Have Soy Sauce - Will Travel

Eating peanut butter

2012-01-18T21:45:00.001Z

Aviva loves peanut butter (like her father.) She eats it the way adults wish we could eat all the time.

Of course we know that it makes a huge mess, but like I said before - it's still cute.

Chocolate chip pancake face (and talking)

2012-01-18T21:27:00.002Z

Last weekend we had chocolate chip pancakes. Aviva says a few of her words for us, and shows us that she's not afraid to hit camera-people.

Not a dog

2012-01-17T20:31:00.000Z

Just as we're always trying to get Aviva to answer questions, we sometimes try to get her to do things. In this clip she shows us definitively that she does not follow orders like a dog.

Rainy New Year's Eve Day

2012-01-17T19:54:00.000Z

On New Year's Eve Day, we met some friends for lunch. It started to rain, but we had chosen a restaurant with a garden and playground so that Aviva could play. It wasn't cold, so we let her play in the mud.

Guess her new favorite word?

2012-01-17T19:08:00.002Z

Alas, the long dreaded "NO!" has reached our household. It's still pretty cute (for now.)

Gifts!

2012-01-17T18:56:00.000Z

In the last few weeks, we've received wonderful gifts, both for Aviva and for us. I'll be posting videos and photos of her using them. Here she is enjoying an activity center/push toy from her Auntie Sarah and Uncle Christian. As you can see, over time she gets better at reversing (though for some reason she still gets frustrated at the end.) I like the little driving song she sings in the last of the three short clips. Thanks, Sarah and Christian!

Daddy-Baby Time

2012-01-17T16:06:00.002Z

Aviva has a great time snuggling and messing around with her dad during the last few weeks. Here's a clip of her helping Peter fix the refrigerator, and then playing what we call "face smash."

More love for the rocking elephant

2012-01-12T21:22:00.003Z

In 2009, when Roger and Barbara visited us, they bought us a beautiful rocking elephant. Aviva has loved it for months, but in the last couple of weeks, she's figured out how to get on and off and to rock by herself! She even sings/makes a high-pitched happy noise when she rocks on it.

Thanks to Roger and Barbara again for the wonderful gift!

Cat/Mao/Cattykoo/Eish-Meow

2012-01-12T20:22:00.006Z

A few weeks ago, our good friends Jinty and Benoit, and their two boys, Leo and Emil, moved to Mozambique. We were very sad to see them go. Jinty is an avid gardener, and we inherited many of her beautiful indigenous plants.

We also inherited...

Mao!

Cat!

Cattykoo!

Leo named her Cattykoo, but we'd like to give her a new name. Aviva calls her "Mao," which is the Chinese word for cat. Then again, she calls every cat "Mao." The cat also goes by "Cat."

Our friend Beth suggested Eish-Meow. To explain, Swazis and South Africans use "Eish!" as an exclamation. (It's pronounced "eesh.") We might say "wow," or "yikes" or even "oh no." Eish-Meow sounds like the name "Ishmael," and it's our favorite so far, but it's a little hard to say, so for now it will probably be her middle name.

She is a very sweet cat, and her best personality trait is that she allows Aviva to follow her around, pet her not-so-gently, and even pull her tail, and she has never tried to scratch or bite Aviva. She just simply walks away.

If she's tired, she even lets Aviva sleep on her.

Peter didn't want her to be an indoor cat, but even he wasn't immune to her charms.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-08T21:06:00.007Z

Our friends, Ben, Beth, and Mikayla Kickert, came to visit us for New Year's Eve this year. They live at St. Phillips, on the Cabrini Mission, about two hours away from here. The Kickerts were hosting some 21-month old twins from the Mission, so the twins stayed with us, too! Nosipho (the girl) and Simo (the boy) were very sweet, and it was wonderful to have them. Our friend Keri joined us as well.

The four kids had dinner together.

Mikayla is almost three, and the four kids got in the bath together. I have a short and funny video of them; let me know if you'd like to see it.

Nosipho and Simo didn't enjoy it at first. I felt bad for them, but it was sort of funny how Aviva and Mikayla seemed totally unaware of the crying around them. Pretty soon all four of them were happy.

The kids all went to bed, and the adults geeked out on a board game called Settlers of Catan. It's sort of Risk meets Dungeons and Dragons meets Monopoly, and it's very fun.

The next morning, Simo and Aviva helped Peter unload the cooler.

All the kids enjoyed the toys.

Aviva and Nosipho even rode the rocking elephant together.

Ben and Beth made a great avocado-picking team.

Happy New Year, everyone!

New Year's Eve Eve

2012-01-08T20:48:00.004Z

On New Year's Eve Eve (yes, the night before NYE), we had a Chinese Shabbat dinner. I've mentioned before that we try to have Chinese food every Friday night, so that we're celebrating both of our cultures at once. That night we invited some friends over to help us.

We had recently found some dumpling wrappers in Pretoria, and I was eager to try them, so I made two kinds of fillings: chicken and beef. Both were seasoned with soy sauce, ginger, green onions, and sesame oil, and included a bit of cabbage and mung bean noodles as filler.

Aisha and Erik were hard at work.

Keri, Nellie, and Nicole were also helping out.

With everyone's help, we finished the whole stack of dumpling wrappers in less than 30 minutes! Then we cooked them and feasted. Also on the menu:

Roast duck (basted in soy sauce and brown sugar): a Chen family favorite, and my mom's specialty

Braised beef and daikon (Chinese white turnip)

Tofu with shiitake mushrooms and bok choy

Szechuan cucumber salad
Here's the whole gang. Aviva enjoyed the duck, but in the photo she's having her favorite: whole milk.

Pictures and videos of New Year's Eve to come tomorrow!

Merry Christmas!

2012-01-03T21:12:00.007Z

Sorry about the late posts, but we've been awfully busy lately.

A few weeks ago, we went to a Christmas party for the US Embassy community. As with almost all of the potluck parties here, there was an amazing spread of food. The hosts had prepared turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, and gravy, and the guests brought all kinds of salads, side dishes, and desserts.

There are many kids in the Embassy community, and Aviva liked watching them run around. They mostly ignored her, except when she tried to grab food off their plates.

Then on Christmas Day, we were going to go out for the afternoon, but someone fell asleep.

Eventually she woke up, and we went down to the Lugogo Sun Hotel in the Ezulwini Valley (about 15 minutes away) for some swimming.

Later that night, we went to another party, at our friend Erik and Nicole's house. Aviva had fun with their daughter, Lily.
As you can see, Aviva is wearing a beautiful party dress! It was a gift from Nana Frances (Aviva's Great Grandmother.) It's a 12M, red and black plaid dress from Carter's. It features a little fabric and lace rose on the left side, and a wide black ribbon across the front. Adorable!

This video clip is not that exciting, but you can see how the dress poofs out beautifully around Aviva's legs. She was the best dressed person at the party!

Here's our friend Aisha, decorating a pan of brownies.

Nicole made some frosting for us to decorate cookies.

Erik's roast turkey and gravy were delicious.

Aviva, Aisha and I posed for a quick photo before dinner started.

Everyone decorated cookies beautifully, but our friend Robert won all the awards. He actually drew a picture of the Earth with a Ziplock bag of frosting!

And he even put a silver candy to mark Swaziland. Aww....Merry Christmas, everyone!

Peter's Birthday and Susan's Visit

2012-01-03T20:32:00.003Z

Peter's birthday is November 30, and this year we just had a small gathering of friends for some cake and ice cream. (We borrowed the candle from Aviva's birthday party.)

Aviva had fun with Natalie.

A few days later, my friend Susan came to visit from Johannesburg. We had a terrific time with her, even if it meant that Aviva then wanted to stay up and play with Susan every night.

One day Susan was having a peanut butter-banana sandwich, and it seemed like feeding time at the zoo. Aviva loves banana, and apparently she loves peanut butter, too!

I love how Aviva has her hand on Susan's leg in the next photo, sort of like your pet dog or cat might put their paw on your leg while waiting for attention (or food.)

We had a wonderful time with Susan, and can't wait for her to come back. We also look forward to seeing her in Johannesburg soon!

Cow Maniac and "Bedtime"

2012-01-03T20:00:00.006Z

As you may remember, Aviva's Uncle Henry gave her a fabulous stuffed cow last year. She still loves it, and now she carries it around. Here she is playing with it in the kitchen, narrowly avoiding bonking her head on the hard tile floor.

Some of you have heard about how Aviva feels about going to sleep at night. She basically hates it, and wants to run around all night. Here's a typical example of what happens at about 8 pm, after we wrestle her into her pajamas.

We're working on it.

An Early Thanksgiving in Swaziland

2012-01-03T19:36:00.003Z

Since we were going to be in Cape Town for Thanksgiving Day, we had our own Thanksgiving dinner in Swaziland two days early. Our friends Natalie and Uriel, and their kids, Liam and Tessa, came over to celebrate, as did our friend Emma.

