On Two Wheels

I choose to think that I am, sort of, handy around the house. I persist in this belief despite much evidence to the contrary. But yesterday, I finally acknowledged that I could not manage to install our new baby seat on the back of Ash's bike. Or rather, I could -- only my usual jury-rigging method seemed a bit risky when it comes to vehicle travel and toddler safety devices. So off to the bike shop we went, which allowed us to finally realize the longed-for dream of taking Ez out for his first bike ride.

He seemed to do OK in the seat, though we soon discovered that they don't really make helmets for one-year-olds with a head size in the 5th percentile. So it flopped around a bit. Nevertheless, we strapped everyone in and headed out for the lakefront trail.

We took a modest ride down to a nifty playground a few miles away. When we got there, Ezra showed far more interest in playing with grass and leaves than in playground equipment.

On the way back, he got pretty fed up, so we walked the bikes home the last half-mile or so. Kind of mixed reviews from the kid all told, but we're hopeful that as he grows into the gear he'll learn to love it.

Back at the ranch, we seem to have happened upon the greatest toy ever invented. When the box arrived a few months ago from Ashley's Uncle Thru and Aunt Lucy, we were under the impression that the lovely lamp inside was the gift. It turns out, the real gift was the packing peanuts. These are something like baby crack, as you'll see in the video below. You may also notice in there that the kid is really getting the hang of standing ...

Next weekend, Ezra turns 1! We're still wrapping our brain around that one. On the one hand, the time has absolutely flown by. On the other, it's hard for us to imagine life without him. Grandma and Grandpa Spitzer, along with Uncle Josh and his companion Jen, are coming in to town this week to help fete the jolly good fellow. We're planning a picnic in the park with some of Ezra's diminutive pals from around the neighborhood. Should be great fun. And many moooooore!

Much love,

Gabe, Ash and Ez

Ahh, This Is the Life...

Oh we're movin' on up, to the Lake Side, to a deluxe apartment in the sky.... Ah, we wish. But we did get to taste a little of the good life last weekend at our friends Alexandra and Enrico's Mies van der Rohe lakefront highrise. And that included a dip in their pool - Ezra's first time ever! He took to it with as much splashing, writhing excitement as we could have expected.

Other than that, we've been settling into post-wedding, post-honeymoon "regular life." The biggest excitement around here these days is observing the almost daily changes the little guy is going through. He babbles nonstop, even in pseudo conversation, responding to our queries. "Oh, did you go to the playground with Najiba today?" "Boo, bah, bah, boo, blah!" "No kidding! And then did you have some yogurt for lunch?" "Ah, goo guh guh blah." "Great!" And on and on till we get bored and turn on the radio.

His top two teeth are almost in. And he is soooooo proud of them! He's picked up a new, kind of unpleasant habit of grinding them against his bottom teeth. He also loves feeling our teeth and then his own. It's fascinating to observe him make the connection that he has the same parts as the rest of us and start to discover what everything's for. He loves biting Cheerios in half these days, as well as chomping off bits of thinly peeled carrot. And although he hasn't taken any steps yet, it's not too far off - he's getting way better at standing without holding onto anything and is cruising around tables and couches (not to mention climbing up couches and onto windowsills! Luckily we finally got around to tying up the windowshade cords.)

In just two weeks he'll turn 1! It's so hard to believe. It's bizarre to think back to last year at this time, when we had no idea who the little being in my tummy was - what he'd look like, what his personality would be. And now we have this third member of our family with very clearcut likes and dislikes, a curious, happy (if sometimes pretty needy) little boy, very purposeful and singleminded, but also goofy and full of smiles. Gabe says he'd sometimes like to freeze time and keep him the way he is now, but I feel more excited than sad about the changes. I can't wait to hear him start to talk more and have real conversations... it's all coming soon enough, I guess!

Land of the Midnight Son

Note to self: red-eye flight from Alaska + already sleep-addled baby = bad idea. Boy, even on paper that sounds foolish.

Actually, it could have been worse ... Ezra took the travel largely in stride, though he managed to lose about 9 hours of sleep on the return trip. Just poof: gone. You'd think he'd sleep it off at some point and catch up. Nope. When it's gone, it's gone. We've spent the last week trying to sort him back out. Results are mixed.

In any case, though, Ezra (and his parents) had the adventure of his very short lifetime. I won't go into the full blow by blow right now. That is because I am lazy. Hopefully Ash will pick up my slack in a bit. But I will say Erza managed many firsts: he slept in a yurt. He saw a sea otter. He hiked to a glacier. He stopped in Wasilla ... several times. He witnessed an engagement ... and a wedding (reprising his role as ringbearer!). He got his first haircut. He took a water taxi, slogged over tundra, and traversed glacial morraine.

You'd think he'd be kinda sleepy after all that. But not so much.

He is, howvever, galloping ahead in terms of developing skills. He now says "mama" with pretty convincing purpose (it sounds exactly as angelic as you'd imagine), and he's homing in on "da-da." Just today he's made progress in

standing unsupported, though still just for a few seconds at a stretch. And he's starting to mimic kisses. So, so cool.

It's a little weird to have someone so close to you change so fast. This person in your house is new -- all the time. I'm learning there's a kind of Buddhist thing that happens to parents: the kid's nature is change. You have to just embrace the flux and not get too attached to the way he is at any particular moment. It's hard, though: it's like I want him to keep growing and maturing, but I want to keep the old versions around somewhere where I can visit them once in a while. I'm sure this feeling only gets more acute as they grow up.

Anyway, we'll try to fill in some of the blanks on our trip soon. Happy Independence Day to all.

All the best,

Gabe, Ash and Ez