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