How I Met Your Father

Dear Ava,

Today is your father's and my third wedding anniversary. I thought I'd tell you how we got started.

In 2003, I was working at UNLV at the front counter of admissions. It was my first job at the university, and I was glad to have it even though it sucked my soul every single day. The lady who sat next to me became a good friend, and I got to know her husband over time as well. They seemed nice (more on that later...).

One day, the lady said "My husband's company has a softball team, and they play every Friday night at the fields at the corner of Warm Springs & Eastern in Henderson. There's a guy he works with who seems really nice and I think you'd like him." This was in March. I remember this, because I couldn't go that week because I had concert tickets--Beastie Boys at House of Blues. I went with Jay&Tina, back when they were just Jay and Tina. I couldn't go the next week because it was your Aunt Katie's 30th birthday and a group of us went to a spa in Scottsdale for the weekend to celebrate.

So I had two very important reasons for not meeting your father until April 18.

But when I did go, I saw him. I remember it--he had nice legs. Still does. After the game, everybody went to a bar down the way for beers and wings. He sat on the end, and I was on his left. We talked a little. I don't think he knew it was a set-up necessarily. You know, just in case. When a girl introduces a girlfriend to a potential boyfriend, it's a good idea not to let him know that he's on the spot. We'll talk about this more when you're older.



Anyway, he left before I did. I gave one of his co-workers my number. That was Friday. He called within a couple of days. Our first date was to the Chicago Brewing Company on Fort Apache, and then we came back to my place and watched National Lampoon's Vacation. Seriously. That's what we did. That's how it all started.

Love,
Mama

Four Months Old

This was Ava's first picture, taken just over a year ago. My, how she's grown.

In spite of some really really long days and nights, we're always surprised to look at the calendar and realize that Ava's been with us for such a short time. Some quick stats, as of last week's well-check and vaccination extravaganza:

• 23 inches long, from a debut size of 19-1/2 inches
• 14 pounds 13 ounces, up from 7 pounds 8 ounces
• Important milestones include sitting up with minimal assistance, smiling, reaching for stuff and then holding on to it, almost rolling over, the discovery of her feet and the subsequent kicking of everything within a surprisingly large radius
• Establishment and implementation of a regular eating/sleeping schedule, which includes sleeping most nights from, get this, 10:30 or 11:00 PM until AFTER SIX AM. I'll say that again: Ava sleeps nearly eight hours at a time, and she does it at night, almost every night.

We take absolutely no credit for that last one. In talking to our Friends Who Have Kids, we've learned that this is quite unusual and we should expect some sort of retribution later on, perhaps when she learns to drive or becomes a Raiders fan (RAIDERS SUCK!). Right now? Yeah, she's asleep in her bouncy chair. Most nights, we wake her up for her last bottle between 9 and 11 and then she goes back to sleep, either in somebody's lap in the rocking chair, or on her own in her crib. We hit Baby Lotto with this kid, and we know it.

There's not a lot else going on. We're planning a trip to San Diego next month, and that will be our first family road trip. I'm estimating what four days worth of infant gear will look like, and what will be a good idea to pack (like the bouncy chair--yea or nay?) or overkill (play mat? boppy pillow?). I generally overpack as it is (for example, last year I went to NYC and Washington DC for just over a week for a conference and had an entire suitcase of just shoes...) so the car is likely to be loaded down pretty significantly. But we're looking forward to getting out of town--the last time I was away for more than an afternoon was Labor Day weekend. I'm needing a change of scenery, for sure.

This week is our anniversary. Three years, on Wednesday. We'll go out to dinner, and we'll have Ava with us. We generally keep it pretty low-key; usually just lunch at the golf course where we got married. We'll probably get up there in the next week or so. Last year on May 20, we had known I was pregnant for about 2 weeks, and I don't think we had told anybody yet (I may be wrong--it's kind of a blur). There was this undercurrent of excitement about the coming months. But really, we had no idea what we were in for. It's been amazing. And the next few months are going to fly by even more quickly than the last four have. We'll take as many pictures and videos as we can, because there is already stuff that she no longer does that I'm so glad we have a record of (like the nightly kicking before sleep no longer happens). It really does go so fast. We make a point of stopping and looking around because we don't want to miss it.