Aviva had lots of fun with Liam and Tessa, and enjoyed sharing Tessa's food.

I baked an apple pie for dessert.

Richard played with all three kids in Aviva's corner of the living room.

Liam snuggled with Susan after dinner.

It was a lovely Thanksgiving, and we were so happy to share with friends and family!

Cape Town - Sun: Kirstenbosch Gardens

2011-12-15T20:31:00.012Z

On Sunday morning, we headed to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, at the foot of Table Mountain. It was absolutely gorgeous. In the lower right corner of the photo above, you can just barely see one of the large grassy areas. We saw dozens of families enjoying picnics on them that Sunday.

We had a nice breakfast at the restaurant there, where Aviva (no surprise) found some girls (probably ages 7 and 9) to play with. She did rejoin us later.

Throughout the park we saw amazing plants. Many of them looked completely different than plants I'd seen before.

We loved the proteas (South Africa's national flower), especially the "pincushion proteas."
The king protea was also amazing.

Peter, Aviva, and Richard were almost color coordinated.
Aviva got sleepy, so we let her nap in her stroller while we checked out more plants.
There was a Useful Plants Garden that included this excellent sign.
The lane of huge camphor trees was wonderful.
Aviva enjoyed a lot of it from her favorite vantage point: Grandpa Richard's shoulders.

The Garden was a great way to spend our Sunday morning. I can't wait to see it in a different season!

Cape Town - Sat afternoon: Simon's Town and Kalk Bay

2011-12-15T19:26:00.005Z

After we ate lots of delicious food at the Neighbourgoods Market, we headed to yet another meal: lunch at The Foodbarn, in Noordhoek. The restaurant is part of the Noordhoek Farm Village complex, which includes two restaurants and a little cafe, some shops, an adorable nursery, and a terrific playground.

I got a bit tired of taking food photos, but I will say that my favorite dish there was Peter's starter: prawn fritters with ginger & coriander samoosas, served with harrissa mayo and cinnamon oil. Yum!

The staff at the restaurant were wonderfully accommodating, and graciously helped us change tables after we realized that they had tables outside overlooking the playground area. When Peter put Aviva down to join the other children in the play area, she ran (toddler-style) toward them with her arms up in the air, as if to say, "My people! My people! I'm here! Come play with me!" Unfortunately, since they were all quite a bit older, and busy playing their own games, they ignored her. But she didn't mind at all!

Then we headed to Simon's Town to see the penguin colony.

Aviva chatted with Susan a bit. This is a noisy clip, but if you listen carefully, you can hear Aviva's "words" over the wind.

We then drove to Kalk Bay for coffee at Olympia Cafe, where we would have ordered food, if we hadn't eaten so much already. The mussels looked fabulous and smelled great, too. Then, since we were already there (and we were hoping the now-grumpy Aviva would eat some chips), we stopped by Kalky's, which is sort of an institution in South Africa. Tons of different kinds of fish. The chips were just ok, but the fish was quite good. Grumpy Aviva wanted none of it, and preferred to look at seals outside.

Finally, we drove back to Camps Bay along the western side of the Cape Town peninsula. I don't remember exactly, but I think the below photos were taken around Hout Bay.

Even after a long day of eating and sightseeing, Aviva had lots of energy to play with Grandpa Richard that night.

Cape Town - Sat morning: Neighbourgoods Market

2011-12-12T07:06:00.000Z

On Saturday we went to the Neighbourgoods Market in Woodstock, a once gritty industrial neighborhood that seems to be gentrifying. The market is full of specialty food and design purveyors, and is in the some complex as The Test Kitchen (where we ate Thanksgiving lunch), the Old Biscuit Mill.

There were tons of different foods for sale: omelets, dumplings, sandwiches, tarts, cakes, and even "New York Bagels." We had some delicious tarts and a great flamm kuchen, sort of an Alsatian thin-crust pizza. I bought some yummy gingered honey, pecorino cheese, and a stuffed owl toy made of vintage fabric.

Aviva enjoyed the pet goods section.

One of the stores in the Old Biscuit Mill complex had these huge beanbags. Aviva really liked them. We might just have to get one. Here's a few short clips of her playing with and on them.

In short, I really enjoyed the market. The food was delicious, and there was tons of beautiful, interesting design and art for sale. I would definitely go back!

Cape Town - Fri: Franschoek wine tour

2011-12-10T15:57:00.004Z

As I've probably said before, we seem to always be racing the clock in South Africa. By the time we finished lunch and walked the grounds at Bread & Wine, nearly all of the vineyards were closing their wine tasting counters. We rushed to Haute Cabriere and arrived about 10 minutes before 4. Sure enough, they were closing down. These hours are somewhat amazing to me, because there was almost three hours more of sunlight in the day! Don't they want to sell more wine to unsuspecting tourists?

Anyway, the staff apologized and gave us each a free taste of wine of their wines to enjoy while sitting at a table outside. The view was absolutely beautiful. The next video is two short clips. A cute one of Aviva playing with Peter and then a panoramic view from the hillside.

Next time we'll take our helicopter.

After our quick tasting there, we went across the valley to another restaurant, only to realize that because of its location, it was in the shade already! So then we quickly found a vineyard, Dieu Donne, back on the other side of the main road.

Again, we had found a beautiful restaurant with a nice yard and sandbox for kids. Aviva, however, found two playmates, so she was plenty busy.

We had some tapas, pasta, and yes, more wine. My favorites were the marinated anchovies and the warm lentil salad. We couldn't possibly squeeze in any more meals, so we headed back to Camps Bay.

Cape Town - Fri: Robben Island and Bread & Wine

2011-12-10T15:17:00.007Z

On Friday morning, we set out early for one of Cape Town's most well known sites, Robben Island. During the 45 minute ferry ride to the island, Grandpa Richard entertained Aviva by wearing her sunhat.

We admired the view of Cape Town from the ferry.

We had an excellent tour guide on the bus ride around the island, but the tour of the prison itself wasn't that interesting. Still, I think most people consider it a "must-see" attraction.

Afterwards, we made a quick stop at the showroom of Skinny laMinx, a Cape Town shop that Susan and I (Callista) both have admired from afar. We both love the designs, and even got to meet Heather Moore, the designer.

Then we piled back into our rental car and drove an hour to Franschoek, which means "French corner" in Afrikaans. First stop: Bread & Wine at Moreson vineyards for lunch. We ate lunch in a beautiful tree-lined courtyard.

Before we even sat down, Aviva had found the play area. We were thrilled to find that many very nice restaurants at different vineyards had toys, sand boxes, or other play areas for children. We chose almost all of them for their food, but were pleasantly surprised to find out how kid-friendly they were. Aviva had a grand time with a pitcher of ice.

Here's the wonderful menu.
We shared the antipasto plate, which included all kinds of cured meats, an arugula salad, and delicious olives and mozzarella balls, as well as a small slice of some kind of Scotch egg.

We also had some delicious Namibian oysters, and shared Susan's yummy Green Goddess pizza. My warm veal tongue salad was amazing, and came with a mustard sorbet. Sounds gross, but trust me, it was great.

We also tasted some very nice Moreson wines, including an excellent sauvignon blanc. After lunch, we spent some time on the beautiful and interesting grounds. There is a specialty nursery with tons of orchids, and some cute furniture, like this warthog bench.

These clips aren't that thrilling, but you can see what a beautiful setting it was.

Back in the car to the next glorious spot...

Cape Town - Thu afternoon / evening

2011-11-28T20:25:00.005Z

We had a truly fantastic meal at The Test Kitchen for Thanksgiving lunch.

Of course Aviva enjoyed it, as she was the center of attention.
I won't get into all of the details, but one of my favorites was this:

Herb-charred tuna, red cabbage, horseradish cream with Japanese apple
dressing.

Everything was fabulous. It was hard to get a reservation, and I can see why. It was fairly small and all of the food and wine was delicious.

That afternoon we went to Table Mountain, but it was so windy that the cable car wasn't running. We drove over to Signal Hill, where there were plenty of beautiful views.

Later that night, we had a few video calls with family. Aviva really enjoyed
her call with Cousin Seamus and Uncle Jeff.

Later that night, Aviva showed off her lion imitating skills. She loves a
series of Taiwanese kids videos, and one of them includes a clip of some
people dressed as lions. In Chinese, the sound of a lion's roar is "Hou"
(pronounced like "hoe"). You can also hear me sort of singing along to the
video - I couldn't help it. The tune is catchy!

Cape Town - Wed and Thu morning

2011-11-25T19:04:00.006Z

We arrived in Cape Town on Wednesday night. After we checked into our rental place in Camps Bay, we headed down to a restaurant called The Codfather (ha ha) for dinner. We shared a huge plate of seafood - langoustines, calamari, butter fish, and kingklip.On Thursday (Thanksgiving morning), we walked down to the strip in Camps Bay for breakfast. Aviva ate some of her Grandpa Richard's open omelette (but she really just grabbed pieces of arugula off of it.

