avablog

I call them “buzzer bugs” when I ask Ava if she can hear them. I don’t know if it’s been the warm weather or what, but I can’t recall the cicadas being this loud…ever. I was out in the yard the other night, and the racket was nearly deafening. I’ve been finding these spent shells […]

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I went and signed up for a beta test of the new online word processing application from Google.  I haven’t played with it yet, but it looks great.  I’m eager to try creating a document and sending the text to this blog, which is one of the cool features you get with an online word […]

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It is a great unwritten rule that as soon as you find a great thing, whether it’s a food item, a television show, or a picnic spot, it’ll be discontinued, canceled, or paved over just as you begin to love it. Some years ago (could it be 10?), I picked up a pair of men’s […]

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I stayed home with Ava this morning, as she’s presently under quarantine from her daycare for having had a fever yesterday. We had a really nice time.  The wonderfully paradoxical thing about this 24-hour-fever-free rule at the daycare is that infants rarely have fevers that last for more than a couple hours (if treated promptly […]

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Ava’s building quite a little library for herself. She must have close to 100 books already, and she can’t even read on her own. A lot of her books are ones that I had when I was a kid. Where the Wild Things Are. The Giving Tree. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Blueberries for Sal. The […]

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What is it about them, anyway? They’re all so clean and white and have the same pictures on the walls and the same countertops and cupboards and everything else.

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Ava seems to be doing a bit better today, though she spiked a fairly high fever last night.  This is when it really gets rough to have her in bed with us.  It’s not necessarily that we want her in bed with us, but since she’s still breastfeeding, she tends to wake up at least […]

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I have outdoor plans this weekend.  It’s an event I’ve been anticipating for a couple months now, so I’m hoping the weather pans out for Saturday.  As of right now, it’s supposed to be sunny and in the mid to upper 90s — perfect for a 30-mile bike ride to one of the state’s best […]

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I had to do some maintenance on the garden recently. My snap pea vines have grown much taller than the 3 feet advertised on the seed packet. It’s only mildly problematic. I took some of the long strips of redwood left over from my trellis project and wove them vertically through the chickenwire fence where […]

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Ava was off with Leah in Decorah this past weekend to have a girls weekend.  I missed them both. When I saw Ava on Sunday afternoon, there was something different about her.  She didn’t look any taller or heavier, but the way she moved and talked made her seem somehow…older, like a little girl instead […]

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Whew! What a whirlwind. Where to begin? This alliterative moment brought to you by the letters W and H.

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In the space of 13 months I went from leading the life of a confirmed bachelor with no designs on having a family to being married and fathering a little girl.  *blink, blink*

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I don’t read a lot. I know, I know. It’s terrible. Illiterate parents raise illiterate children. Fortunately, Ava will probably grow up to be semi-literate, at least, thanks to Leah (who, in addition to being a semi-voracious reader, is beautiful, sharp as a tack, funny, and the love of my life — happy now? ;)). […]

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I try to keep track of this kind of thing.  First cicada.  First firefly.  I don’t write it down or anything, but I make a mental note. Last night I was outside changing the oil in our car, and just at dusk I heard the familiar strains of a cicada off in the trees somewhere […]

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This is what your Daddy was listening to when he was your age. That is one funky blind man. And those kids are loving it!

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I love my daughter and will certainly go to all sorts of lengths to please her and provide for her, but I’m already learning where my limits are. And they are here. Via Daddy Types.

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This past Saturday we took Ava along to an annual neighborhood pig roast we get invited to. It’s a good time. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate, and a squall blew in and soaked everything just as the pig was coming out of the pit. It rained pretty hard for a bit, and then everyone came […]

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You’ve been alive now for 644 days, and this morning I fell in love with you for the 644th time. I rolled quietly out of bed so I wouldn’t disturb you where you were lying next to me and slipped through the door.   I walked silently from room to room, collecting the trash we […]

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I have a couple basil plants that’ve been growing like crazy lately with all this hot, humid weather and rain.  Last night I got my first chance to use some when I made pasta for dinner. We had a tube of frozen turkey in the freezer, so I browned it with a little sweet onion, […]

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If you’re thinking about having a baby — and even if you’re not — you’ve probably heard some horror stories about sleepless nights. They’re all true. But like everything else about having a child, sleep deprivation is a new part of life you just get used to.

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