And now a word from our sponsors...

OK right over there ---> is a button that is my entry to win a super cute quilt, and if anyone clicks on it they can enter as well.

Seriously, how marvelous is that quilt!? Love it!

It's a day just for mothers. And that means me.

It's been a wonderful day. I'm blessed, and that's really all there is to it.

Ava's big gift to me was lots of sleep this weekend. Between her reasonable midnight-to-five sleep schedule, and Rob's willingness to take care of that first early bottle, I slept until almost 9 both days. Booyah.

And then this morning, I got up to open cards from one supercute daughter and one awesome husband. Evidently Ava also snuck out and procured a gorgeous azalea plant and a gift card to Dead Poet Books, a fantastic used/vintage bookstore that I drool over every time I drive past.

Here is evidence of her early morning subterfuge:




I'll teach her later about destroying all photographic evidence.

We went to breakfast at our neighborhood Jewish deli and it was really nice. I really like this place. As an added bonus in honor of the day, mothers received a free piece of breakfast cake. NOM NOM NOM DELICIOUS CAKE. That's one of the percs of being a grown-up: I can have cake for breakfast and ain't nobody gonna stop me.

I've decided that becoming a mom has been like joining a cult. In a good way, of course. But all of a sudden, the other cult members start conversations with me about Ava (how old is she, does she sleep, etc), about our family (is she our first, our last, our everything?), about my pregnancy (a week overdue? Goodness! I'm a trooper!) and stuff like that. I first noticed it at the pediatrician's office, when we were all sitting there with our infants discussing poop and breastmilk. It happens a lot. Today's cult meeting took place at breakfast, when the mom at the table next to us struck up a conversation involving her daughter (probably 2-1/2?) and how neat it is to have a first Mother's Day. And then our daughters met (well, hers met ours while ours slept peacefully...) and for just a few minutes, we were all part of the great Circle of Life.

After breakfast we visited Dad & Florence and had a lovely visit, dominated of course by Ava's babbly charm. Seriously, the kid chatters like a parrot and it's the sweetest sound I know. We've been getting the occasional giggle out of her as well, usually by taking advantage of her tickly belly. She freezes up when we turn on the video camera, but I'll get a shot of it eventually.

I'm so glad to be rediscovering holidays (even unofficial ones like Mother's Day, which, let's face it, was created and is promoted in order to sell greeting cards) that I've ignored for years. Rob and I have embarked upon this parenting thing with a clean slate--we're not going to carry over family drama and let any of it cast a shadow over Ava's future memories. As far as we're concerned, we're batting a thousand for joyous holidays.

We have a new feature over to the right --->. It's Ava's Playlist, which is going to be how I keep track of what we sing to her before she goes to sleep at night. Rob and I both know about a bajillion songs between the two of us, but we don't always remember the words at crunch time. So far, these are the ones that we knew off the top of our heads. We'll add more as time goes by.

Happy Mother's Day to my fellow cult-members, past, present and future.

Blah Blah Blah Pictures

Enough about me. Take a look at Ava!

Ava got to meet more grandparents this week! Doug and Toni came up for a quick visit.




Ava's first NFL draft. Everyone wore team colors :).



One of my good friends was pregnant at the same time I was. Darius was born 10 days before Ava (oh, I was so jealous for 10 days...) and here is where they finally met. Oh, the cute!



I keep trying to catch one of Ava's Big Smiles. I never time it right but I get some cute almost-smiles in the process. Here are a couple. If you look closely, you can see her little topknot (I need to get her in front of a lighter background). She's got this lock of hair right on top of her head that just won't lay flat. Ever.




I can't believe it's already May. It's going by so quickly. She's growing and is becoming this little person and we're so amazed by her every day. Her teachers at daycare just love her--she's low maintenance and happy most of the time. She's starting to reach for things that are in front of her (evidently a Very Significant Milestone) and recently became aware of the dog (who has been glaring at her for almost 4 months now--jealous much?).

Lazy Sunday starts.....NOW!