Ready for 2009

I swear, Avi knows how to send text messages better than I do.

Avi has a new way of pointing, with his palm turned up, kind of like Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune. This is Grandma making cookies, he seems to say, check it out.

Leeor went back to work today, but I did not. We leave for Tucson, and cousin Gila's wedding, tomorrow, so I decided to take a break. The holidays wiped me out, but mostly in a good way. I really love our family. The 3 of us have been truly enjoying each other, and also enjoying our parents and sibs.

I love watching the relationship deepen between Leeor and Avi. Last night, after a beautiful hike on Mt. Diablo, Leeor put Avi to bed for the first time. I feel a little sad about it, but mostly I feel wistful. After almost 11 months of Avi nursing to sleep at night, it was nice to pass him to Leeor, and then peek in on them as Leeor rocked Avi to sleep, Avi's legs and arms wrapped around his daddy's torso. It was so sweet. Then Avi proceeded to sleep until 4:30, then again until 8. He has been sleeping better this last week. I hope this is a new pattern emerging . . .

Avi is practically walking. It is such a trip to watch this process evolve. I keep remembering him as a tiny baby, and then watching this big kid cruise around while holding onto the couch, the coffee table, my legs, the faucet in the bathtub. I can't believe it has almost been a year since he was born. He is so chatty, so much fun to play with and be around. He has four big teeth and more on the way. He loves his "big boy toys" more and more, and the baby stuff less and less. Instead of chewing on books, he likes to sit and listen to them and turn the pages. He likes to answer questions and often points at things. I am guessing he wants to know what something is, so I oblige by naming the object, and that seems to satisfy him. He is definitely multi-lingual. If I ask him where are the lights? he looks at me blankly, but if I inquire, donde esta la luz? he eagerly points his palm to the string of lights above our sliding doors. It was cute to watch him with chopsticks when we went for dim sum on Christmas day.

Now that Christmas and Hanukah are over, I realize what I missed about Christmas, and what I so enjoy about Hanukah. Ritual. I love practicing a spiritually significant ritual in our home. Even though I went to yoga on Christmas day, it didn't feel quite right, because I was alone. Also, I missed stockings. Next year I would like to incorporate something from my Christmas tradition into our family holiday celebration. I look forward to that, and also to lighting Hanukah candles. Yogis, Catholics and Jews all seem to have candle-lighting in common. I love it. One thing I don't want to change about how we celebrate the holiays is all the fun we have been having with our friends who come back to the bay area to visit, as well as our local peeps. The McFarlands treated us to a great trip to the new Academy of Science in Golden Gate Park, Rachel and Brian came for brunch, Amaya came to visit tonight . . . it's been nice to have such a relaxing time at home with friends.

There are going to be a lot of changes in the coming year. It's going to be awesome, from the new administration and president to our baby turning one. Bring it on; I'm ready.