Grossman family west

You may have heard the rumblings, you may have heard the rumors. But you probably won’t believe it until you see it with your own eyes, right? Well, wait no longer! It took Avi 11 months to figure out this whole crawling thing, which he quickly decided was completely overrated. And so, two months later, he’s over it. And he’s walking!

Now, his walking is certainly a bit precarious—enough so that Mom and Dad have considered sticking a helmet on him during the daylight hours. But we’re here to celebrate the victories and so, without further ado, I present four video clips of AVI WALKING!

It's true, I can walk! But I still prefer this...

A couple of weekends ago, mommy and Avi went to Seattle. While there, we got to celebrate our friend William’s second birthday at his sport-themed party and visit friends and family—including Uncle Dale, Uncle Mark, Aunt Liz, and Cousins Carson and Jennah. Everyone is getting so big! Check out the pictures in the Photo Gallery.

It was great to see everyone in Seattle!

Hey! Remember us!?! It’s been way too long since we’ve reported any updates–we’ve been enjoying the temperate San Francisco winter, entertaining new visitors, and developing some new little human skills that have all been creating some great content for some long-overdue website updates.

I won’t give away some of the exciting posts that we have ahead, so today we will ease you back into the excitement that is GFW with the final of Avi’s Monthly Photo Shoots–from when we turned one. We had lots of visitors that week: Grandpa, Gigi, Auntie Robin, Uncle Jake, Aunt Liz, and even our pals Misty and William from Seattle. All of them make an appearance in our final photo shoot. Additionally, as a way of asking for forgiveness, we’ve posted a short video as well, of one of Avi’s new skills (and, there’s actually ANOTHER video IN the photo shoot slideshow–so you’re really getting TWO videos for the price of one!)

Are we forgiven yet? You can find the new video and the updated Monthly Photo shoot slideshow at the top of their respective columns in the photo gallery!

I'm Back, and I'm ONE!

For those of you keeping track (and there were an impressive number of you!), Avi turned 1 year old on Sunday. To celebrate, Grandpa, Gigi, and Auntie Robin came to visit—and we had so much fun! Then, on Saturday, we had nearly 35 of our pals over to celebrate. Mommy did a great job organizing everything, the food was delicious, and the weather held out. The day was a blast! Pictures and a video are now posted in the photo gallery!

Avi Turns One

As you read in an earlier post, we enjoyed Boston weather, friends, and family, for about a week over the holidays. We had a great time and were lucky enough to spend a lot of time with Nanny, Avi’s Great-Grandmother. Avi decided that he liked her style and, as soon as he got back to San Francisco, set about teaching himself to move like Nanny. She does a great job of getting herself around for a lady with a number of years of wisdom under her belt…

We’ve captured his latest milestone in a video (actually, 2 clips) now posted in the Photo Gallery!

Honk Honk!! Outta my way!

We are finally back in San Francisco after a whirlwind of holiday travel. We started off in San Diego for Hanukah and had a blast with Gigi, Grandpa, Aunt Robin, and Uncle Eric. A short plane ride to San Diego (land of wonderful weather) didn’t pose enough of a packing challenge for us, so we decided to spend two weeks away from mild San Francisco in some more extreme climates. We flew to Boston on December 17 and were promptly treated to twelve inches of fresh snow and temperatures that ensured that it stuck around. We saw lots of friends and family before getting on a plane to fly to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, the day after Christmas. We worked hard on our tans, played in the sand, and swam in the ocean and pool. What a fantastic trip!

It was great to see Grammy, Zayda, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Dave, and Dara. We missed Uncle Jake and Aunt Liz, who were in Viet Nam on their Honeymoon. That sounded like it was a ton of fun, too–maybe they’ll take us with them next time!

Lucky for you, we’ve captured both trips in a Photo Album that is now posted in the Photo Gallery. Happy New Year to everyone!

The Cold part of our Fire and Ice trip

Last weekend, we flew down to San Diego and had an awesome weekend with Gigi, Grandpa, Aunt Robin, and Uncle Eric. The weekend was jam-packed with fun events and tons of “firsts” for the Big Man. On Friday, we went to Disneyland and California Adventure (thanks, Uncle Brian!), Avi’s first theme park, and he loved most of the rides (including his first Merry-Go-Round). Later in the day, Avi met Mickey Mouse and Goofy—Avi seemed a little stumped by the five foot tall mouse (not sure why that seems so normal to the rest of us). That night, Avi lit Hanukkah candles for the first time and received his first wrapped gift (and new favorite toy) from Gigi and Grandpa (thank you!!)

On Saturday, we stayed in and celebrated Aunt Robin’s birthday with delicious dinner and desserts. And finally, on Sunday, we went to the San Diego Zoo, which Avi loved. We saw beautiful birds, monkeys, elephants, giraffes, and even some swimming hippos.

We’ve added a slideshow to the Photo Gallery so you can re-live our fun weekend in San Diego with us! Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to everyone!

Avi, Gigi, Grandpa, and Mickey

We have to admit that our unlucky Big Man may have it a bit tougher than some others: he has a professional educator for a mother and a father-nerd who occasionally spends time programming on the weekend. While others his age are learning to “make a cat sound” (“meow”) or even that of a lion (“roar”), Holly decided to start Avi off with an elephant sound. What sound DOES an elephant make? Think about it for a moment. If you’re stuck, Avi has the answer… Check out his new video in the photo gallery.

Animal Sounds in the Bath

With Mom directing, Avi showed us a new skill–intense drama acting. In this scene, our 10-month-old Hero is stuck on one side of a gaping chasm, deperately trying to reach the treasure on the other side. I will remind you that he has had NO acting lessons. I think you’ll agree, though, that he does an amazing job of conveying such raw emotion: desire, frustration, angst… I won’t give way the ending, you’ll have to watch it for yourself. Now posted in the video gallery.

Cameras Rolling?