Richard and Susan enjoyed the sunshine.

The beach at Camps Bay is beautiful, but it was a little too cold for swimming.

Later that day we walked around central Cape Town. Here's the view of Table Mountain from Company Gardens.

Weekend at Phinda - Sunday

2011-11-21T20:43:00.000Z

On Sunday morning, we went for a final game drive. We saw many baby animals, which were very cute.

Mama and baby zebra

Mama and baby nyala

On our last game drive, we saw signs of a leopard. I think this was the paw print of a female.

Later, a few people glimpsed a male leopard in the trees, but Peter and I did not. Guess we'll have to go back!

Toward the end of the drive, we stopped for some drinks and snacks at a beautiful watering hole. Our guide made us a special amarula-hot chocolate-coffee. Yum!

Here we are with our tracker, Sifiso, and our ranger, JP.Peter's showing off how he would use the knobkerry to protect us.

Afterwards, Aviva had fun with her Grandpa Richard at breakfast.

We took one last look at the beautiful view of the reserve from the lounge.

As soon as we arrived on Friday afternoon, the au pair, Thuba greeted us with a bag of toys. Aviva practically dove into her arms, and then proceeded to spend almost the whole weekend with her.

Although Thuba was Aviva's primary caretaker, throughout the weekend, Aviva apparently got to know the entire staff. Occasionally random staff members would come up to us and compliment us on how cute or friendly Aviva was. We had to shrug our shoulders - this baby used to be very unfriendly! But while we were there, we would see her walking by in the background. Once I saw her walking into the kitchen with someone, probably a cook or waiter. It seemed as though all of the staff knew her, which was wonderful. We felt very welcome.

On the way out, we saw a mama warthog with several piglets.

We had a great time and highly recommend Phinda Mountain Lodge.

Weekend at Phinda - Saturday

2011-11-20T20:07:00.002Z

Saturday morning it was still rainy, but we ventured out anyway, hoping to see some animals. As I mentioned in the previous post, the au pair had already become great friends with Aviva, so we didn't have to worry about her.

Because very early morning is a good time to see animals (and because it quickly gets too hot later in the day), the lodge woke us up at 5 or 5:15 AM! Kind of a funny way to spend your vacation, but it's definitely worth it. Thuba came to our room at about 5:20.

We put on our ponchos and headed out, with a guide and a tracker. In addition to Peter, Richard, Susan, and I, there was one other couple in the truck with us. We did see some animals, but at one point we were going through a slippery spot, and our truck slid into the mud. Uh oh. Stuck. We all got out of the truck and stood around watching. Our guide and tracker tried everything, but eventually another truck had to come push us out. Then, for reasons we didn't understand, the man driving our truck (he had come with the other truck) drove right back into the mud in the exact same spot where we had been stuck! The others yelled at him in Zulu, which none of us understood, but it was pretty apparent from his tone of voice what they were saying.

Finally another rescue truck came and pulled us out. We continued on our way, and the morning was mostly uneventful, though there was one other almost-stuck-moment. We still had a great time.

After breakfast, we played with Aviva for a while. She was (and still is) really into playing with rocks and water.

It was pretty warm, so we went over Richard and Susan's room to let Aviva get into the plunge pool (the family suite doesn't have its own pool.)

Saturday afternoon we went on another game drive. Again, we saw lots of antelope and giraffes, but this time we saw a big male cheetah, resting after a hunt. We didn't see him eating, but he was lying still and breathing fast. If you look carefully at the photo, you can see that his belly is quite distended, because he had just had a huge meal.

We also saw a lioness and her four cubs near the results of her hunt (she had killed a wildebeest earlier in the day. They were a little far back from the road, so we could only see them clearly with binoculars or through our camera lenses.

After all that hard work (ha), we needed a snack, so our guide, JP, and our tracker, Sifiso, took us to a spot with a nice view of the reserve and we enjoyed some drinks and snacks.

Peter practiced his "I'm challenging an animal" pose.

At the end of the day, we considered having all of our rain- and mud-soaked clothes washed for us, until I read the laundry card:
Hyena and baboons! I love how they just mention them nonchalantly, right in the middle of all the other notes about the laundry. You know, hyena and baboons. Like it happens to everyone.

Weekend at Phinda - Arrival

2011-11-20T19:30:00.000Z

We were very excited for our weekend at Phinda, a private game reserve about 4.5 hours southeast of Mbabane.

As we arrived, a lovely young woman named Thuba greeted us and told us that she was the au pair. Aviva, now that she is super-social, dove into Thuba's arms. Thuba whisked her away and we didn't see for a couple hours.

Peter, Aviva, and I stayed in the "family suite." It is a huge house, with basically a suite on each side of a spacious living room. The suite includes a large master bedroom and a smaller bedroom with two twin beds.

Here's the living room from the side. The doors on the left open onto a big patio with a large table. The rooms were completely stocked with tea, coffee, snacks, and all kinds of beverages - juice, wine, beer, cocktails, etc.

Our bathroom was huge and beautiful. Outside the window in the photo below, you can see that there is an outdoor shower, in addition to the very nice tub...

...and indoor shower, as well.

Aviva's bed was all made up for her.And there was even a little letter welcoming her!

The weather was dodgy (just about to rain), and our room was so comfortable, that Peter and I took a nap while Richard and Susan braved the rain to see many wonderful animals. There was plenty of time for animals on Saturday...

Grandpa Richard and Susan are here!

2011-11-17T21:16:00.002Z

Grandpa Richard and Susan are here! They arrived Monday afternoon, and we love having them here.

They brought lots of books and toys for Aviva, and she was very excited when Grandpa Richard helped her open them.
Last night we had drinks at Mvubu Falls during a very loud hailstorm, and then went to Edlaleni for some very tasty Swazi food.
Dolores, the owner, allowed Aviva to eat some watermelon and "clean the floor" with a napkin. Afterwards, she was soaked in watermelon juice. Even her "bib" (a napkin tied around her neck) was completely wet.

Yes, we're still laughing...

2011-11-17T21:10:00.001Z

...at clips of Aviva eating.

Here she enjoys a piece of orange, conditioning her hair with yogurt, and chomping on a corn cob.

Rambo?

2011-11-17T20:29:00.001Z

...or is it Aviva?

This is a very silly clip. But I love how you can see her facial expression change when she decides she's going to attack the camera.

Miss Manners 2

2011-11-15T19:41:00.003Z

Aviva still hasn't quite figure out her manners yet.

Still, she's pretty cute, even when chomping on a chicken leg or chewing with her mouth open. Here are a few clips to prove it (as if you needed to be convinced!)

And, she recently started feeding herself with a spoon!

Walking, dancing, and sorting vegetables

2011-11-03T20:13:00.002Z

Aviva has been walking more and more for the last few weeks. She's getting pretty good. This clip is from last weekend (Oct 29, 2011).

We don't even call her "Frankenbaby" anymore. Ok, that's not true. We only say it every once in a while now. This next clip is from Monday (Oct 31, 2011). She gets startled by a "tiger" on the way, but she isn't even really scared!

She's also been trying out some new dance moves. This clip is from a few weeks ago (Oct 12, 2011).

When she's not dancing or walking, she likes to help out in the kitchen.

She's very busy, as you can see.

Happy Halloween, from the Tiger Family!

2011-11-03T19:23:00.005Z

Last Saturday our friends Natalie and Uriel hosted a big Halloween party. Aviva dressed up as a tiger, and I (Callista), was of course a Tiger Mother. If you haven't heard of Tiger Mothers yet, click here.

Here's Peter as the Tiger Dad, and Tessa (Natalie and Uriel's daughter.)

Here's the Tiger Baby Daily Schedule, which I wore:

I also wore a Stanford cap and t-shirt (to emphasize that Tiger Baby should be thinking ahead to college already.) Peter wore the Tiger Dad Daily Schedule:
Aviva had a great time crawling (and walking) around and playing with the other kids. At one point, I turned around and she was munching on a huge candy bar. How did she get it? It's a mystery.

Happy Halloween!

Israel: Sat - Tel Aviv Port

2011-10-30T19:43:00.004Z

Saturday was our last day in Israel. Miriam and our friend Jeremy came over for breakfast. Aviva was very happy to see Miriam.

She had a great time playing with Miriam and her Nana Frances.

Before breakfast Aviva practiced her drumming skills and tried to put on her bib.

Jeremy and I (Callista) took Aviva for a walk to buy some Israeli groceries (more olives!)
Later we went back to the Tel Aviv port for lunch with another old friend, Yitzhak. His lovely wife Haia also joined us.

Yitzhak treated us to a delicious lunch. Aviva loved the desserts.

Thanks again to Yitzhak and his wife for coming to meet us and for lunch. It was wonderful to spend time with them.

This next photo isn't great, but Aviva is making a funny face, and there aren't too many photos of the two of us, so I included it.Even though she doesn't speak Hebrew, Aviva enjoyed meeting people on the boardwalk.After a nice walk on the beach, we did some weightlifting at the park.

