Grossman family west

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."

If you’ve been reading the blog, you know that these young parents tend to dote on the small milestones in our son’s life: a somersault, hanging in a swing, and even pooping. Well, I think we’ve now reached a milestone that we can all agree is a very Big Milestone: Avi’s first Wave. Why so major? Well, if you think about it, a Wave really signifies a certain social awareness of what is going on around you, a recognition of how people interact with each other. Yes, the Wave is a Big Deal. And, by coincidence, Avi’s first Wave was caught on video and happened to take place at Fenway Park (what could make a Boston Dad more proud??), thanks to the generosity of Avi’s Great Aunt Linda (who also witnessed Avi’s first Wave and was extremely excited) and Great Uncle Kenny (thanks GAL and GUK!), who gave us tickets to the game.

No teaser photo here–it’s best for you to just go directly to the video: one you don’t want to miss!

Have you ever eaten ONE FOOD exclusively for three and a half months? Well, Avi has. Uncle Jake pointed out to him that he’s really cheating himself out of some of the more delicious aspects life (and Grossmans don’t go light on food!). Until now, Avi had been very satisfied with just milk all day every day but Uncle Jake got him thinking and Avi decided that he wanted to branch out. So, when we took a little excursion to NYC (because Dad had some work there), Avi started making noise about wanting to try some deli… And not just ANY deli–Avi wanted a Reuben (with cole slaw, of course) from the Carnegie Deli. And so that’s what he ordered and he devoured the entire thing! Man, we really should have taken a video of it. Instead, we only have this picture, taken right before he started eating it…

Avi also visited with some new friends and NYC and he REALLY LOVED Times Square. Some pictures and a short video are now posted to the Photo Gallery.

Gimmie somma dat!

Avi got to meet his great grandmother “Nanny” (91 years Avi’s senior) a couple of days ago and loved every minute of it. You’ll remember that Avi Aaron was named after Nanny’s late husband, so it was quite a special moment when the two met. Luckily, we caught it on video, now posted in the photo gallery.

Avi and Nanny had met each other over video chat a number of times previously, but this was their first in-person meeting…

Avi Aaron and his Great Grandmother "Nanny"

The other day, Holly and Avi went to the park with our neighbors and our Little Gymnast (see previous post) showed his aerial acrobatic skills! Check out the new video of Avi on his first Swing, as he flies through the air with the greatest of ease… Now posted in the Photo Gallery.

Avi turned three months old last week. And to celebrate his Three Month Birthday, we… (wait for it) … had a photoshoot!! Surprised? What if I told you it was actually four different photoshoots?!?

Don’t worry, of the many dozens of pictures we took, we have hand-selected only the best dozen to post here. We’ve added them to the begining of the existing Monthly Birthday Photoshoot set. Enjoy!

Avi turns Three (months)!

Who needs to crawl or walk when you can just somersault wherever you want to go? That’s what Avi figures. And, not satisfied with just getting somewhere, Avi has thrown his full spirit into gymnastics—he has declared enthusiastically that he is now officially In Training for the 2012 Olympics in London, with plans to take home the Gold. In addition to maintaining a strict diet appropriate for an athlete of his caliber (exclusively breast milk), Avi can be found perfecting his routine in the gym. A “human interest story” in the making, NBC’s cameras snuck into Avi’s latest training session and captured a bit of footage that you are likely to see on TV in 2012… If you don’t want to wait that long, we’ve posted the video in our photo gallery for you to see.

"So which one of you is going to get the Silver?"

Uncle Jake and Liz came to visit us in San Francisco from Wednesday to Sunday this past week and we had a blast! We bbq’d, watched the Red Sox, went to Baretta for dinner, ate Chinese food, and dared Uncle Jake to change my diaper (he couldn’t handle it). We took some pictures, too, which we’ve added to the Avi and Family slideshow.

Me with Uncle Jake and Liz

Did anyone else see the Red Sox SWEEP the Yankees this weekend?!?

I DID! And I was cheering louder than anybody in all of my cool new presents!

– Avi

Go SOX!