I scream for Ice cream!

Fun at home: check out our boy playing the bongos (a Christmas gift from Uncle Donnie). Notice how he is clapping for himself! Belen (our childcare provider) noted that Avery is now dancing along to music, which we have also recently observed. He hears music and he bops his head and bounces on his butt along! And it is now official: our son can crawl. Our weekend project will be to babyproof the apartment because already he is finding interesting things like wires to chew on.





Tonight was 31 cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins, so we got a scoop (okay, a few scoops) to take home and enjoy. Avery had a bath and then we put him in a Ben and Jerry's t-shirt that Carolyn got at a tag sale, you know, just to go along with the ice cream theme. Avery definitely enjoyed the ice cream (Heath Bar flavor), but seemed more interested in the plastic spoon and the cup.

Moving About

Check out Avery's Hawaiian shirt/ striped shorts combo. It's so fun dressing him up in (what we believe to be are) cute outfits while he'll let us. He is becoming increasingly mobile, although he still isn't crawling exactly. He pulls himself up onto furniture (our ottomans are the exact right height for him to hold onto and pull himself up, which he'll do especially if there is something enticing on top like the TV remote control, a cell phone, or a can of Diet Dr. Pepper). He also kind of scoots all around, reaching for things and using his leg muscles to hoist himself in whatever direction he is trying to go. Sometimes we leave the room and when we come back moments later, he is several feet away from where we left him. Soon we'll be chasing after him constantly.

Like on the cruise ship this summer. Our vacation plans are official: we're going on the Rfamily Cruise in July (rfamilyvacations.com). We're really excited, and I'm already thinking about what sorts of swimsuits and "cruisewear" we'll have to get for Avery beforehand. This outfit here would be good vacation wear, although I'm not sure it'll still fit him in July. We need to get him some sandals. Those elephant shoes just aren't quite right for the summer.

Feeding Time/ At the Zoo

Here, Avery is eating (?) a blueberry pancake. For such a big guy, sometimes it seems like very little food actually makes it into his mouth to be swallowed. Yesterday, I had the day off (CUNY has a very late Spring Break for Passover), so I took Avery to the Bronx Zoo. I think when he's older it'll be more fun. The children's zoo is really great and there are all sorts of fun things like a Bug Carousel and a Skyride that goes over the whole zoo. But if nothing else, it was a fun way to enjoy a nice long walk on a beautiful warm day. The last picture is Avery sleeping with his elephant. Lately, he always finds it in his crib and hugs it as he sleeps. It's really cute. Hopefully this choice of toy is not indicative of his future political affiliations (although we do expect him to rebel against his parents somehow. Carolyn always imagines Avery going through an "Alex P. Keaton" phase to annoy us when he's older).

Parker and Avery

Hannah, Dale, and their 2-month old daughter, Parker, came to visit from Massachusetts. Parker is SO cute! I can't even remember Avery ever being that small. This first picture is the BEST: Avery got very excited about Parker and it looks like he wanted to bite her head! We were able to stop him (and perhaps he just wanted to give her a kiss . . . but this boy loves to bite!) but if you look, Parker has made a fist and looks like she'll punch Avery he tries anything! So she's small but ready to defend herself when necessary.

Avery has 2 new favorite toys: he sat on this tricycle in his room today; we're going to buy a bike lock and lock it to the bike rack in the garage here where all the students keep their bikes, just because that would be ridiculously cute. Then today, Carolyn picked up one of those cheap bouncy balls they sell at the grocery store, and Avery LOVES it! We had so much fun rolling it around, kicking it, throwing it up and catching it, etc. Avery's athletic skills are becoming more and more apparent, even though he can't walk or crawl yet (although he is very close to doing both).