Then it was time to pack up and head home. We had such a great time with Yitzhak, Jeremy, Miriam, Grandma/Nana Frances, and of course all of the cousins. We were very sad to go, and already look forward to returning!

Israel: Fri - Haifa, Beit Alfa, and Burgers

2011-10-24T20:26:00.008+01:00

Friday morning we had breakfast in the apartment. Aviva enjoyed "talking on the phone" to Nana Frances. The "phone" can be an actual cell phone, a block, or in this case, a piece of pita bread.

Maybe she left the bread there to use it as a hands-free headset later. It sounds like Aviva responds, "Yeah" when Nana Frances asks whether she wants her milk, but trust me, she basically says "Yeah" and "Dah" to everything.

Then Aviva tried to help clean up by getting in the dishwasher.

Don't worry - of course now I realize how dangerous that was and won't be letting her climb into it anymore!

We then took a train to Haifa, Israel's third largest city, to meet Roye, Ilana's son. Roye took us on a great driving tour of northern Israel. First we went to Mount Gilboa, the site of a very important Bible story about the Battle between King Saul and the Philistines. Roye did a wonderful job as our tour guide. Many thanks to him for a really interesting and fun day.

In this photo you can see the view, as well as a paraglider getting ready to take off.

Our next stop was Bet Alfa, an ancient synagogue from the end of the fifth century CE. Almost all of the synagogue is gone, except for the base of some pillars and the entire floor mosaic, which is amazingly well preserved.

Here you can see the story of Abraham and Isaac.

At the end of the day, we drove back to Haifa and visited Roye's apartment. From a little park near their home, there is a terrific view of the Bay of Haifa.

Since their sukkah was still up, we sat in it and had tea and a delicious apple cake that Dalit had just baked.

Aviva spent time with her Roye's wife, Dalit.

Roye, Frances, me (Callista), Aviva, Dalit, and their younger son, Aviv (a modern version of Aviva!).
We also watched a video of Roye and Dalit's wedding. Frances' late husband (Aviva's great-grandfather) sang one of the blessings during the ceremony. It was nice to see Peter's grandfather sing, since I had heard so much about him.

We took a shared mini-bus back to Tel Aviv, and by the time we got home, we weren't interested in going to a restaurant. Peter brought back take out from Agadir Burger Bar: one beef burger with Emmental cheese and sauteed mushrooms; one lamb/beef burger with sauteed onion and pickled lemon; large fries; and a huge green salad. Yum. The burgers were delicious, plus they came in a very fancy McDLT-type boxes.

Keep the hot side hot, and the cool side cool.

Israel: Thurs, Part 2 - Simchat Torah in Kiryat Ekron

2011-10-24T18:41:00.006+01:00

After the birthday party, we walked to the neighborhood synagogue for Simchat Torah, another Jewish holiday. On the way there, we were told that the celebrations wouldn't start for another hour. While we were waiting, we went with Ilana's family to see her new apartment in Rehovot (slightly larger town 10 minutes away.) Aviva got in some snuggle time with Ilana.
After touring the apartment, we walked a few blocks away to another synagogue, only to find out that there would be no celebrations there. Strike two.

Since we really wanted to see the celebration in Israel, we piled into two taxis and went back toward Kiryat Ekron, and stopped at a big synagogue. Success!

Even though we didn't get there until about 7:30 pm, it was like a carnival! There was dance music pumping through loudspeakers and children running everywhere with handfuls of popcorn and cotton candy. One father was helping his daughter climb the pole in the middle of the plaza.

This clip is a bit long, but you can see first a pan over the whole outdoor plaza, then a group of teenage boys starting to dance, and then the Torahs being carried into the plaza. The first group of dancers was all men and boys, and there was a group of girls and women dancing inside, but you can see a woman and some kids touching the Torah in the clip.

Aviva did look up at the music a bit, but she was having a terrific time playing in the dirt. It might be difficult to tell in this photo, but she is still wearing her poofy party dress.

Israel: Thurs, Part 1 - Tel Aviv Port and Birthday Party in Kiryat Ekron

2011-10-23T20:51:00.007+01:00

Aviva's hair is getting long, so she's been wearing it up in one or two pigtails, which we take out before she goes to bed. Sometimes, though, she wakes up with her hair still sticking up from the previous day's hairdo. (In this photo she also has yogurt on her face.)

After breakfast, we went to the Tel Aviv Port to walk around. Unfortunately I forgot our camera, but we did take a few photos with Peter's camera that I will upload later this week. The port is a huge complex of restaurants and shops, right on the water. Because it was a holiday, there were hundreds of families with kids and strollers everywhere.

In the afternoon, we went to the birthday party of Michala, who is the granddaughter of Ilana (Frances' first cousin.) The party was at Michala's house in Kiryat Ekron, a suburb of Tel Aviv.

We figured that the party would be like most kids' parties (at least the ones we've been to), where the families sort of trickle in. Nope. This party had an official start. We were 30 minutes late, and while we were on our way, Ilana called us to find out where we were! It was a little embarrassing. They had waited for us to start the party. Oops.

The party officially started with lots of singing, with the birthday girl sitting in a chair in the middle of the room. Her mother, aunts and uncle read very heartfelt letters to her. Even though I couldn't understand the Hebrew, I was very touched. From left to right are Roye, Ilana's oldest son; Roye's wife, Dalit; Michala's father; Michala's mother, Inbal (one of Ilana's two daughters); and Ilana.

Even Aviva stopped socializing to listen (for a few seconds.)

Then, there was more singing and clapping, and the birthday girl blew out the candles on her cake. This clip includes a few seconds of video of Aviva chasing after her balloon. In the video you can also see Frances next to Ilana, and Ari (Inbal's husband), who gives Aviva the balloon.

Then, Michala's relatives lifted her on a chair. I will rely on my Israeli friends to help translate what everyone was saying.

For the past few weeks Aviva has been getting more and more social. At the party, she loved interacting with everyone. In this clip, she plays with one of Michala's friends, eats Ilana's pizza, and watches her cousin (Inbal's youngest son) play video games.

Aviva kept crawling onto Michala's kid-sized sofa.

Later, the mother of the birthday girl led the children in some games. The kids sat in a circle, and Little Miss Social crawled right past them into the circle! She seemed to think it was a party for her. Fortunately the birthday girl was very gracious and didn't mind her strange baby cousin's antics.

The first game was sort of an Israeli Hot Potato. The kids passed around a present while music played. When the music stopped, whoever was holding the present had to unwrap it and follow the directions inside that layer of wrapping paper. Many of the directions were sort of sweet, like, "Give your mother a kiss." I can't really imagine American kids playing this game.

Aviva was too little to play the games, but she participated by dancing on the side.

It was so wonderful to be included in the celebration, and very interesting to see how an Israeli child's birthday party differs from an American one. Many thanks to Michala and her family for including us!

Tomorrow I'll post the photos and videos from the rest of the evening (Simchat Torah at a local synagogue.)

Israel: Wednesday in Jerusalem

2011-10-21T20:02:00.008+01:00

We spent most of Wednesday with our cousin Miriam, who very graciously acted as our tour guide. Miriam is starting her second year of medical school in Tel Aviv. We took a bus to Jerusalem, and we walked around the very fancy Mamilla Mall, which is right outside the Old City. There are outposts of American chain stores, including Gap and North Face. Because it was still Sukkot (a Jewish holiday), nearly every one of the cafes and restaurants had built a sukkah (walled structure covered with plants) over its outdoor seating.

Even Aroma Cafe (Israel's answer to Starbucks) had one.
In the Old City, there were groups of Hasidic Jews in different types of headgear.
Inside the Old City, we had access to some beautiful (and iconic) views of Jerusalem.
Here's a shot of the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism.
You can't really tell from the photo, but the women's section is much smaller than the men's section.
Miriam and I went up to the women's section, where there are hundreds of women sitting and standing in front of the wall praying. Some were murmuring prayers softly, but most were quiet. It is quite an intense and moving experience. Tradition has it that one should write a prayer on a piece of paper and slip it in between the stones, so the cracks between the stones are stuffed full of little notes.

At the Western Wall plaza, there was at least one extremely elaborate sukkah.
We posed for some family pictures.
We continued wandering, and eventually found the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is a very holy site for Christians, and includes many places where Jesus is supposed to have been in his last moments of life.
Here are pilgrims touching the Stone of Anointing, the place where the body of Jesus is said to have been prepared for burial.

After our wonderful tour of the Old City, we had to say good-bye to Miriam. As you can see, Aviva was enthralled by her cousin.

As we walked around the perimeter of the Old City, we passed Damascus Gate, which apparently doubles as a retail superstore. There were people selling fruit, electronics, clothes, shoes...and possibly more.

