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

Queen's English

Ah-paeee! Ah-paeee! Sure, in retrospect, I ought to have understood that right away. Never mind that it's not English, that it's blurted out unbidden or that it's tucked amid gurgles and gibberish and what I can only assume are curse words in Esperanto. But clearly, Ezra expected me (dad) to comprehend that "Ah-paeee!" meant "high five!"and oblige immediately. I did eventually catch on, and now it's just part of our vocabulary.

This has become routine: we'll notice a couple of syllables recurring, and after puzzling over it for a while, we'll discern their meaning. "Teepee" is "sleepy." "Tookie" is "Cookie Monster." "Muhk" is "milk." This is most gratifying pretty much every time. And it's opened up yet another chapter for us, where Ezra has actually begun to regualarly communicate his needs and desires to us in words. He can tell us when he's tired, thirsty or defecating. He can also reject books he doesn't like, or -- more unwelcome -- songs (tonight as I was putting him down I sang him a song I've been singing him at bedtime since birth. He took his head off my shoulder, shook it vigorously, and said, "Noooo! Noooo!" I switched to Cat Stevens).

His walking progress parallels this -- every day, he is more able to act out his own will. This is, I gather, the basic drama of parenthood, playing out in a million different ways over and over. And yet, it somehow shocks us every time. Well, me, at least. But I'm pretty slow.

Anyway, Nonnie and Grampa Mickey are in town for a few days. Ezra now calls them both by name, asks about them when they're not around, and shows -- from my observation, anyway -- a clear grandparently bond with them. It's beautiful to watch.

Today we went to the Museum of Science and Industry, and Ezra tore all over the place there. It was my first time with him in a place like that since he's been really steady on the

walking/scurrying, and it was so, so fun. He went completely ape-poop for the model trains, especially. He has shown a stereotypically male interest in vehicles, especially trucks and trains. Almost every morning as we walk to the car to head to the babysitter's, he catches sight of an El train, and his face completely lights up.

In a couple of days, we'll head to Ohio for the

annual Thanksgiving pilgrimage. We've chosen to fly this time, rather than subject him to the car seat for 7+ hours each way. There he will catch up with his "Pop-pop" and "Gaga" (whom he can now identify by name in pictures, as well as in person), as well as his "Uck--osh." Um, what's that, kiddo? "Uck-osh!" Is that a word, or a gas bubble? "Uck-osh! Uck-osh! Uck-osh!"

Oh, I see. Uncle Josh. See you soon.

Much love,

Gabe, Ash and Ez

Fair Is Fowl

You can have your ghouls and goblins and Spidermen... behold Ezra the Duck! Or just "kack, kack," as he calls it. We're not even halfway through Halloween yet and so far it's been pretty good. A plant nursery a few blocks away is holding a petting zoo (Gabe wouldn't forgive me if I didn't call it an "evil petting zoo," for all you Austin Powers fans out there). Ezra raced around, flapping his yellow feathered arms, calling out, moo, kack kack, baa, neigh to each appropriate creature. He was so excited we had to make sure he didn't get trampled by some hoof or an 8-year-old Tinkerbell.

Ezra and I had a great time in NYC visiting Aunt Nicky & Uncle Danny, cousins Carly & Jaden and Aunt Lisa & Aunt Katy. Ezra adjusted to life out in a part of Brooklyn best described as industrial wasteland hipsterdom.

Katy's apartment is surrounded by lots of mysterious warehouses, with trucks going by

24 hours a day. Ezra couldn't get enough of those trucks. The first word out of his mouth every morning was "tuck!" as he heard the diesel engines rumble by. We made a circuit of children's museums, visited the Natural History Museum with my friend Tim and his 10-month-old son Skye (check out their blog) and Lisa, Ezra and I had a marvelous afternoon at the Central Park Zoo. It was one of those perfect New York fall days - brilliant blue sky, yellow leaves,

horse-drawn carriages, an army of squirrels fighting over hot dog remnants.

Ezra led the way, and we careened after him. He was equally excited by polar bears and sea lions as by rocks, leaves and poles. We're sad we don't live closer to family, but this is still a big improvement over being a 6+ hour trip away in Alaska.

Speaking of family, Grandma Cheri and Grandpa John Spitzer paid us a visit before the New York trip. Ezra quickly dubbed Grandpa John "PopPop", but he used it to also refer to Grandma Cheri. But luckily it's hard to hurt Grandma's feelings. And Grandma, just so you know, now when we show him a picture of both of you, he calls you "Ga Ga!"

Our little man is very eager to express himself. He copies EVERYTHING we say, which means we're now starting to spell stuff out in front of him. It's harder to remember to hold your tongue when you get cut off by some supremo idiot Chicago driver. Ezra cheerfully repeated the s-word the other day after I yelled it in traffic. He is learning tons of socially acceptable words, though. But he has a few things mixed up. For example, he has a word that sounds like "dah-dee" that interchangeably means Daddy, teddy or doggie. And when we're holding him and he starts squirming, he says "up! up!" when he means just the opposite.