Dance Along

The weather is finally warm and sunny! There was an event on campus (a picnic with live bands) so we walked over to check it out and hang out with Carolyn's new colleagues. Avery loved the music and danced a little. Ruby got LOTS of attention from students. After a while, Avery got worn out from dancing and fell fast asleep in his stroller for a nice long nap! Carolyn loves her new job, and it is much more family-friendly and comfortable for us here. The students are really nice, and everybody is very friendly to us.

Avery seems much healthier. He still has a runny nose, but his fever has been gone for a couple of days now, and his appetite is back. In fact, he woke up today SO cranky and howling, that we couldn't figure out what was wrong until we saw him eating his breakfast like a starving man! He was just hungry! He tried a new food at lunch: spinach and ricotta tortellini in tomato sauce. He LOVED it! He hasn't been eating much this week, so it is nice to see him feeling like his (hungry) old self.

Hannah and Dale are visiting from Massachusetts with their daughter Parker, who is just 8 weeks old! More pictures to follow of their cutie with our son -- Avery looks like an absolute giant compared to Parker!

A Fun Start to a Not-so-Fun Week

Avery has come down with his first cold. It's been bad -- a constantly running nose and a fever. He seems a bit better today, and hopefully by the end of the week he'll be all better. We're keeping him home from daycare which is working out okay; I stayed home yesterday and Carolyn worked from home today. The doctor said there is nothing much we can do except give him Motrin for the fever and try and keep him comfortable.

Before he got sick, we explored our neighborhood a bit and found a nice playground within walking distance that has baby swings. Ruby got lots of attention from other kids! And Avery enjoyed going on the swing and down the slide (with some help from me).

Carolyn went to a Mothers of Twins tag sale (she lives for this sort of bargain-shopping extravaganza!) and came home with lots of cute big-boy clothes for Avery (he is quickly outgrowing all his size 24 months outfits!), a tricycle (one of those nice ones with the long handle for the parent to hold onto), AND a cool piano since Avery has been enjoying the one at his daycare so much. He reminds us of Schroeder from the Peanuts comics.

Look at these pictures of him in the hat -- is he not the most adorable baby you have ever seen?!?!?!?

Hard at Work!

Avery got up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning to get straight to work with his tool bench. Lots of things to build and fix (or at least stack, knock down, and chew on):

Family Visit

Walking around the Sarah Lawrence campus:


At the Mexican restaurant in Bronxville. Avery ate rice and beans and made a big mess, and the rest of us enjoyed margaritas



Bubbe reading Avery a foreign language book: "Hello Duck! Hola Pato! Bonjour Canard!"



Hugs with Opa and Aunt Hannah:

9 months old!

In the kitchen sink bath:




Our 9 month pediatrician appointment went very well. Very cute story: I took him in for his appointment and checked him in at the desk. We went to sit in the waiting area where the toys are, and a boy came up to us and said he heard me check Avery in -- he said "I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm a 15-year old Avery, and I love my name!" Then his mom came over and we talked about how Avery is a great name! It was very sweet.

Our Avery is still way off the charts for both height and weight -- over 31 inches long and 28 pounds -- but he is proportionate. He's just a giant baby! Dr. Cosme said to stop giving him the jarred baby food and to have him eat regular food which is also what our new daycare provider Belen said we should do. He's big, he has teeth, he wants to eat! So today he got to eat lunch with the big kids -- it was lentils and rice day, and of course Avery LOVED eating lunch with the big kids, and Belen said he said "MMMmmm!" a lot :)

Dr. Cosme is not concerned that he is still not crawling -- it seems like he'll skip that and just walk. He can pull himself up to a standing position while holding onto our fingers or furniture for support, and he scoots around on his butt. But he doesn't love being on his tummy. He is definitely ready to start running around with the big kids at his childcare. When I dropped him off this morning, we walked in the door and the boys who were already there said "Hi Avery!" except for one boy named Xavier calls him "Abery." Avery just smiled and smiled at all his friends, and then sat down with a toy piano and started banging on the keys.
He is a healthy and very happy baby.