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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The ATV gurus are swarming over Apple’s recent AppleTV Take 2 update like flies on a rib roast. Leah’s excited about the update because it’ll let us watch online rentals (but only if you’re using HDMI!); I just want to make sure I can update and still have my beloved network drive mounts remain intact. […]

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Local Girlfriend Always Wants To Do Stuff …Bertram reportedly did not recognize the severity of his girlfriend’s near-chronic dependence on getting out of the house and doing stuff until six months ago, when she insisted the two attend a free outdoor concert in their neighborhood. Since that time, Maas has asked an estimated 11 times […]

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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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So we were watching “Sunshine” last night. Perhaps you’ve seen it. Anyway, it was recommended by a friend. It was OK. But I knew we weren’t in for anything too fantastic when pretty much the opening shot was a ripoff of “Alien.”

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Part of the fun of these blog things is turning your readers on to things you like, right? Well, one of the things I like is Dave Hill’s blog. This guy is hilarious. He’s been around for quite a while in various incarnations, but this whole blogging business really suits his sense of humor and […]

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Photos here. Still uploading images as I type this. My favorite picture from the trip:

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In Spanish, that means “until later.” We’re off to Mexico in the morning, and I’m leaving my beloved MacBook at home. You can bet you’ll have plenty of vacation pics to look at when we return next Sunday. Uncle Kevin spent the afternoon at the ER on morphine up in Madison today. Poor fella. He […]

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Like mother, like daughter. Leah and Georgie have teamed up to contribute their voices to the doomed ship that is John Edwards’ presidential campaign. Why they don’t hitch their respective wagons to Obama’s shooting star is beyond me. As Jesse Jackson said when he visited my high school years ago, “Up with hope! Down with […]

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I was grabbing a cup of what passes for coffee around here this morning, and there was a box of Swiss Valley cocoa mix sitting near the coffee machine. As I poured my (real) sugar packet into my mug, I noticed the Swiss Valley box said the contents were made with “fresh milk.” What in […]

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Dear Santa, I know you’re resting, but I wanted to intrude upon your repose for just a minute with an admission: Over the last week, I repeatedly took your name in vain in the most careless ways imaginable. See, I’m the father of a three-year-old girl. And as the father of a three-year-old girl, I […]

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One of the items on Ava’s Christmas list from the very beginning was a guitar. As usual, Santa delivered. I love how her tousled hair completes the rocker chic look, especially in her fancy Christmas garb. She even has the facial expression down!

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So I just got home from work, and Ava had me play Perry Como’s version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” which she just said is her “favorite song in the whole world.” After it finished playing the first time, she came over to the AIO remote and hit the play button, restarting the […]

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Last night we went out for dinner with a couple friends. The hitch: We had reservations at Cafe Docici, which is a ~30 minute drive from Iowa City. Not such a big deal, usually, but last night the countryside was socked in with a dense fog, and visibility was down to about 30 feet. We’d […]

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It stands for hysterosalpingogram. A radioactive dye is inserted into the uterus while under an X-ray machine. An image is created that lets you know if there are any blockages or other problems with your uterus or fallopian tubes. It’s pretty amazing to watch. The hospital sent us home with a CD of images from […]

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OK, I stole that headline from today’s WSJ. Sue me (KIDDING, Rupert!). Sunday evening we loaded into the car with Gramary and went out to see some Christmas light displays. Ava was very, very excited. There was one home in particular that we were looking forward to, and when we were leaving the house, we […]

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Pretend like she knows all the reindeer names. Also, at about 26 seconds in I flip the viewfinder over so Ava can see herself singing. You’ll note the change in her facial expression (and the bad framing on my part). I told Ava we could share this video with all her friends, and she was […]

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Bow down to my mad iMovie HD skillz: I wish the video were better quality so you could make out the words on the page better, but the sound isn’t too bad. You get the idea.

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Ava sat in our bed this morning and “read” books while Leah and I scrambled around getting ready for work. In particular, Ava was working on What do you do with a kangaroo? I wasn’t paying much attention to her at first, but bit by bit, her mumbling became more recognizable. It sounded like she […]

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