TGIF

A lot of rain predicted for this weekend, and indeed, we had quite a bit earlier today, but this afternoon splashed a huge ray of sunshine across the city and I am grateful to have time to appreciate it.  It's cold and fresh smelling outside, too, so I had the door open until the indoor temperature started dropping to the point of discomfort . . .plus I am making a stew in the slow-cooker and needed to clear out the scent of onions, garlic and meat a bit . . .ah, pregnancy.
Avi and I made a fort this morning.  My friend invited us over and as much as Avi loves her daughter, he really, really wanted to "stay nakey" and stay home for awhile.  We eventually made out way over for a nice visit but it was also good to take our time and hang out leisurely at home.  This week has been so incredibly hectic.  Not to get into a litany of complaints, but the past several weeks at work have had too much death and stress and also included getting paged at 1AM because someone thought it was appropriate to ask me about a parking issue at that hour. So this morning I immensely enjoyed the simple joy of watching Avi play with this "house," as he called it.  We brought pillows inside and read his current favorite book, Mama, Do You Love Me? a few times.
Last weekend I hosted a baby shower for a dear friend and co-worker.  We actually had to rouse Avi from his sleep (after being incredulous that he slept through all the noise) as it was nearly 5pm and I get all freaky about him napping too late.  He is not happily woken up, as a rule, but the cupcake, or "cake-cup," as he calls them, helped ease the pain a little.
Leeor brought this FDNY Elmo back from his trip to New York.  Avi has been super attached to it basically from the moment he held it in his sweet little hands.  Lately he has taken to giving Elmo (and any other stuffed toy or baby doll) a "ba-ba," more commonly known as a bottle.  I hand him one of his old little ones that we used to fill with breast milk and offer to him when he was so tiny.  Sometimes I can't wait to have a new baby around here.  Other times I lie awake at night and think it's going to be really hard.
As I mentioned, Avi really, really likes to hang out in his diaper in the morning.  We change it when he wakes and usually peel off his jammies as they are often a little damp from leakage.  Then it sometimes takes all kinds of mental gymnastics to get Avi dressed.  He is wily.  And smarter than me already.  Of course, M never has a problem.  The week Leeor was away, she would walk in in the morning and see Avi diaper-clad and exclaim, "Donde esta tus pantalones?" and he would laugh and she would get him dressed with the greatest of ease.  

On days like today, when we can stay at home, I don't at all mind his reluctance to get dressed.  I sneak a little lotion on his soft skin while he's distracted (because "no" remains his favorite word) and marvel at his sweetness.  On Monday we fly to Arizona for a week with my aunt, my mom and many members of my extended family there.  I can't wait to wear flip-flops, eat pumpkin pie and turkey, and spend time with relatives that we don't see nearly often enough.  Avi is also excited for vacation, because he knows it means no one has to go to work, and we all get to be together.