Mama's turn

Yeah, it took an extra month, but Ava finally got around to giving props to mom.



Weight gain, c-section, stretch marks, sleepless nights (still), the mild inconvenience of pumping at work, and being so consumed with interest in something that weighs just over 13 pounds: all forgotten, baby.

Blogger meetup

Almost a month ago (yeah, I know. Time flies when you're working, living and raising a baby.), I took Ava along to do some outreach to other local bloggers at a meetup.

It was a pretty loose group of really nice folks who appeared to know each other pretty well already. They were quite welcoming and quick to offer great insights on the blogging craft. It was good to meet this handful of other folks in my area who are putting their words out online for others to read, or in one attendee's case, deciding whether to do so.
Since we didn't make it into the shot one of the other attendees took with his iPhone, I snapped this one of me and a very sleepy Ava, who was too young (at five months) to castigate me for keeping her out entirely too late on a weeknight. I suspect she'll return the favor in about 16 years.

Obscene amounts of beverages

This is my first ever Venti Starbucks drink, served up by one of the baristas in the background having a public display of affection with a co-worker. I've always thought the Venti, or "large" to the non-Starbucks indoctrinated or "extra large" to normal people or "Obscene amount of beverage" to Europeans, was just too much liquid for a human to ingest in a short period. But I'm in Vegas, it's the desert, I've been in climate controlled rooms almost since we arrived, and I just walked the mile or so from my hotel to the conference hotel and back for the 4th (!!) time today. And this last time, I wore a 13.5 lb. baby and a diaper bag, just to make it interesting and give J. a break. So to describe my current state of being as PARCHED would be like describing casinos as a little bright and noisy or the current administration as a bit unsuccessful. 'Nuff said.

Ava's photoshoot!

This is from a couple weeks ago when I couldn't stomach the thought of figuring out how to find a photog and get myself and an almost-five month old across town to a photographer and time it so that she would be rested, fed, dry and in a good mood at an exact appointment time. Are there really mothers who can do that?! Wow. I'm SO not there yet. So we made do at home.

Note that meltdown shot above is before she ate...
and the smiley ones are right after. "Yeah, wonder where she gets that," J. remarked sarcastically, looking right at me. Okay, I admit that on occasion when I'm FAMISHED and he asks what I'd like to eat, I've been known to respond, "Food."
Oh little baby girl, you and I are going to have some GOOD times involving carbs some day. GOOD times. Trust me.

Ava got back and celebrates President's Day with her first word - sorta

President's Day in Seattle was a heaping armful of sunshine and blue sky. It's the kind of day in this city that makes you want to unfurl from your dreary winter days-induced fetal position and spend the whole day walking around, drinking refreshing beverages, and doing anything, heck even picking up roadside trash, if it keeps you outside longer.

We skipped the trash (been there, done that, got the recycled hemp t-shirt) and instead checked out the Olympic Sculpture Park newly opened by the Seattle Art Museum. The park is up on a hill and has several long, gravel walking paths with oversized art installations that seem perfectly suited to the openness of the outdoor locations and the amazing backdrop created by the blue sky, snow-covered Olympic mountains and Puget Sound shimmering below.

Although Ava enjoyed being outside, the sun kept getting in her eyes making her fuss. So as Jason pushed her in the stroller, I had to walk at just the right pace beside her to block the rays. In so doing, I not only blocked the beautiful view, I replaced it with my butt with each step. Here's one of your first lessons kid: life is all about trade-offs and sometimes the options are "bad" vs. "worse." So it was only fitting that her onesie for the day sported this saying:


Sorry to break it to you my love, but it's not the diaper, it's your DNA. I've wondered if there's a niche market to be had in producing diapers based on Nelly's Apple Bottom jean line or Beyonce's House of Dereon jeans, for those with a little more junk in their baby trunk. If I see someone do these on Donny Deutsch's Big Idea, I'm going to buy stock.

Baby bum's aside, we had a lovely family day out in the sun and thoroughly enjoyed Ava's burgeoning attempts to talk. She's been practicing the mouth movements for a few weeks and is starting to add sounds. We think we heard her first almost word while we were out at lunch. Check out the video and tell me what you think.



J. of course swears it's Dada. I admit it's pretty darn close and pretty cool considering she's only been out in the world for 5 months(!). I used to just think babies were cute little blobs. Now I think their whole development cycle is amazing.