Obama Gains a Nobel - and the Attention of Our Son

Gabe and I, being public radio professionals, have a habit of leaving the radio on during almost everything we do.

So usually, after I pick up Ezra from Najiba's and have a little small talk about his day (did you play outside? Yeah! Did you take a nap? Yeah! Did you have fun? Yeah!), I flip on WBEZ. Usually Ezra keeps on babbling to himself in the back - mostly nonsense interspersed with words he knows. But last week was different.

"Congress is getting back to work on crafting a $1.1 trillion budget," the newscaster said.

"Congress!" came a small voice from the back seat of the car.

"Car bombs shook Baghdad today," the newscaster went on.

"Baghdad!" Ezra said.

"That's right, Ezra! Congress! Baghdad!" I couldn't stop laughing. Before this, the radio had always seemed to be white noise to him.

"President Obama will leave tomorrow for Oslo, where he'll receive the Nobel Peace Prize," the newscaster continued.

"Obama!" Ezra parroted.

This one took the cake. Ezra was just a tiny 3-month-old when Obama won the presidency. Obama made history, and for us, having a baby born that same year felt awe-inspiring. It's incredible just to know he'll grow up in a world in which traditional racial barriers are crumbling, and people really can achieve anything if they put their minds to it. And now Ezra's old enough to say his name.

"Yes, Obama's our president. Who's our president, Ezra?" I kept asking him. But he didn't seem to be grasping it. Still, after we got home he kind of wandered around muttering, "Obamama."

Then, later I told him it was the first day of Chanukah.

"Tonight we'll light candles, and then you'll get presents," I said.

"Obama!" he replied.

Hmmmm. Took me a second before I realized presents = president = Obama. Maybe he really was paying attention after all!

Anyway, we had a great Chanukah party last night, complete with latkes and matzoh ball soup (thanks, Gabe!). Mikaela Block and Isaac Mulcahy (and their respective parents, Mara and Nate Block and Rebecca Bohrman and Dave Mulcahy) came over and speaking of miracles... the kids all managed to stay in their booster seats for the entire meal without throwing a fit or pitching food or otherwise going bananas. They were entranced by the candles and even more so by the gelt. (Ezra's perfected a really irritating whine when he wants something, along with a plaintive, "Yeah? Yeah?" He may have incorporated "Obama" into his vocabulary, but "please" is still elusive.)

Mikaela generously lent Ezra her pretty ribbon barrette. And Ezra's Chanukah present (a $10 tent from Ikea) was a big hit.

We also had a delightful time decorating

gingerbread cookies the other day with Emelia, her mom Kelly and her friend/babysitter Caroline. It was deliciously sticky and yummy! And Caroline and Kelly captured some really sweet pictures, including Emelia deciding to unzip Ezra's sweatshirt.

And we just had to include the following video. It captures maybe the sweetest moment of parenthood yet. Usually Ezra is so much on the go that getting him to give hugs or kisses is kind of a struggle. But blackberries seem to be the key to his heart.

Love,

Ashley, Gabe and Ezra

The Family Band

I'll spare you the details, but the young lad has a bit of a tummy bug. Let's just say he's expressing himself out of both ends. I (dad) have been lucky enough to miss out on most of the action, but the extra laundry and the persistent odor tell the tale. Ez seems to be taking this more or less in stride -- definitely cranky and volatile, but in between those episodes he's his usual happy and energetic self. He hasn't learned to mope yet. In due time.

We returned on Monday from a really wonderful trip to Ohio for Thanksgiving, which in turn followed that great visit by the Gross grandparents. It was a whirlwind of grandparental love -- notwithstanding a few of the dicier moments of Ezra's second haircut, captured with a documentarian's eye by Grandpa Mickey in the adjacent photo.

In Ohio we did the usual Thanksgiving stuff (Ezra was more interested in our dinner hosts' big labrador than any of the food), went on lots of walks with Ezra in a little red wagon, and spent a ton of quality time with Pop-pop, Grandma (Ezra has jettisoned the initial moniker "Gaga" for my mom), Uck-osh and "Den" (Josh's special ladyfriend Jen). We made a trip to Warther's Museum in Dover, Ohio, which some consider the third-holiest site in Spitzerdom. Warther was a rather astonishing carver, and his wood-and-ivory trains are something to behold. Pop-pop is a fan, to say the least, and going there was a rite of passage for us all.

Ezra did begin a slow slide into sleep chaos a few weeks ago when he started cutting some new teeth. This descent accelerated as we had our houseguests and on through our trip to Ohio, so we had to take some difficult corrective action starting on Monday night. The so-called "cry-it-out" process is way, way harder when the kid is actually calling out our names, wailing "Mommy! Daddy!" This wrenches the heart, and it was one of our darkest nights of the soul in the sleep department. But, sure enough, major improvement was swift. Now, of course, he's sick, so there's no telling where we're headed next. Poor kid!

In happier news, Ezra's speech continues to improve. And he managed, while in Ohio, to join his mom and dad in our very first full-participation family jam session. I've included it in the video below, along with some snapshots of the Thanksgiving trip. That's my great friend Matt (Ezra's God-Uncle ... or something) on the swings.

And just for fun, here's a little clip from one of our rare dinners out. It might look slightly, um, cruel, but in our defense -- he desperately wanted to eat that lime wedge.

Well, here's hoping fortune smiles on Ezra, his sleep, and his GI tract. We hope everyone's Thanksgiving was as joyful, relaxing and meaningful as ours was. We are thankful indeed.

Much love,

Gabe, Ash and Ez