Thanksgiving in Fresno, 2009

We spent Thanksgiving with family in Fresno (as usual) at Michael's mom's house this year. Sadly, Michael's dad was in the hospital, but thankfully, he is now out and recovering!

Disclaimer about the above picture: Michael's mom made us do that! She kept telling Avi that she was going to cook her as the turkey and then put her on the platter. Well, put a visual idea in photographers' minds often enough, and we have to act on it (within reason). So.... here's the result. On a final note: no babies were harmed in the making of this photograph.

Great Nana Barbara, little Avi, Great PapPap Ed Brajkovich

Uncle David throwing Avi up into the sky - one of her favorite activities.

Avi's only cousins (so far): Matthew & Alexis. Setti (grammy) is holding Avi in her Thanksgiving dress which Setti bought for Avi. Thanks, Setti!

Avi with her other great-grandma, G.G. Carmen. Do you see the resemblences? I do.

Avi taking some reflective moments to play the piano at Setti's.

Rockabye Baby

Led Zeppelin rocks our baby to sleep at night. At least for a while, that was a key feature in her nightly bedtime ritual. Her primary song of slumber was "Thank You." Now, we only pull the Led out in emergencies. I had discovered Rockabye Baby , a site that sells rock music in lullaby form, even before Avi was born-- the search grew out of a foreboding fear that when a child eventually came into my life, I/Michael would be subjected to soulless, mindless, dribbling children's music that would turn me into a zombie. It really was a concern of mine. Hearing damage. Tone deafness. Audio terrorism. Brain leakage through the ear canal. But it shouldn't be so bad, 'cause now I can listen to dangerous, soul-filling music the whole family can enjoy! (and Radiohead will probably be Avi's next musical experience.) However, I should mention that the irony in my children's music phobia is that I improvise & sing baby songs to Avi on a daily basis. I've run the gamut of running away in horror from listening to children's music to actually creating children's music. A lot of children's music. We're talking volumes. In just the last few weeks. Not that I have much of a singing voice; I mean, I make Clay Aiken sound decent. But I got plenty of heart and I'm definitely Avi's number one vote. Half the time my musical arrangements are twisted rip-offs of the songs that gently flow out of her battery-powered baby chair-- imagine if you will, "twinkle twinkle little star" sung by a disoriented though overzealous Al Green with a sore throat. But my lyrics are original, and my performances are stellar. I may not be Led Zeppelin, but who the heck can be? So Avi, in a few years when you pick up a little guitar and magically start busting out Jimmy Page style riffs, you can thank me.

A birthday party fit for a Prince.

The day after my "real" birthday, Michael TOTALLY surprised me with a surprise party hosted by Prince himself! All my friends and family were told to dress up 70's and 80's style. The party also included a karoake machine after Prince had to fly back home to Minnesota. Thanks everyone for keeping me completely in the dark - even Avi didn't let out a peep about it! And, thanks, Lover, for getting me back for what I did to you on your 30th!

Avi stage right to Prince.

Avi, up way past her bedtime, dancing to Prince with her maternal grandparents. Nothing, not even a 14 pound sleepy baby keeps them from dancing!

The Look.

In a previous post, I discussed my discernment of The Look as a sign that I had entered the brotherhood of parenthood. Below is a description-- born from my experience accompanying Avi in all manner of places public and private.

The Look. The most intense ones come from parents, usually mothers of babies that are several months old or just a few years old. The look is given upon the initial gaze of our baby (or any newborn baby, I'm sure) and the look encapsulates personal memories of their own baby at this age. A description of "the look": eyes wide open and a little blank, pupils dilated, lips slightly parted, jaws receding, eyebrows curved mournfully. The look is sometimes, often-times, followed by the moan. The moan is instinctive, given without effort. It too, is mournful, and usually begins with a dull pitch before bending downward, though on some moms, it actually raises to an inflection that blends question with surprise (I haven't discerned reasons for the difference yet-- perhaps that's one for the pscyhoanalysts). Maren and I currently carry a variation of the look; it has less of the mournfulness, though not much less in Maren's case. She is already anticipating the passing of Avi's smallness and it hurts her. I estimate that I give my version of the look about 36 times a day. Maren's looks are probably in the hundreds. I don't really have much in the way of the moan, but Maren's moans are sometimes heartbreaking. Often though, it transforms into laughter, but usually drops down again for closure.

We are not yet at the point where we are gazing at younger babies in public places and giving the bona fide look. But with each passing day in Avi's life, we are certainly cultivating it.

SLO Adult Ed

Mommy & Avi get out at least 3 days a week to do all kinds of cool things via the SLO Adult Ed program. Mondays we go hiking (I'm really bad, I don't have any pictures of the BEAUTIFUL places we hiked this semester), Wednesdays we stroll, Thursdays we go to class and hang out with other babies and mommies. Avi loves it and it keeps mama busy. We're signed up for next semester already!

Here we are strolling at Atascadero Lake. Look closely & you can see Avi. She has yet to grow into her stroller - which Grammy Louise bought for her. Thanks, Grammy!

Kelly

My 11-year-old cousin, Kelly, and my aunt Pam were gracious enough to take care of Avi during one of our wedding shoots recently. Kelly was a little nervous in the beginning, but she calmed down and was great with Avi! Look at how cute they are together!

Thanks Pam & Kelly for all your help, love and support! (Also, Kelly & Pam took care of Avi - on last minute's notice - while mama & dada went out jet-skiing to celebrate their 9th anniversary one Sunday morning. Thanks, again, Pam & Kelly!)

full circle

Grammy had the privilege of being the first person we told we were pregnant over a year ago. She had invited us to an opera in San Luis Obispo on Halloween. We had kept the secret to ourselves for weeks and couldn't hold it in any longer. We got a onsie (modeled on the grown Avi below) to share the news. When we handed the garment to her while waiting for the show to start, I thought she was going to jump out of her seat and fly over the balcony she was so excited!

Michael & Maren (dressed up Halloween-style for the opera) and Grammy Louise on the night of learning of her first great-grandbaby!

Here's Avi wearing the shirt we got to announce her presence to her Great-Grammy.