos* really got me.” *We’ve tried a couple times to correct her pronunciation of mosquito, but she’ll have none […]

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Our dear Ava has another ear infection. In the middle of summer! Blasted kid. Leah’s patting herself on the back for recognizing the signs at an even earlier stage than she did last time Ava came down sick.

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I don’t ever really talk with other parents about how they resolve issues like whether their kids will grow up eating juicy hamburgers or dry hamburgers. I made turkey burgers last week (and again last night, because all I can think to do on a 95-degree day is stand over a hot grill), and Leah […]

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We had a nice day with friends. Spent a couple hours at the local pool with Ava as she hopped around in the shallow end, then went over to a neighbor’s place to lounge by their (inflatable) pool. Then off to another neighbor’s for dinner and sparklers. They had a nice chalk mural waiting for […]

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