Grossman family west

Last weekend brought another Life Cycle event: my first Father’s Day. I wasn’t sure how I’d handle it, but Mom and Avi made sure that it was one I won’t soon forget. I got THREE Father’s Day gifts (a panini maker, a BBQ cleaner, and the coolest T-Shirt EVER, pictured below). Plus, we hosted a BBQ for our friends and neighbors–lots of Dads and kids–where Avi and Mom and the other moms planned all kinds of games ranging from “identify your child’s handprint in the Play-Doh” to a challenging dad-focused quiz. Winners were awarded prizes (I won a gift certificate to Mitchell’s, a delicious neighborhood ice creamery). Plus, as I’m sure you all know, the Red Sox were on TV so we watched a walk-off home run victrory to kick off the BBQ. Poor Mom and Avi–they’ve set the bar pretty high for Father’s Day 2010! Pictures in the photo gallery.

Father's Day Gift: BEST T-SHIRT EVER!

You may be petite, Shawn Johnson, but you’ve still got to move your butt over to make some room on the Balance Beam for the BLUE ZEBRA (code name for the most fashionable young gymnast of the year). And, like your teammate Nastia, the BLUE ZEBRA has a trademark move that bears his name: the Avi Side Shuffle (“ASS”). You had better watch out for Avi’s ASS, Shawn, and enjoy that Balance Beam Gold while you still have it, because the BLUE ZEBRA is going to be a force in 2010! Once again, some hidden-camera footage of a training session in the Photo Gallery…

The Blue Zebra is coming for you

Another weekend for us Grossmans in San Francisco which meant Auntie Debbie was coming over to play with me.  Dad was back East for some party for my Uncle Jake to celebrate the end of his bachelorhood (Uncle Jake is giving me another Aunt Liz at the end of summer!), so it was just me and Mom at home.  My Great Aunt Amy and Great Uncle Rick were also in town because they were babysitting their grandson, Samuel (my 2nd cousin, he’s super cool!).  The six of us had made plans on Sunday to go to the park and have a picnic.  It was a gorgeous day in SF and so good to see my family!  As I hadn’t seen Auntie Debbie in a while, I decided to call her and ask her to come over and play with me before GAA, GUR and Sam came over. 

I was very excited when I woke up from my nap and saw Auntie Debbie’s dog, Scout, with her.  I had seen Scout a few times before, and we even doggysat Scout one weekend but now, being 4.5 months old and weighing Chai pounds, I was more aware of the pup.  I’m really into sounds and noises now so I was excited to hear what Scout had to say.  Scout and I were hanging in my room with Mom and Auntie Debbie when she started lifting her leash so it wouldn’t drag behind her and playing tug-of-war with it.  Her various playful growls and barking were so funny, I couldn’t get enough!  Mom and Auntie Debbie thought my laughing was so adorable (I don’t blame them, I’m pretty cute!) that they caught some of the action for all of you to enjoy–the video is now posted in the photo gallery!

–Avi

PS – Thanks Auntie Debbie for helping me write this post!

I think that this video falls under the category of “dad is still giddy about the speedy new web server” (and answers the question from Dad’s friends “how on earth have you already burned through 100GB of hard drive space??”)

Avi enjoys his Exersaucer while Mom seems to be learning Avi’s language. Now in the photo gallery.

Avi’s music career has begun and the focus that he exhibits is impressive. While the other kids are walking or crawling around during practice time, not our Little Man. He’s focused on mastering his instrument. He knows how to get to Carnegie Hall: PRACTICE. Laser-like focus and intense practice. No wandering around for this guy while there is music to be created. Maybe occasionally his hunger gets the best of him so he goes in for a little nibble, sure. But that’s really just an artist becoming One with his instrument. We’ve got an intense practice session on video so you can witness a musical maestro in the making.

Carnegie Hall, here I come!

This weekend, we headed to Petaluma (about an hour north of San Francisco, in Sonoma county) to our friend Heather’s housewarming party. After four months of life, Avi is starting to recognize a pattern here, so he immediately knew what he’d find at the housewarming: cute single ladies. He dressed in his Sunday Best, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and napped on the ride so he’d be in top form. And, sure enough, you can see that the Little Man got right to work, wooing both Dahlia (4 months) and Kaylee (2 months). There’s also a short video in the photo gallery.

"I LOOOOVE these housewarming parties"

Last week, Avi turned 4 months old, so this week Holly and Avi went in for his four-month doctor visit, which consisted of some vaccinations (not Avi’s favorite), along with a regular checkup. I’m proud to announce that our Big Man topped the scale at 17 lbs, 6 oz, which I’m rounding up to 18, a number that correlates with the Hebrew “chai” (חי), roughly translated as “living” and more generally conveys the spirit of life, joy, and strength. Symbols aside, that mass puts Avi in the 90th percentile. His length was 25 inches and brain space was 17 inches (in circumference)–roughly 50th and 75th percentile, respectively. Daddy is excited as those measurements pretty much make him perfect physical specimen to become a smart running back (thick, but a low center of mass with a big head). Prioritizing school, though, and not wishing to jeopardize his college career, recruiters should please refrain from contacting us at this point.

Of course, given that it was Avi’s Four Month Birthday, we did another Monthly Birthday Photo shoot, 15 pictures of which have been added to the beginning of the Monthly Birthday Photo Shoots slideshow.

4 Month Birthday Shoot

Having traveled the West Coast was just not enough for our little Jetsetter, and so we took him across the country for a nearly-two-week-long trip to Boston, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island. Avi spent a lot of time with Grammy and Zayda, danced the night away at Brown’s Campus Dance, and even went to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, but the clear highlight of the trip was all of the time that he got to spend with his great-grandmother, Nanny. Avi couldn’t have been happier and it was really a treat to get to spend so much time with her! Fifty photos of an exciting trip now posted in the photo gallery!

"These are my 'phones, for listenin' to my tunes when I fly across the country."