We wandered around Jerusalem a bit more, stopping for a quick rest at the beautiful American Colony Hotel, and passing the YMCA on the way.
Before we got on the shared mini-bus back to Tel Aviv, we needed a snack. However, it was already after sundown on the eve of Shemini Atzeret (the holiday immediately following Sukkot.) Even though it was only 5:30 PM, everything was closed. The only place open?

Even though it's American, and even though it's a chain, we were glad to find it. After some quick fries, we headed back to Tel Aviv.

Grandma Frances' cousin Ilana had come over to the apartment to see Grandma Frances, and we all went out to dinner on Nachalat Binyamin.

It was a long, but very interesting day.

Israel: Tuesday in Neve Tsedek and at HaTachana

2011-10-18T22:11:00.006+01:00

Today, we continued on what may soon become a routine: breakfast, swimming, and then exploring a new neighborhood for lunch. This time, we went to the area called Neve Tsedek, and had a fantastic meal at Suzana, under two enormous trees.

We shared three cold starters: roast eggplant with cheese and a dill sauce; beet salad with yogurt, fresh mozzarella, and arugula; and fried cauliflower. Yum!

Peter and I then shared the roast goose leg with bulghur wheat and root vegetables, and Nana Frances had puff pastry with eggplant, tomato, and goat cheese. Afterwards, we were stuffed.

After some excellent shopping on Shabazi street, we headed home for a brief rest. Later, Peter and Aviva and I went to HaTachana, a shopping complex that used to be a train station, very close to the beach. There has been a "Sweets festival" this week, and there were hundreds of families enjoying it. From what we could tell, the festival consisted of dozens of stalls selling sugary junk food: candy apples, cotton candy, gigantic cupcakes, etc.

There were tons of kids on the ice rink (yes, an ice rink, right next to the Mediterranean Ocean!)

And a juggler entertained many parents and kids:Before dinner, Nana Frances showed Aviva how to put the coasters back into their box.

Tomorrow's plan: Jerulsalem.

Israel: Sun and Mon in Tel Aviv and Jaffa

2011-10-17T21:47:00.008+01:00

We're in Tel Aviv!

We'd be glad to be here under any circumstances, but we are especially happy to be here, given the rough traveling we just did. On Saturday morning, Aviva had a fever and was very grumpy. During the 3.5 hour drive to the Johannesburg airport, she was fine...until she threw up on herself in the car seat.

At JNB she threw up at dinner while Peter was holding her, and on the flight, she threw up while Peter was carrying her in the Ergo. Because she was crying so much before we took off, the guy next to us moved to the back of the plane. She cried on and off from 9:30 pm until about 3:30 in the morning, when her fever broke.

Fortunately for all of us, I didn't take photos of any of that.

Anyway, we're here! We arrived Sunday morning and came straight to the apartment we rented. We'll post photos of it later. We walked on Sheinkin Street (a well known street full of shops and cafes), and then Peter and Aviva went to pick up his Grandma Frances (Aviva's Nana Frances) at the airport.

Here's Frances with her cousin Ilana, who also came to the airport.
Ilana's daughter Einav also went to meet Frances (and meet Aviva.)Last night, we went over to Einav's house for dinner. Here I am with Aviva, and (from left to right), Einav, Frances, Ilana, and Ilana's husband, Ari.
Today, we started our morning like any decent Tel Avivian, with breakfast at a nice sidewalk cafe.
We saw some interesting art (or something) on the street on the way to the cafe.
Afterward, we went to a very cute playground across the street. There were actually two separate play areas: one for babies/toddlers, and one for older kids. Here Peter's helping her crawl inside the mushroom-house.

Isn't this photo cute? Aviva is holding hands with another baby.
Ha! Of course she's not holding hands with him. She's actually in the process of stealing his toy.

Nana Frances kindly showed Aviva some photos (probably of Aviva!) Aviva's wearing her new swimsuit (well, new to us, from the Sevin family) because we were getting ready to go swimming in the apartment complex pool.
We had lunch at a lovely restaurant called The Container. Their fresh bread was delicious.

I had the calamari salad with lentils, fennel, carrots, and orange zest. It was warm and light and wonderful. I highly recommend the restaurant, though it was a little pricey.
The space inside the restaurant was great. High ceilings, very industrial.

After lunch we walked north along the water until we reached the area near the Visitors' Center of Old Jaffa. After stopping to have a quick cappuccino and watch the sunset, we walked around. There were many kids playing at dusk.

Tonight we had the perfect dinner after a long day of exploring Tel Aviv: takeout falafel and several different side salads and types of pickles; beer; and ice cream.

Tomorrow: more exploring!

Fashion Friday #40: Spring Florals

2011-10-15T11:00:00.004+01:00

Sorry about the long absence from Fashion Fridays, everyone. Work is getting much busier, so I think we'll only be able to post Fashion Fridays every once in a while. So this week, it's getting very warm here and Aviva is wearing her spring sundresses more and more.

Here she is in a yellow 6M number from So Fun! It has very pretty colored flowers on the front. Thanks to the Sevin family for the dress. If you look carefully, you can see that two more teeth have appeared on top.

Here she's thinking about whether to dive off the front of the recliner. (I moved her before she could decide "Yes.")

And here she is showing off her dance moves while playing with her new toy book from Aunt Cheryl.

Happy Friday!

Aviva can walk!

2011-10-15T08:48:00.002+01:00

For the past two weeks, Aviva has been taking more and more steps on her own. Last weekend we got a couple clips of her practicing on her alphabet mat from Grandma Ellen.

Dancing Queen

2011-10-09T21:19:00.002+01:00

Aviva has been practicing her dance moves for the last couple months. She dances while watching television:

Sitting in her chair...

With her new gift from Great Aunt Cheryl...

And for the last few days, she has even been able to dance standing up!

Aviva Discovers Baby Stella

2011-10-09T21:14:00.003+01:00

For her birthday, Aviva received a beautiful new doll named Baby Stella from her Grandma Ellen. Aviva was very curious about Baby Stella.

Thanks, Grandma Ellen!

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

2011-10-09T20:12:00.006+01:00

Our friends Michelle and Neville hosted a lovely potluck dinner for Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). Everyone contributed side dishes (we brought two braided challahs that our housekeeper Phetsile baked), and Michelle made some terrific roast beef and chicken.
Our friends Yael and Shachar were there with their three boys. Here Yael is holding Yoti.

The other two boys, Or and Tal, watch as Neville lights the candles.

Aviva had a nice time playing with the other kids at the party.

The next day, Peter and Aviva said the blessings with Aviva's Uncle Jeff and Aunt Brianne, Grandma Ellen and Great Grandma Frances, and Cousin Seamus.
Here's the photo that Brianne took from their end:

Last night we went back to Michelle and Neville's to break the fast on Yom Kippur. We brought a huge platter of freshly baked onion bagels.
Happy New Year, everyone!

A Birthday Celebration

2011-09-28T15:52:00.009+01:00

On Sunday, September 25, we held Aviva's first birthday party.

I admit it, we went a little crazy. The night before, we stayed up until 2 am, grilling brisket and about 120 pieces of chicken, making huge bowls of cole slaw, and baking cupcakes. Well, Peter did most of that, and I just baked.

The morning of the party we were scurrying around trying to finish everything and pack the two cars for the drive over to the venue. Our friend Julie let us use the grounds at her new bed and breakfast, Silverstone Falls. (Our backyard is on a huge hill, and not suited to a big outdoor party.) While we were getting ready, we didn't even have time to worry about the weather (it was a bit cool in the morning.) By the time we got to the party, the sun had come out! You can't tell in this photo, but there were about 50 people there.

So many people helped us with this party. Our friends Keri and Jessi baked cupcakes, and assembled the decorations. Uri, Jessi, and Leslie came early to the party to help set up and frost cupcakes. Tons of our friends helped us clean up afterward. We are so grateful to have such a wonderful community here.

Linda and Brian helped us hang up a sign that said "happy birthday aviva."
I was very happy with the decorations, which I had spent lots of time planning. Here's a short clip of the sign:

Thanks to Kirsten for the great idea of posting a string of photos from Aviva's first year (two from each month).

We sang "Happy Birthday" to Aviva, but she was not nearly as impressed as she had been with the waiters in Johannesburg. She did, however, like eating her cupcake.

She even tried to share with us!

Aviva spent lots of time socializing with the guests.
Thanks also to Kirsten for the idea of having a shirt made especially for Aviva's birthday. It got a little chocolate-y, but she still seemed to like it!
Happy birthday, Aviva!

Happy Birthday!

2011-09-27T20:34:00.006+01:00

Last week we went to Johannesburg, where we celebrated Aviva's birthday. She's one year old!

She woke up with kind of a crazy hair-do.
Before dinner, we got a few shots of her with her beloved cow (yes, I brought it to Joburg just for this purpose.)

This video clip is silly, but cute. (Ok, I'm biased.) Usually it's impossible to get her to sit still, but on her birthday, she sort of got into it. Maybe she knew that her mother had dragged that cow all the way there, so she had better smile!

