Random Pictures of our handsome guy

Walking Ruby:




A haircut followed immediately by a nap = a bad hair day:



A Bob the Builder hat can work wonders for a bad hair day:


"Ring-a-Round-the-Rosie, All Fall Down!"




Avery sitting in Ruby's dog bed and getting tangled in Mama's iTouch:



"Zombie Boy" watching Sesame Street:

Where a kid can be a kid, and a parent can act like a kid too!

This is the first Saturday in ages where we have no plans whatsoever, which is really nice! We were in the mood to go somewhere together and have fun and we ended up at Chuck-E-Cheese in the Bronx. We were a bit hesitant since we weren't sure if it would be horribly crowded and/or gross. But we got there just before noon, and it wasn't crowded yet. Avery really liked it! He looks serious in these pictures, but he did have a great time. Actually, we all had fun.
(Remember this ride?! I have a vague memory of barfing on it when I was a kid, but I'm hoping that this is an inaccurate memory):






This is the mechanical Chuck E Cheese. He was singing that song from the early 80's "Shout, Shout, Let it all out, these are the things I can do without, come on . . ." which makes me think they haven't updated their entertainment in a while. Avery was not afraid and he danced a little. He is a GREAT dancer, by the way. He shakes his head back and forth quickly and kicks his legs. The other night, there was a carnival for the students at Sarah Lawrence, and we took Avery. It was at night, so he was wearing his pajamas and it was held in the gym. Avery LOVED being able to run around! There was music playing and there was a group of some college girls dancing. Avery didn't even hesitate going up to them and joining them. He got a lot of compliments on his moves that night.





Avery loves pizza but he actually preferred eating fruits and veggies from the salad bar. Speaking of veggies, he LOVES those little sweet mini bell peppers. Whenever we take him to Costco and he sees them, we end up buying a big bag of them. He shrieks and points and doesn't want to wait to pay for them before eating some. He eats them like apples, it's very cute.

Breakfast of Champions

The other morning, Avery pointed to a swim cap and asked his new question: "What is it?" We showed him by putting it on his head, and he HOWLED when we tried taking it off of him. He wore it through breakfast, Sesame Street, and teeth brushing time. "What is it?" is his question that he asks all the time, pointing at anything he is curious about.




Avery holding Elphy as he sleeps still never fails to melt our hearts:

The Three Musketeers at the Bronx Zoo

Long time no post! What can we say about our 19-month old? He is into Play-Doh, coloring, and running and jumping. His favorite books now are "ABC in NYC" (where we learn, for example, that C is for Cheesecake, Coffee Cart, Columbus Circle, and the Chrysler Building) and a pop-up version of "The Wheels on the Bus." He is sleeping well, eating well, and talking more: he often says phrases like "what is it?" and "oh wow!" (and, unfortunately, "Oh Sh*t!" -- we have to be more careful about watching our mouths!). He says a lot of words, but he can also identify a lot of things that he hasn't learned to say. Like if we ask about a picture "Where is the car?" "where are the grapes?" "Where is the baby's nose?", he can point those things out. He also really likes doing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and going for walks in our apartment building. He particularly enjoys walking up and down the stairs but he also loves pressing the elevator buttons. And he smiles and "chats" with anyone who greets him. The students often say "Yo man, what's up?" and Avery always grins and nods. He really likes eating kiwi fruit, mango, and pineapple. He also likes peas. His favorite food right now, though, seems to be pizza. The other day I made just a frozen Trader Joe's spinach pizza and when Avery saw it he clapped his hands and said "Yay!" and after every bite, he said "Yum!"

We are SO ready for Spring. It is rough being stuck indoors. So when we found out that it was going to be weirdly warm today (in the 50s), we decided to go to the Bronx zoo (and take advantage of our new family membership -- thanks Bubbe!). We met up with Kim and Jess who had brought Olivia and Jason. So the "Three Musketeers" got to run around and look at animals.

Avery really liked seeing some small monkeys who were being very active. He also liked seeing the sea lions, who were also being active. Probably his favorite animals, however, were the fish. He got to stand in front of the tank and watch them swim directly in front of hiim. The kids were very good and clearly happy to be able to be outdoors. By the end of our visit, Avery had fallen asleep in his stroller, so he missed the grizzly bears, and also, I think, the giraffes: