Get your motor runnin'

Big Poppa is back, and not a moment too soon. One more day gone and I may have lost my freakin' mind. Being away from Ash and Ezra for so long gave me renewed sympathy for soldiers, North Slope oil workers and space station astronauts. And while I thoroughly enjoyed Cali, I have come face to face with the reality that being near the fam is simply a prerequisite for happiness from now on. 

Anyway, enough of that. It's been a huge relief to be back. Ez seems about 2  years older than when I left him -- he's crawling like a pro, standing all the time (still on tippy-toes), and even riding his own hog. Wear a helmet there, kiddo. 

I returned just in time to plunge headlong into reporting furiously on the swine flu. As of this evening, the cases in the Chicago area have jumped from 17 this morning to 41 by 6pm. This is a sobering experience now that we are in charge of a vulnerable little one. We're not freaking out or anything, but we no longer have the luxury of not taking this sort of thing seriously. We've been dipping ourselves in Purell nightly, canceled our field trip to the factory farm in Guadalajara, and hired local gang members to guard the front door. We wouldn't want to overreact or anything. 

Meanwhile, the sleep situation -- which we have glossed over here recently -- is dire. All progress from late winter has evaporated. After some flirtation with what we took to be a gentler system of sleep training, we are edging back toward Gitmo methods. It has been a pretty maddening experience, and given the disruptions to our routine on the horizon (week-long trips in both May and June), we're not especially optimistic about seeing results very soon. But even a little progress, which does seem to be within reach, would make an enormous difference. 

Still, Ezra delights and amazes. You gotta love that booty. 

Much love, 

Gabe, Ash and Ez

Hi Daddy!

Dear Pop - 

We miss you lots. But we've been trying to keep busy to pass the time while you soak up the California sunshine. (Yes, that tinge of jealousy you detect is real.)

Luckily, we had a bit of nice weather and managed to go play in the park on Saturday. 

My friend Isaac joined me, which was fun, but I was more interested in showing off my crawling skills and exhausting Mom by singlemindedly going after every blade of grass and clod of dirt I could get my hands on. I got to try Isaac's organic health-food oat cereal. I still prefer Cheerios.

Then on Sunday, Grammy Andi arrived after an odyssey that involved four plane rides. We're so glad to have her here - I showed my appreciation by rewarding her with a two-hour nap today while she babysat me. Mom wants to know why I never nap two hours for her. (Don't tell her, but I just like to keep her on her toes.) Then we went for a big boring shopping excursion downtown - the highlight of which was getting to nurse in the changing room at J. Crew. 

Tonight, I ate some spinach for the first time - I'm withholding judgment. Then bathtime... which turned into a photo shoot. I swear, can't a guy get some privacy around here? 

Love,

Ezra

Behold, He Stands

Just a quick posting to say Ezra is mastering the fine art of standing up. But he hasn't mastered putting his feet flat on the ground. He only stands on tippy toes! 

Still, that doesn't seem to be stopping him. Last night getting him to go to sleep was even more than the usual arduous battle. That's because he realized he could pull himself up in his crib and kind of sidle along, occasionally stopping to suck on the crib railing. Basically, he had a lot of very important exploring to do - apparently way more important than sleep - because every time we'd get him down, 10 minutes later he'd pipe up again and we'd find him standing (awkwardly) in his sleep sack, peering over the edge of the crib.

We're getting ready for a week apart from Daddy. Gabe is going to San Francisco for a science journalism workshop (and some very important bachelor-partying). Grandma Andi Gross is coming to town to help out - hooray! 

Ezra is twice as old as when she last saw him... I think she'll be surprised what a grown-up little kid he's become.

Love,

Ash, Gabe and Ez

Alaskans hit Chi-town

It's been a sobering couple of weeks. But first, the fun news. We played host to the dynamic duo of Lily and Jackson Pannkuk, along with their parents, over the weekend. We worked with their mom, Jessica Cochran, back in Alaska... in fact, it's fair to argue that if Jessica hadn't taken time off to have Lily in 2004, opening the door for me (Ashley) to come and fill in for her at Alaska Public Radio Network, where I met an amazing radio host, one Gabriel Spitzer... there would be no Ezra today! So, thank you, Jessica and Nathan, for starting your family at just the right time!

We had high ambitions of going to the aquarium, but once we got there, the line snaked halfway to Iowa. So we jettisoned that plan and walked in the sunshine along the lake and through Millennium Park. 

There we discovered that the Frank Gehry curvy bridge makes a pretty fantastic slide. And a street musician serenaded us with Tom Lehrer songs ("One day when she had nothing to do, She cut her baby brother in two, and served him up as an Irish stew, and invited the neighbors in..."). All in all, a great afternoon! 

Ezra loved watching the big kids - and before we know it, he'll be one of them. He's learned to pull himself to standing, and he's getting faster and faster at getting around. 

Now, for the sobering news. Grandpa John Spitzer had a mild heart attack on Friday. He had to spend five days in the hospital while they put stents in his arteries. It's been a scary time, but we're grateful beyond words that his prognosis is good, and that he's home now to celebrate Passover tonight. Maybe the toughest thing he'll have to change in his current lifestyle is switching to decaf! Rabbi, may you be back on your motor scooter in no time! 

And on to even more sobering news. My family lost a great friend last Friday. 

Eric Treisman worked with my dad for more than two decades - but they've known each other since the late 1960s, when they worked for a legal aid clinic on the Navajo reservation. Eric was almost part of our family - he hiked with us, ate dinner with us, and was able to explain in plain English the finer points of Indian law that my dad has a hard time making comprehensible to us. He suffered a massive heart attack and was then taken off life support. Eric was a pretty amazing guy - he traveled by biplane to the outer reaches of Siberia for National Geographic, he helped bring hundreds of Tibetan refugees to the U.S., and used his legal knowledge to benefit have-nots from Alaska to Micronesia to New Mexico. We'll feel lucky if Ezra grows up to have half of Eric's intelligence, social conscience and adventurous spirit. I'm grateful that Eric got a chance to meet Ezra when we visited Santa Fe in December.

Love,

Ash, Gabe and Ez