We went out to dinner at Assaggi, a terrific Italian restaurant where we ate last year two nights before she was born. We had great starters: delicious cold avocado gazpacho and a grilled vegetable salad. Aviva liked the gazpacho and the zucchini from the salad.

Our main dishes were pasta with eggplant and an artichoke ravioli with an artichoke sauce. Aviva loved them both.

She kept herself busy throughout the dinner.

Even though she kept crawling behind the bar and banging on a refrigerator, Aviva charmed the very busy waiters. "It's her birthday!" one of them said. "Let her come play with us!"

They brought our dessert with a candle in it, and sang Happy Birthday. She was mesmerized.

She grabbed for the tiramisu, but actually didn't like it that much.
It was a big day. By the time we got back to our hotel, she was tuckered out.

Happy Birthday, Aviva!

Kosi Bay / Rocktail Beach Camp, Part II

2011-09-16T21:19:00.005+01:00

On Tuesday, the weather was terrific, and Aviva was in a great mood. I took a few photos of the common areas at the camp.
I loved their funky chandeliers.

After breakfast, it was time for the beach!
All weekend Aviva showed off her newest skill, holding her own bottle. Before, she could only do it while lying down, but now she can do it while sitting up.

As you can see, she's thrilled with herself!

It was a beautiful beach (although there was a tiny bit of trash that had washed up.) We had a great time, and would definitely go back.

Kosi Bay / Rocktail Beach Camp, Part I

2011-09-16T20:32:00.006+01:00

Two weekends ago we went to Kosi Bay, in South Africa. It's southeast of Swaziland, on the South African coast, just south of the border with Mozambique. We stayed in a lovely place called Rocktail Beach Camp.

As you can see from these photos, it was another example of "glamping," as our tent was basically a normal hotel room, but with a fabric roof and walls.

The first night we were there, Aviva was still getting over her stomach bug, so her dinner didn't look as tasty as Asher's. You can see her looking at his plate.
The next day, Aviva spent some time reading The New Yorker magazine with her father.
On Sunday morning, Peter, Jessi, and I went on the dive shop's "Ocean Experience." It was basically a game drive on the water. We got very close to a female humpback whale and her calf.

The best part, though was snorkeling just above a gigantic whale shark. Unfortunately we didn't have a camera while we were in the water.

That afternoon, we got to the beach a bit late, and the animals started to get hungry.
On Monday, Peter and Garrett took a scuba diving class.

Later that day, it was windy at the beach, and Aviva got a little grumpy.
But by the evening she was ready for playtime again, with Jessi...
...and with Garrett.
Aviva and Asher had a lot of fun together. In the first clip below, they are holding hands (!)...until Asher gets embarrassed and walks off giggling. In the second clip, they have fun splashing, and in the third, Aviva plays with another new favorite toy (a cooler.)

Fashion Friday #39: Pink and white summer clothes

2011-09-16T19:59:00.004+01:00

It's warm these days, so we're working our way through Aviva's summer clothes.

Her first outfit is a 6-9M sleeveless pink and white polka-dot shirt by Tuti Fruiti. (Yes, that's how it's spelled.) It has a collar, ruffled sleeves, a tie in the front, and on the front, there is a poodle in a heart. Aviva reminds me of a character from the movie Grease II. (I can't remember her name, but I'm betting Aviva's Auntie Sarah and Auntie Nina can help us out here.)

Her 9M denim skit with embroidered flowers on the front is by genuinebaby by OshKosh, and it was a gift from Aviva's Grand Aunt Cheryl. Thanks, Cheryl! She's holding up her new favorite toy, our broken kitchen timer.

Aviva's second outfit is a 3/6M pink and white checker dress with matching bloomers by Good Lad of Philadelphia.

Here are a few short clips from today's session. In the first one, Aviva shows off her aggressive page turning technique. In the second, she basically avoids the camera. Peter pointed out that her "dress" is probably supposed to be worn over a shirt, since it is open on both sides. Oops.

Thanks to the Sevin family for the shirt in the first outfit and for the second outfit.

Happy Friday!

Swaziland Reed Dance / Umhlanga

2011-09-09T20:51:00.007+01:00

Two weekends ago, we went on a family outing to the Swaziland Reed Dance, or Umhlanga. It's an annual ceremony during which tens of thousands of girls and young women (or "maidens," as they are called here) dance in traditional Swazi attire.

Our friend Chris was very excited about also dressing in traditional Swazi attire, and he convinced Peter to join him. We only had two problems. First, in addition to the two traditional cloths wrapped around his upper body and lower body, a Swazi man is supposed to wear an animal skin around his waist. When Peter started to get dressed, he asked our guard, Mathikane, for assistance. Peter, however, didn't have the animal skin. Mathikane told him that without the animal skin, he had better forget the whole thing. Fortunately, Peter's colleague Patrick came to the rescue.

Our second problem was that after Patrick arrived, he told us that the red cloth Chris had purchased for Peter to wear on his upper body was, in fact, for a woman. Oops. Why the salesperson sold Chris a red cloth for a woman with a blue cloth for a man to wear around his waist...we'll never know. So Patrick advised that Peter not wear a cloth on top at all, but wear one of Patrick's animal skins. So Peter had sort of a loop of calf fur around his torso, and also another animal product around his neck.

Peter looks a bit sheepish here, but Aviva was very curious about what Patrick had to say.

Patrick adjusted the animal skin around Chris' waist.

The ceremony is actually several days long, and the final day, during which the girls/women march in and dance in front of huge crowds of Swazi royalty, visiting dignitaries, diplomats, and tourists, is held at a stadium near one of the King's palaces.

Chris and Peter were a huge hit.

Aviva and I opted for our own traditional gear.
...as did our friend Leslie.

Some of the dancers were quite young.

I think the red headdresses signify royalty, so this seems to have been a line of princesses. You'll notice that traditional attire for girls/young women includes very little fabric.
At one point lots of traditionally dressed men moved up and down the stairs. We still aren't sure what was happening, but this photo gives you a sense of the scale of the event, as well as the majesty of the setting. The stadium is in the Ezulwini valley, which is flanked by beautiful mountains.

At another point, the King, accompanied by dozens of men, moves onto the field to acknowledge the dancers.
Here's a close-up of the King. He has a red headdress and is looking down and to his left.

We had to get some close-ups of Peter's attire.

Peter opted to wear shorts under his wrap, even though apparently one doesn't have to do so. He was still showing off some leg.

We even made the newspaper the next day! From left to right are our friends Shukri and Leslie, Callista and Aviva (the only one looking the wrong way), and Peter and Chris.

We had a great day, and even though Aviva was still a bit sick, she was in good spirits. It was very interesting to see, and we were grateful that the Swazis allow visitors this glimpse into their culture.

Fashion Friday #38: Ralph Lauren!

2011-09-09T20:06:00.006+01:00

It's been weeks since we've done a good Fashion Friday photo shoot. Today was very warm, so we broke out spring/summer clothes. More importantly, Aviva is no longer sick! So we had a great time.

First, she's showing off a white Ralph Lauren 9M sundress and some unbranded 3-6M red and white checkered bloomers. Our friend Jessi brought back new barrettes from Joburg. Thanks, Jessi!
This video isn't that exciting, but Aviva does show off a great smile. Thanks to the Sevin family for this beautiful dress.

Aviva's second outfit today is a lovely pink Ralph Lauren dress and matching bloomers. Thanks again to family friends, Christine and Jim for the adorable gift. It's a 9M pink polo shirt dress with ruffles on the bottom. Her sunglasses are from Babies R Us, from her Uncle Henry. Thanks also to Uncle Henry!

Happy Friday, everyone! Photos from our last two weekends to come.

.

Aviva dances (last week)

2011-09-02T21:23:00.001+01:00

Aviva's been a bit too sick and grumpy the last few days to be dancing, but even when she's sick she enjoys watching this video of herself from last week. We're getting her ready for her first birthday party!

Fashion Friday #37: Aviva's custom-made onesies

2011-09-02T21:13:00.002+01:00

I'm very sorry to say that Aviva is *still* sick. Her fever from last Sunday came back today, and she continued to have many tummy problems. Today we started her on various medicines at the recommendation of a pediatrician, but she struggled to keep them down. So we didn't have the normal photo shoot today, just one very grumpy photo. This is basically how she looked all day.

Aviva's wearing a very cute onesie decorated for her by Mel at our baby shower last year. She's got several other of these custom onesies we'll be showing off in future weeks, now that it's warmer here.

Keep your fingers crossed that she'll feel better tomorrow!

Fashion Friday #36: More Fun Pants

2011-08-29T21:06:00.003+01:00

It's Monday, and I'm only now posting the Fashion Friday photos. Apologies for how late this is, but we have a pretty good excuse: Aviva's been sick for the last two days. Fever of 102 yesterday, and lots of upset tummy (and all the yucky symptoms that come with that.) She's much better now, however. She played a lot today, and her fever had already dropped by this morning.

