Grossman family west

Dad had a business trip in Las Vegas this past week so Avi asked mom if they could go do Vegas, too. After all, he’d never been and had heard so much about Sin City. Mom and Dad talked it over and decided that if they kept a close watch on the Little Man, it might be a fun idea. Indeed, although dad was working the entire time (usually arriving back to the room after mom and Avi were asleep and leaving in the morning before they were done sleeping off a wild night), mom and Avi had so much fun, that we have both a new photo slideshow and a video to share–both now posted in the photo gallery! We also have lots of crazy wild stories, but on the plane ride home, we all agreed that What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas. Instead, you get some tame pictures of Avi playing it cool while catching some rays…

Avi Rocking the Pool in Vegas, catching some rays before another wild night

Rachael, Misty, and Brandi all visited for a great weekend last weekend, and we’re finally getting around to posting some pictures. Brandi came in from LA while Rachael and Misty hopped on down from Seattle, along with Rachael’s husband, Chris. We’ve added some photos to the Avi and Friends photo album, though here are a few from the weekend as a teaser…

Three Amigos

Avi at the BBQ

Avi had another pediatrician appointment yesterday and he weighed in at 12 lbs, 1 oz. Now, Avi has been saying for a while that he was SURE he was over 12 lbs, but mom and dad were a little skeptical. Well, sure enough, when he stepped to the scale yesterday, his official weight was 12 lbs, 1 oz. Avi immediately popped into the air, flexed, and screamed “That’s RIGHT! Who wants some of THIS?!?!” Fortunately, we had our camera handy…

Weighing in at 12 lbs, 1 oz.... Avi Grossman!

We’ve been experimenting with different types of music with Avi, trying to figure out what he likes. We hadn’t yet revealed to our son, though, that his family is full of rock stars in-the-making. Well, this past weekend we decided that he was ready. Holly captured the entire thing on this short video, featuring the entire Grossman Family West! For those of you not familiar with Rock Band, there is some real talent here: Aunt Debbie is playing the drum and singing at the same time and Joel jams on the guitar while maintaining a consistent pace on a very special “foot pedal.”

Grossman Family West Rocks out

Kelly came by the house last week with Dahlia, Avi’s lady friend who is four days older than Avi. We all witnessed their first date, which, admittedly, may have lacked a little spark. Well, after that date, Joel had a little man-to-man talk with Avi and Joel taught Avi some of his smoother moves to impress the ladies. Because they’re still not old enough to drive away from the prying eyes of their parents, we caught the entire second date on video. Check out Avi’s arm around Dahlia! That’s my boy!

Avi and Dahlia on the their Second Date

We’re a little tardy in posting a summary, but we had a fantastic visit from Uncle Dave and Dara last weekend as they stopped in San Francisco for the first part of their vacation which ended with some skiing in Jackson Hole. We’ve aready posted about the 6-week birthday cake that they made, Holly and Joel’s first night out (to celebrate our friend Vlada’s 30th), during which Dave and Dara babysat, and Avi’s latest spa visit, so all we really have left to post is a video of a few short video clips of Uncle Dave and Avi, now available in the Photo Gallery! Thanks for a fun visit, Uncle Dave and Dara, and we hope to see you again soon!

We had a great visit with Uncle Dave and Dara

It was another nice day in San Francisco, so we invited Puja, Nimesh, Danielle, Tom, and Henry over for a small BBQ at our house. It was some great catch-up time–the last time we saw Puja and Nimesh, Holly was still pregnant. Henry, Tom and Danielle’s son, is a fun and friendly little spirit, so he and Avi became friends quickly…

Avi's new friend, Henry (18 mo)

On Friday afternoon, Maya and Oliver stopped by for a final visit before they headed back to New York on Saturday, just as we had turned on some March Madness at Avi’s request. Because Dad had already proven his college hoops ignorance with a totally busted bracket so early in the Tournament, we decided that we should look to Uncle Oliver for hoops education instead. He happily obliged and even though he only had a short lesson, Avi has picked every game correctly since then. We’re impressed with both the teacher and the pupil. More pictures of Avi with Oliver and Maya in the Avi and Friends album.

Oliver drops some hoops knowledge on Avi

About the time we became pregnant, Holly and I joined the huge local reform synagogue in San Francisco. They’re very nice folks but, truth be told, we haven’t attended very many (any) events there yet beyond High Holy Day Services on account of the fact that the tunes were different than the ones I learned growing up, which I found very disconcerting.

Always turning the other cheek, though, the shul has not written us off and, much to our surprise, they stopped by yesterday with a very nice “Welcome to the World” Shabbat gift pack for Avi. With the Temple top of mind, it being Friday (Shabbat) afternoon, and we being good Jews (who just don’t attend temple), we promptly dressed up Avi with all of the gift pack accessories and started furiously snapping pictures—ensuring we completed the task before sundown. Then, as the sun set on the Friday afternoon, with Avi sporting a Yarmulke and sitting next to the Shabbat candles and wine and freshly baked Challah, we knew exactly what to do… Holly and I ordered Chinese food delivery and watched this week’s episode of The Office on our TiVo. It was really a wonderful night for three Jews in Noe Valley. And we’ll celebrate Shabbat next week.

Avi preparing for Shabbat

Avi liked the Spa in Week 3 so much that he requested another visit in Week seven, when Uncle Dave and Dara were here to join in the fun. Since he had been so well behaved, we agreed and took him (and even threw in a rubber duckie!). And we took pictures, which we’ve added to the original Avi At The Spa photo album.

Another Visit to the Spa