Treasure

Ups and downs feel more intense with Avi, who is turning out to be a pretty intense little guy.


While yesterday was quite challenging, today was really brilliant. Sleep helps. Avi slept in 'til 8 AM. What a blessing. We got to have a nice morning at home; Leeor played Grateful Dead and Miriam Makeba on the turntable and we danced and sang. Avi ate pieces of banana. He did not nap, but whatever.


We went to lunch with Shea. Leeor, Avi and I walked over to 24th street in Noe Valley, which is replete with cute shops and cafes. There were loads of Halloween decorations that were super cute. Lunch at Fresca, the Peruvian place, was great and also funny. It took a long, long time. Avi was a champ. Having eaten part of an Earth's Best cereal bar in his stroller, he was not interested in his black beans, but he chomped the hell out of a hunk of bread.



Leeor taught another class for the youth court kids. It was really satisfying for him. I had a great afternoon with Avi. He was so engaging, so excited to explore our living room, his toys, his language, his motor skills, my face. He is just as eager to walk as he is to crawl. He likes to pull up by holding onto my hands and then step his way across the floor. He likes to rock himself back and forth on his hands and knees, much like how I did while I was in labor with him.



Avi didn't really nap today. He slept a little in the ergo on the way back from lunch, which was super sweet 'cause he doesn't really sleep in the ergo anymore. I took a quick lap through an open house, a 1.7 million dollar house around the corner from our place. It was an amazing place. It even had its own sauna, an incredible backyard, the same views of the city that our place has. There was a time when I would have been filled with envy at a place like this, when I would have fantasized about living in it. Today I merely appreciated it, my sleeping baby like a treasure on my chest as I cruised around this magnificent home. There was another couple touring with their baby asleep in their ergo. I said to the mom, "Not so kid-friendly, is it?" while motioning to the spiral staircase. It was ultra-modern, ultra-design-y and fabulous. The realtor had a 3 year old daughter and we talked about her. I ate the nice cheese and crackers somewhat guiltily as I knew I wasn't at all interested or able to buy this house. C'est la vie.



Tonight, as I put Avi to bed after a lovely play session with his Aba, I remembered the pjs we used to put him in. We called them "schlopsaks," which is Afrikaans for sleeping bags. The tag said 0-9 months but Avi outgrew them pretty early on. I thought about those sleepsacks and I missed them. Avi is such an amazing kid. He's intense, methodical, a thinker. He desperately wants to do things he can't do, like walk and crawl; it's like he gets the possibility but can't do it so he gets frustrated. When he laughs, it lifts me up and I laugh, too. Leeor and I often ask each other; how did we get so lucky?