Anyway, here are the photos from last week. In both photos she's wearing the baby Gap sweatshirt given to her by her cousin Catherine. First, she's wearing a light green 18M pair of pants from Carter's. You can't tell in the first photo, but around the bottoms of the pants, there are pairs of shoes, with the words "My Happy Shoes." Of course.

As you will recall, she loves her stuffed cow from her Uncle Henry. Good thing, because sometimes it attacks her. Well, when I make it attack her.

For her second photo, Aviva is wearing black and white striped 12M pants with no brand. I couldn't even get her to pose for photos without bribing her with an apple again.

Sorry about the delay for last week's photos, but enjoy!

Aviva pushes a toy truck

2011-08-26T19:45:00.003+01:00

It's Saturday, and we only got around to taking our Fashion Friday photos this morning. For now, here are a couple short clips of Aviva pushing a toy truck around at our friend Mohammed's house last week. She isn't so great at turning around yet, but she loves it.

Rocking Elephant

2011-08-21T21:21:00.000+01:00

When Roger and Barbara visited us last August, they bought us a beautiful wooden rocking elephant, made here in Swaziland. Soon after that, Aviva was born, and it seemed like it would be years until she could enjoy it. However, she already loves it now. Although she can't get on the elephant by herself, she has a big smile on her face when we put her on it.

Observant readers probably can tell that there's no way she can get off by herself, either. It's true. If you leave her on the elephant too long, she tries to dismount and falls off. Don't worry, we catch her before she falls.

Roger and Barbara, thank you again! We can already tell she will spend many happy times on the elephant.

Her adorable outfit is from our friends Dan and Oszel. Thanks also to them!

Phil and Libby's Wedding!

2011-08-20T17:10:00.005+01:00

Our last weekend in California, we went to the wedding of our very good friends, Phil and Libby. (You may remember that Phil and Libby visited us in Swaziland last August. Click here and here to see photos of their visit.)

On Friday, we drove up to Guerneville, a touristy (but cute) little town in Sonoma County. At the rehearsal dinner, we saw lots of old friends.

Here are Adrian, one of Phil's oldest friends, and the handsome groom himself!
Adrian later made what was one of the longest and best toasts/roasts I've ever heard.

On Saturday morning, we drove a few minutes up the road to visit Callista's friend Dave, who has a cabin on the Russian River. There is no car access to their cabin, so we had to park on the opposite side of the river from the cabin, and Dave and his daughter had to row us across.

Here are Dave, his wife, Jen, and me, leaning out over the railing.

Back at Dawn Ranch Lodge, the morning fog had burned off, so my friend Ritu and I went canoeing.

The ceremony that afternoon was beautiful.

The bride and groom, Libby and Phil, right before they walked back up the aisle together.Peter helped to set the scene by blowing bubbles to welcome the newlyweds.

Here we are with Henry, before the ceremony.
Our friends, Ari and Rachel were visiting from Boston.

Brad and Kiesha had driven up from San Francisco.

Table 17 was the best! From left to right: Brad, Kiesha, Callista, Peter, Libby, Phil, Ritu, Colin, Rachel, and Ari. Phil's parents, Alain and Jeanine, made very funny and sweet toasts.

The wedding was beautiful. From the handmade pinwheels on the tables at the rehearsal dinner to the adorable signs on each of our rooms, all the little details really helped set a whimsical, fun, mood and make the weekend very special.
Congratulations again to Phil and Libby!

Sunday at the Chungs

2011-08-20T16:30:00.005+01:00

Our last full day in California, we got to spend a fabulous afternoon with our cousin Cindy and her family.

Sarah and Cindy frosted some delicious cupcakes.

Christian played Apples to Apples with the kids. To his left are Matthew (Ryan's friend from school), Kendra, and Ryan. (Aviva's cheating by looking at his cards while Christian's looking at the camera.)
Aviva was very busy. First, she did some more dancing with her Auntie Sarah.

Then we enjoyed the beautiful pool.
Aviva got in a bit more snuggling with Agong...

...and with Ama.
Kendra showed off the great sign she made for Aviva.

And Aviva spent a bit more time with Auntie Sarah...mostly still trying to pull Sarah's earrings.

We're already looking forward to the next time we all get to hang out!

Happy Eleven Month Birthday!

2011-08-20T16:11:00.002+01:00

Aviva turned eleven months old today! While I was writing this post, I realized that we never posted her ten month birthday photo. So here's the link to the post, backdated to July 20, 2011, and here's one of the photos again, just for reference.

And just because we can't help ourselves, here's a couple quick clips of Aviva doing her party tricks.

Happy birthday, Aviva!

Fashion Friday #35: Crazy yellow pants

2011-08-19T17:19:00.004+01:00

Aviva's growing into more new clothes these days, including a whole new set of crazy pants.

On top, she's wearing a pink 3-6M jacket by Kids Play. The first pair of pants are of unknown brand, and they're a bit big (18M). It might be hard to tell from the photos, but they are baggy and have pink strawberries on them. The pants aren't that fascinating, but check out the series of faces she made while she was modeling them.

"Oh, it's you again...how interesting."

"Wah! I'm tired of your stupid photos!"
"Ok, I'll try to smile..."

"CHEESE!!!!"

Her second pair of pants today is pretty similar to the first. Yellow cotton, but this time with little mushrooms, flowers, and ladybugs on them. Of course. She was pretty grumpy by this time, so I had to bribe her with her new favorite treat: an apple! (For all of you worriers: don't worry! We know raw apple can be easy to choke on, so we watch her super carefully.)

Thanks to the Sevins for the crazy pants! Happy Friday!

The Cow

2011-08-14T03:52:00.003+01:00

Aviva *loves* the stuffed cow that her Uncle Henry gave her. She just can't get enough of it. Check out the faces she's making in this video, especially at the beginning.

Yes, that's me laughing at her instead of helping her up at the end. Admit it: it's funny.

Thanks, Uncle Henry!

Peek-a-boo!

2011-08-14T03:49:00.002+01:00

We've been playing peek-a-boo with Aviva for months, usually with us hiding behind our hands, or behind objects in the house. This past week she showed us that she can be the one peeking out, too.

Fun with Grandpa Richard and Great Grandma Miriam

2011-08-14T03:45:00.002+01:00

We've found a couple more videos to share. Aviva was full of things to say during our recent trip home, especially this day when she was hanging out with her Great Grandma Miriam:

Later that week, we spent a lovely couple days in New Haven with Susan and Richard. Here's a short video of Aviva playing with Grandpa Richard. She is fairly aggressive (you'll see what I mean.)

Swimming in Connecticut

2011-08-13T21:23:00.002+01:00

We're still going through photo and video files from our trip to the US, and we've found a couple good ones. Here's some video (three clips, actually) of Aviva and Seamus, having a grand time splashing with their Grandma Ellen. These were all taken on July 5, 2011.

Fashion Friday #34: An Assortment of Hats

2011-08-13T14:41:00.004+01:00

Our internet connection was down Friday, so we couldn't post the results of Aviva's photo shoot. I was having trouble thinking of a theme, but Aviva's Uncle Henry came to the rescue by suggesting hats. And it's true, she does have many hats, so I picked a few of the funnier ones.

Aviva shows off how tech-savvy she is. Google knit cap by American Apparel.
...and how fashionable she is. The hat is 0-3M by DKNY baby.

This is a white 3-6M sunhat from Gymboree, with pink flamingos on it.

The next shot is very blurry, but you can still see the look of delight on Aviva's face: "I took it off!"I tried to get one more hat on her, but the exact same thing happened. Look how happy she is!

Enjoy.

Callista's B School Pals

2011-08-11T20:29:00.008+01:00

Another great night of hanging out with old friends, this time, Callista's buddies from b school: Jeff and Eddie, and their families. We had dinner at Jeff and Carolyn's place. Eddie and Jackey (and kids) joined us. Carolyn's mom made an unbelievable Korean food feast:

Aviva got to snuggle with Carolyn...
...and Eddie...

...and play with Jeff.
The three girls enjoyed some cake at their own table.

Eddie's son was too busy to join them...
...but he did join Eddie, Jackey, and me for a photo a bit later.

The playroom (after.) Unfortunately I didn't get a before shot, but I think you get the picture anyway.
Yet another great night that reminded us how much we love our friends. We miss them already!

Messing around in Mountain View, Part 2

2011-08-09T20:46:00.007+01:00

We had a terrific time in Mountain View.

Aviva got to play with Agong inside...

...and in the pool.

She danced a bit with Ama...

...and rolled off the couch into Agong's arms.

She had a nice time with Piglet (until the very end, when she grabs Piglet right where the poor dog just had hip surgery!)

Fortunately, Piglet is too well behaved to really even nip at Aviva. In the moment, it was a bit scary, but now it's sort of fun to see the look on Aviva's face:
"Piglet, come back! What did I do?"

