Fairy Godmother

Baby Aviva has been blessed with something every baby needs: a living Fairy Godmother. Blessed with wit, charm, and sensitivity, V's Fairy Godmother -- known to mortals as Becky -- lives across the way and adores Max. She has offered to be Vivi's fairy godmother because we hope that Vivi grows up to be sociable, intelligent, and funny just like her. She's even a republican, to offer a little balance.

We note that Max has a regular godmother who also presents Max with a strong female archetype, but we really hope Aviva's fairy godmother is more involved in Aviva's life than Max's non-fairy godmother. We will keep you posted.

In Max news, I took Max to art class for the first time today. Apparently not all parents teach their children to roar and knock over towers. That was what I learned today.

Oh, and the picture of Max shows both his love of Mickey Mouse (he we just had to take to the park today) and his classic mean-mug shot, which we get about a gizilion times a day.

More Aviva -- Better than "Francisco"

Demand for pictures has been insane. In response, I give you a collection of photos entitled, "Better than Francisco," in homage to Amy's children (see Amy's comment regarding Elf). Kristin and I suspect V's tongue will become a prominent feature in photos, just as Max's head was his prominent feature for many years. Where Max used his head like an extra hand (to lift heavy objects out of the way, to balance his body while going up stairs, etc.), Vivi uses her tongue like an antennae to scope out the flavor of her environment.

And, yes, we Max still adores Vivi and even asked nicely if he could play with her new toys. And, since I think he's cute, I included a picture of him from today as well.

Daddy Time

Nothing is more exciting than being a dad for the first time. And thanks to the generosity of Simpson Thacher, I get to enjoy the first four weeks of Aviva's life in real-time. Paternity leave is one of the greatest advancements of our life time.

As a result of my freedom, I will be managing the EFN Blog for the next four weeks. Some of you may have already noticed a change in style with my first post announcing Aviva's birth. There's more of that where that came from.

But, you really want to know about Aviva and Kristin, not my editorial style. So attached are some pics of Aviva and Kristin. Max seems perfectly enthrawled by his little sister and appears protective, even reminding the cleaning lady to be quiet while Aviva is sleeping. We'll see how long it lasts.

She's HERE!!!

Baby Aviva arrived early on September 12, 2007 (at 12:51 AM). She weighed 6 lbs 10 ounces at birth, and was 20 inches long. Also, she was remarkably quiet, especially compared to the boy born across the hall -- he didn't stop screaming for like an hour. But not our Baby V, she was a dream right from the start.

Kristin is doing well also and is relieved to be done with pregnancy. She insists that it will be a while before the next child, but we all know she can't keep her hands off her man!

Pictures to follow later.

Apple Orchard

Mary and I took Max and Nikolai to an apple orchard today. I didn't last long in the heat (2 days people! 2 days), but we picked a few apples and saw the animals. You know, you watch enough Disney movies and you start to think farm animals really are cute. Well, here's a dose of reality: they're not. They're dirty and smelly. Pigs? Yuck.

Happy Happy Birthday

Last night we had a joint family birthday party for Max and his cousin Sarah. Aunt Misty made the most amazing cake (see left). Luckily, Sarah and Max are both going through a big sea creatures phase, so there's your theme. It really was so much fun being with family and watching the two of them open presents and get so excited. When we brought the cake out, we hadn't even finished the song before Sarah and Max had blown the candles out. Much improved since last year when Max just reached for the candles and burned his finger. Not so fun for him, but it made
for a good home video.

Aida stopped by to bring Max a present. When she walked in she let us know that she had a present, but she had better help Max by opening it for him. Which she proceeded to do. Max didn't seem to mind though. She got him a book "Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" which I highly recommend. It's really funny.

Again, it was so great to see Max so happy with his cousins. He clearly couldn't have had a better night (unless Preston was there too). He gave us a play by play this morning about what all had happened, and even acted out his favorite part (blowing out the candles). So thanks everyone for making it such a great night.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Max and I went on a field trip today. It was supposed to happen on Tuesday, Max's birthday, but Abram had to be on a call, blah blah blah... so we went today instead. We took the train downtown, went up to Abram's office so he could show Max off a little bit, and went to lunch at Potbelly's (who has a surprisingly tasty Oreo Chocolate Milkshake, btw). Max charmed the ladies at Potbelly's and scored a free cookie. I'm hoping he's taking after his Auntie Ryan who I swear I have never been in public with when she hasn't received something for free. Max was a little skeptical about the train, but when I saw he got to take an enormous escalator up to it, he got on board. His favorite parts were when we stopped at the airport and he saw 5 huge airplanes all lined up next to each other, and when we went over the Potomac and he saw all the bridges and boats. He was so thrilled by the possibility, I didn't have the heart to tell him there are no sharks in the Potomac. So here's to Max on his 2nd birthday and here's to not having to have a party because he really has no clue what it means anyway :)


P.S. These are the adorable burp cloths and bib that Hillary (our friend who works with Abram) gave us today. www.cutestthings.com