It is miraculous, though, to start to really communicate with him. He's able to tell us, "no, no, no" when he doesn't want us to read a particular book, or tell us he wants water instead of milk, or tell us that he's about to go Number 2 (he gets a serious look on his face and says sotto voce "poo poo"). True conversations don't seem too far off, and that's beyond exciting.

Lots of love and happy Halloween,

Ash, Gabe and Ez

Blackmail Material

Greetings all, with customary apologies for the delay. Papa here has been crashing on a big work project, so this will have to be a quick fix. Here's hoping the madre will save the day soon with a more satisfying entry.

I'm solo here at home for a few days, while Ash and the young prince hold court in New York. I'm told that in spite of a bad stretch of weather, Ezra has been working the society circuit pretty hard up there -- multiple museums and meals out. Sleep, by all reports, has been elusive, but the outings have been a lot of fun. Aunts Lisa and Katy, as well as Aunt Nicky and Uncle Danny and cousins Carly and Jaden have been gracious hosts.

I suspect that by the time they return tomorrow, I will notice appreciable progress in Ezra's ambulation. He's been taking to walking with great enthusiasm. To illustrate this, I have posted the following off-color specimen:



Ah, I can already smell the future resentment. Tough break, kid -- you're growing up in the era of YouTube. I bet you won't be the only one.

Very much looking forward to the family reunion tomorrow, and I'll cajole Ash into saving her family's good name by contributing a respectable blog post.

Until then,
Gabe, (Ash and Ez in absentia)

What Doesn't Kill Ya...

Mom here. The weather has turned, and the germs are out in full force. I came down with what we were all convinced was swine flu - necessitating face mask, copious amounts of Purell and an ever-present hanky. Turns out it was a false alarm - just a run-of-the-mill cruddy old cold. Good thing, because all our efforts to prevent Ezra from getting infected seem to have been for naught. He's sneezing like crazy. Each time he does, he follows it up with a theatrical, "Ah-chooo!" And sometimes a fake little "cough-cough" for good measure.

The yucky weather has one upside. We finally get to bust out the sweaters that his Grandma Andi (aka Noni) has knitted for him over the past year, and now they fit him!

Love,

Ash, Gabe & Ez

That Toddlin' Town

Pops here. I'm pleased to report that Ezra's speech has progressed to the point where he now has a couple of stock catch phrases. One of them is: "Hi." OK, I didn't say it was a great catch phrase, but neither is "Git 'er done!" and that guy's a millionaire. Anyway, Ezra loves to say hi to, oh, just about anyone, including the vagrants guzzling malt liquor in our alley. This turns out to be a handy ice breaker, since I'm never sure what to say to those guys. But they seem to appreciate Ezra taking an interest, as Ash says they enthusiastically wave back and say hi to him whenever they see him now. "Hi" has also been a big hit at the office.

His other catch phrase is "bih-dah." This loosely translates to "what's that?" Or, "gimme that," or, sometimes, "This chalk is delicious!" We're not sure where these particular syllables came from, but it works for him. In general, his babbling has gotten more sophisticated, and often has the tell-tale inflection of actual human speech. This makes it seem sometimes like he is really speaking, just in a foreign language (or perhaps that he's got the Holy Spirit). I'm including an audio sample of it below, along with a few recent pics.


His walking is coming along very nicely, too. He can string together 10 or 15 steps now, and seems undaunted by his regular tumbles. Though he still gives up pretty quickly and takes off crawling. Hard to blame him, since he crawls at blazing speed. The other day I was playing with him in the living room when Ash came home. As she walked in the front door, he was so excited that he shot off crawling at top speed across the room. But then, at full tilt, he hooked his shoulder on the leg of the coffee table, and his body torqued down into a face plant on the hardwood. Luckily, he recovered quickly. We've been delighting in his walking progress, bumpy though it is.


Ez is also getting a couple of new teeth on top, which makes for a sore mouth and some pretty cranky periods. Yet, his sleep has come a long way in the past couple of weeks (after another round of Ferber, which was not that fun). Last week he slept through the night 3 or 4 days, and his night wakings are a little less agonizing than they'd been before. We've managed to more or less phase out the last night nursing, and we're hoping this pattern stablizes.

Not a whole lot else to report at the moment. We didn't do much for High Holidays besides have Shabbos dinner and apples and honey. But it's wild to now be beginning the second round of all the yearly milestones with him -- his second Thanksgiving, second Hannukah/Christmas, etc. Travel season begins again soon, too: Ezra and Mama will head to New York in a few weeks to see the aunties, then to Ohio for turkey, then New Mexico for Christmas. We hope we can manage to keep up.

Happy New Year to all -- may it be sweet all around.

Much love,
Gabe, Ash and Ez