Grossman family west

Earlier this summer, Aunt Robin and Aunt Liz each took trips to our new house to visit us and we had a blast with everyone. As a special treat, Aunt Liz brought Cousin Carson AND our brand-new Cousin Parker, whom we met for the first time! The highlight of Aunt Robin’s visit was surely the hand-crafted Tow Mater costume that she made for Avi’s tricycle, which began a weeks-long fascination with towing things around the house. Meanwhile, Aunt Liz and Cousins Carson and Parker joined us for bike rides and a Sukkah party.

We’ve captured their visits in a new album now posted in the Photo Gallery.

Aunt Robin and Avi make bring Tow Mater to life

Ezra has made some impressive progress lately: increasing his vocabulary, improving his animal sounds, throwing balls around the house, and even riding a tricycle. However, we have seen (with increasing frequency) a sure indication that this 21 month year-old (well, 22 months now) is ready to turn two: perfection of the adorable temper tantrum when something in his daily life just doesn’t break his way. These aren’t overly frequent so, as “experienced” parents (thank you, Avi!), we actually find Ezra’s tantrums pretty adorable. Please don’t report us to CPS.

Seriously, you be the judge (also added to the Photo Gallery):

I AM TURNING TWO!

Back in MAY we had a blast with all our family and good pals in Seattle. We got to meet the highly anticipated Baby Lucien! We shared some QT with cousins Rebecca and Dan who not only hosted us at their house, but they entrusted their newest addition, Keeney, to Avi, who turned out to have quite good dog-walking skillz. Go Avi! We celebrated Addison’s 2nd birthday by decorating our own cupcakes, and even got some batting practice in on the same day. Cousins Carson and Jennah showed us one of their favorite parks where we shared a sunny Seattle day with friends and family.  Birgit, Adriano, Massimo, and Vivi, as always, showed us an exceptionally good time at their house and we cherished every moment. Overall, it was a phenomenal trip which reminded us yet again how blessed we are to have the whole Seattle crew in our lives.

We have posted a new album to the Photo Gallery.

Visiting our growing family in Seattle!

(Today’s post is a guest post by Gigi!)

Wow, is right!! Avi and Ezra met their Great Grandma Helen, Gigi’s Momma. At 94 she is still sharp as a tack and loves playing games and being social just as much as ever. We saw so many relatives; Mommy’s Aunts and Uncles and Cousins. We fed Uncle Chuck’s cows and he took us for a ride on his tractor. We played at Uncle Ron’s campground and roasted marshmallows for s’mores… mmm. We helped Uncle Chuck harvest kidney beans and squash beans. We toted them all the way home to Lafayette and cooked them. That’s what we call Farm to Fork! Whew, Minnesota in September is sure fun!!

Avi, Mommy, and Ezra having fun in Minnesota

We’ve moved to a new town and so Avi is in a new school, but his school picture is still cute as ever (according to us, at least)!

Avi’s School Picture, Oct 2012

Those with good memories may remember our 2010 Family Photoshoot, in which some family friends magically transformed us into beautiful models happily cavorting around the Bay Area Discovery Museum. Well, with a very special new arrival in Feb of 2011, we decided that it was time to call up those same friends to make us (all four of us, now!) look beautiful once again. And, since she was really part of Grossman Family West, we even brought along Auntie Debbie for this photoshoot! (Yes, this means that this photoshoot was taken over FOUR MONTHS AGO, but we wanted to let the images age like fine wine!)

You do not need to wait any longer—the Grossman Family West Family Photoshoot, 2012 edition, is now in the Photo Gallery!

Don’t we look like models? Don’t you want to buy the clothes we are wearing?

As Avi grows up, he is learning that sometimes growing up means saying goodbye to old pals. Yesterday morning, he embraced an important life cycle event by saying goodbye to one that has been with him since his very first days. The emotional moment was caught on video, and is now posted into the photo gallery.

Avi Says Goodbye to an Old Friend

This past weekend, the games of the XXX Olympiad ended an inspiring two weeks for Grossman Family West. We witnessed heroic athletic performances and the culmination of years of hard work and dedication for so many athletes. Ezra, in particular, was inspired to begin training of his own. Since he is not yet sure where his natural talent lies, we have begun training for a number of Olympic events. Here, as a sneak peek, is a compilation of some of Ezra’s earliest training sessions. Wish us luck!

Ezra begins Olympic Training

Ezra has begun to verbalize a bit more lately, and is also making clever use of the few ASL signs that he knows, along with strategic pointing and grunting. Nevertheless, he clearly comprehends more than he can speak (sort of like his dad in France)—both of us can stick out our tongue when asked to do so. See the new video in the Photo Gallery for proof!

So these are "toes", huh? Tasty!

We have been a bit remiss in documenting Ezra’s impressive growth these past few months, so we have some rapid-fire videos coming over the next few posts. We will start with a basic one: eating with a spoon. Those of you who know Ezra’s daddy will say that Ezra has matched him in spoon-feeding skills. Video now in the photo gallery.

Next up: the spork