getting caught up on 2007

well, after a near 8 month hiatus, avi's blog returns.  the neglect was not intentional,  but a result of our dell dying in october!  not to mention loosing about 3 months of pics :(  needless to say, i am such a frugal shopper when it comes to anything that constitutes a significant purchase and i tend to over think it and research the heck out of it.  in this instance, i really took this to the next level taking over 5 months to decide on a new notebook.  fortunately with the wii, we were able to stay "connected", and it fueled our procrastination...okay, with that weak explanation out of the way, lets get caught up on things!

so, i thought it would be fun to do this through a couple of entries to highlight avi's adventures since october.   this entry will hit on his first international vacation, halloween, teeth up top, maddy's b-day, and his birthday, to name a few!  

in late october, we ventured to jamaica with five other families, renting a villa at half moon bay in montego bay.  initially harshna was opposed to the idea of this trip to the island as it just seemed to be a little too far out of our comfort zone with avi.  how in the world were we gonna manage?  its not like we can take his entire room and all of his stuff to jamaica; or can we?  i wonder how much a glider would cost to ship?  

after some strong coxing, i was able to convince harshna it wouldn't be that bad!  so, we decided to leave the bottle sterilizer at home and warm up to the idea of sharing a room with the little guy...jamaica, here we come!  

so, a four hour flight with a baby is not fun...typically, when i fly, i always dread ending up next to either the "talker", the weight challenged individual who inevitably infringes on my real estate, or the crying baby...on this day, we were option #3 on my dreaded list.  the last hour in the air, avi put his lungs through a serious work out.  i felt bad for some of our fellow passengers, but i found comfort in the fact that we were not the only parents on this particular flight with crying babys.  in fact, every time i heard one of those little rug rats screaming, it brought pure joy to harshna and i ;)

once we arrived at half moon bay, it was great.  we rented a villa that had a private pool, our own housekeeper, cook and handy man.  these three special people really made our trip that much more enjoyable!  so, of those "rug rats" from the plane, five of them (left to right - jason, avi, ben, tyson, and pierson)  were a part of our group and on our very first day at the villa, we were able to catch a pic with all of them on the couch (except haley).   this was the beginning of a great week with some new and old friends.  since soo and peter were are only connection to the group, we were meeting everyone else for the first time. but, within no time we all seemed to get along great!    unfortunately, the week flew by and offered plenty of fun at the pool, beach and delicious home cooked meals.  we ate each of our meals around a large dining table and after we put the kids down each nite we played board games and just relaxed.

i wouldn't say this trip was as relaxing as the last time i was in jamaica, but i don't regret taking the little man.  he may not remember it, but he had a blast!  i've enclosed a couple of clips from our trip below...enjoy!

upon returning from jamaica, we enjoyed avi's first halloween. this is one of my favorite days of the year and we have not been afraid to dress kiya up in costumes in years past, so avi is in trouble! i'm pretty sure we didn't embarrass him too much as we dressed him up as tigger.  

it just so happens that halloween fell on wednesday this year and that is the same day as avi's yoga class. lucky avi! we dressed him up and sent him on his way...of course, he was the only kid in his yoga class in costume - sorry little dude! but, he was a hit. my mom took him everywhere she could to show him off, which was pretty cool! he stopped by my uncle's office, harshna's mom's office, my aunt's school and finally my office. with his padded belly, i think he felt indestructible as he roamed around with a carefree attitude, bumping into things and not skipping a beat...too bad halloween isn't every day!

so, one week after halloween, on november 4th, avi was invited to one of his yoga buddies birthday. her name is maddy and we were celebrating her first birthday! avi and maddy are buds and enjoying pal-ing around during yoga! her birthday was outside at one of the local parks and her parents really did it up! there were balls galore, bubbles floating in the air, balloons, cake, and tons of flashing cameras! unfortunately, all of my pics from this birthday bash were lost with our hard drive...however, this pic is by far one of my fav's of avi and has been hanging on my camera for no particular reason except that i like looking at it!

on november 16th, we discovered a new development in avi, more teeth! teeth up top! his front teeth on the bottom came in a while ago and now they are not alone. you can see that they are just starting to make there way into this pic! with the recent addition of his upper two teeth, his smile is starting look more like a little boy than a new born baby...how time flies! now, with all of these new additions to his mouth, you better believe his mom is hammering home dental hygiene. not only is he brushing twice a day, he also has an electronic tooth brush and a whiting kit already! just kidding, dr. patel!

he is quickly approaching his first birthday and is quite talkative; crawling everywhere! he pulls up on furniture with ease and his appetite is rapidly changing. he is exploring all kinds of new tastes and flavors. real fruits like strawberries, pasta, chicken, the occasional french fry, and his grandma loves to give him cookies! below are a few pics of "harshna approved" food and "only at grandma's house" food...i'll let you guys figure out which one he likes better! oh, and these were taken right before thanksgiving.

boy, i wonder what would happen if we installed a nanny-cam and really uncovered what exciting cuisine he gets at grandma's house!!  

so, the big day is finally here...avi's birthday!!!  the little guy is a year old!  we had a small get together at my parents house and invited family and only a few friends.  this "small" celebration had well over 50 people there???  we were very seriously trying to keep this as small scale as possible, but sometimes we forget exactly how big our families truly are!  we dressed him up in his preppiest outfit and set up a ball pit with crawling tunnels.  this was a huge hit for him!  he couldn't get enough of crawling from one tunnel to the next!  soon after, he dove into his birthday cupcakes, which was really something to see!  one would think we were preparing for a home renovation as we laid down a tarp under his high chair, disrobed him down to his onsie and then let him have at!!   a lot of my pics were lost, fortunately i had a few on the digital camera!  however, i have plenty of video!  in fact, i am putting together a collection of our fav clips to try and compensate for all of the lost pics...should have that uploaded this week!

from the slideshow above, you can see him playing with cathrine in one of the tunnels!  you will also see cathrine's uncle, ian, doing what he does best - eat!  oh, and i should mention, the couch/chair he got from nital is in the very last pic.  that chair is the bomb!  it has his name stitched into it and he loves that thing!  he parks his little butt in it every chance he can!!