Aviva got in some snuggling time with her Uncle Henry, and showed off her clapping skills.

Uncle Christian did a great job feeding her fruit (which she spit out, for no good reason.)

Aviva did eat a lot of fruit during this trip. Here she is trying to eat half of an apricot. (Hey! Who gave her that anyway?)
Sarah and I had a great time shopping for a cheese plate.

We got to spend time with my siblings and parents, which was great!
All that messing around just tired Aviva (and Peter) out.

Messing around in Mountain View

2011-08-08T21:18:00.004+01:00

For most of the time we were in California, we stayed with my sister, Sarah, and my brother-in-law, Christian, and their dog, Piglet. They very generously shared their home with us (Piglet, especially), and allowed our masses of baby stuff to explode all over their living room. There are several photos and videos of all of us messing around that week, but I'll just post one for now. Auntie Sarah does some crazy dancing with Aviva, who loves it.

More photos and videos to come!

Visit with the McKinley Family

2011-08-08T21:01:00.005+01:00

Aviva and I (Callista) had dinner with some more dear friends, Karen and Ritu. We were at Karen's house, so also got to hang out with her husband, Geoff, and two girls, Lindsay (6) and Kate (4.)

The girls (and I) wasted no time in dressing Aviva up in their accessories.
Ritu was a great sport about snuggling with Aviva (despite Aviva's very runny nose.)
Aviva looks very serious. She and Karen must have been discussing the economy.
Aviva is wowed by Geoff's height.
Kate shows off a very cute cheerleading costume.
Lindsay liked the dessert.
As usual, the visit was way too short, and we're already looking forward to the next one!

Fashion Friday #33: Striped Sundresses

2011-08-05T17:08:00.004+01:00

While it's still cold in the evenings here, the days are pretty warm, especially in the sunshine, so Aviva is modeling a couple sundresses today.

Underneath, she's wearing a pale yellow 3-6M Old Navy long-sleeved onesie, and socks by Trumpette. The first dress is a 2-4M pink, blue, and yellow striped cotton sundress by H&M, with matching bloomers.

Aviva's second dress is a 3-6M blue and yellow striped cotton sundress by Gymboree. Today I decided that since we usually are very lucky and capture lots of photos of Aviva smiling, we would include some photos of when things *don't* go so well. (Ok, I mostly decided this because she was getting grumpy during the second photo shoot.) The next one below is a little out of focus, but I think you get the point.

Happy Friday!

Visit with Mel, Atley, and Xin

2011-08-05T15:19:00.006+01:00

California was all about seeing old friends. On Sunday, July 17, we went out for dim sum with Mel, her son Atley, and some friends of Mel's.

Atley enjoyed the food...
...as did Aviva.
After dim sum, Atley was ready to go swimming, but there was no pool at the restaurant...so he settled for the fountain outside.

Back at the apartment, my friend Xin-Hua showed off her Baby Whispering skills, as Aviva immediately loved her and kept wanting to go over to her.
Aviva did her best to have a conversation with Atley, but he just wasn't buying it.

I know this *looks* bad, but really, we can explain...The key didn't work. I swear!

Atley wanted "Uncle Peter" to swim with him.

Not sure what's going on here. Diving? Aerobics? Charades?

We discovered that Mel and I had inadvertently, and completely separately, purchased the exact same swimsuit. Maybe *that's* Rachel's wedding coordinator was sure we were sisters...but wait - I was four months pregnant in Brazil, plus we didn't have these suits...

The next day, Atley showed us that big boys can eat noodles.

...and they also have amazingly good aim when throwing toys into public trash cans. Uncle Peter was nice enough to fish it out for him.
It was so, so great to see our old friends, and we look forward to seeing them again soon.

The occasional food post

2011-08-05T14:59:00.003+01:00

This blog started as a travel/food journal, although in the last year it's been hijacked by a certain small person. I will, however, try to include the occasional post about the many great snacks and meals we enjoy along the way.

One of the great things about being back in the US at the height of summer - especially in California - was that the farmers' markets were bursting with fantastic produce.

Unfortunately I didn't get photos of the fruit - baskets of blueberries and strawberries, piles of peaches, nectarines, "pluots" (plum-apricot blend), and even "plurins" (plum-nectarines). We brought a few things back, and the day after we returned to Swaziland, we ate the last perfectly ripe, fragrant white peach. We're already looking forward to next summer's visit!

Visit with the Tversky/Bendavid Family

2011-08-05T14:47:00.002+01:00

Many of our friends now have young children, but it was an extra special treat to visit our friends, the Tversky/Bendavid family. Not only are they old friends of Peter's (and now of mine), but their daughter Dalia is almost the exactly the same age as Aviva.

Dalia demonstrated that she is already good at sharing. She's got Aviva's pacifier in the photo below, while Eran offers Aviva a toy that she doesn't yet have at home: a ball! (Even better, Dalia later would use the pacifier while it was still attached to Aviva's bib.)

Caption for photo below:
Aviva: Hey! That's my pacifier.
Dalia: Who, me?

Their four-year old daughter, Alma, was very patient while all of the adults giggled at the babies' antics.

Alma applied some make-believe face paint to Dona, while Dalia continued to beam her sunny smile.
Before our walk, Alma showed off her serious face and the excellent heart that Dona had painted on her face.

Here are the two babies, again, smiling about...who knows?

It was so wonderful to see these good friends, and we hope to see them again very soon. Cape Town, anyone?

Visit with the Wang Family

2011-07-30T23:46:00.004+01:00

When we got to California, our friend Nina picked us up from San Francisco International Airport (SFO.) We stopped by their house to visit with Nina's husband, Anthony, and daughters Ella (4) and Audrey (1).

Here's Anthony holding Audrey.

Ella gave Aviva a very sweet kiss.

Audrey showed off her awesome karaoke skills, and both she and Aviva did some dancing.

Ella made some silly faces.

Audrey and Ella loaned us lots of toys for the week, and even gave us an extra LeapFrog Activity Table. It was great to see them, and very fun to see Aviva playing with Ella and Audrey.

Thanks to Wang family! We wish we lived closer!

Visit with Kristen and Lilly

2011-07-30T22:16:00.001+01:00

While we were in Westport, our friend Kristen and her daughter Lilly came to visit us. It was great to see them. Lilly is super cute, and was full of hugs for everyone.

First, Seamus:

Then Aviva...

Some of the hugs were less successful than others.

Regardless, Aviva loved snuggling with both Kirsten and her daughter, and we loved visiting with them.

Swerdel Family Time

2011-07-30T20:15:00.006+01:00

Aviva got to spend some quality time with relatives from Nana Frances' side of the family. Here she is, first with Nana Frances...
...and with Grandma Ellen.
Cousin Jerry came to visit, along with his wife Pam, and daughters Miriam and LeeAnn. First, Aviva visited with Pam.
She watched Jerry for a while.
LeeAnn held her for a bit, as well.
Unfortunately, we didn't get a photo of Aviva with Miriam, so that will have to happen next time. At the end of the visit, Aviva got to snuggle with Bow and Grandma Ellen at the same time.

As you can see here, Aviva didn't always want to share her Grandma with Bow.
We miss everyone already!

Fashion Friday #32: Cold Weather Gear

2011-07-29T21:24:00.007+01:00

Although Aviva has tons of clothes, most of them are for warm weather. This is probably because most people who gave us clothes didn't think it would get very cold here in the Swaz. While we're no Iceland, there is occasionally frost on the ground in our yard, and supposedly it was only 41 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday. Most importantly, our house has zero central heating and zero insulation. Right now I am wearing two pairs of socks, including one pair of thick, wool hiking socks; two shirts and a fleece jacket; track pants; and a scarf...in our kitchen. And my hands are freezing!

Anyway, that is all to say that although we are grateful for all of the hand-me-downs and gifts of clothing for Aviva, these days we have been especially thankful for those that have keep her warm. For example:

Our friend Yuri, during our recent trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, gave Aviva some very happy, rainbow-colored leg warmers by BabyLegs. These are apparently all the rage now, so I was very excited for Aviva to be so fashionable!
Ok, I know she looks a bit odd in these photos. We didn't have much time today, so we just slipped the BabyLegs on over what she was wearing - which we later realized was an outfit that is way too small. For the record, her pink hoodie is 3-6M by babyGap, her pants are 12M from Macy's, and her lavender hat is 3-6M from babyGap. We had also just put some Vaseline on her face to protect her from the wind (we were getting ready for a walk.) So she looks a little shiny.

The hoodie, pants, and socks are from the Sevin family. Thanks to them for the clothing and hat, and to Yuri for the legwarmers. We love their rainbow color! Is she a chubby little baby? Or is she a retro-trendy gay activist? Who knows?!

Next, we zipped Aviva into something a bit more comfortable. This white furry, hooded one-piece with ears is in the "petit bebe" line from Woolworths (a South African chain.) I'm not sure who gave us this, however. Forgive us for the lapse in recordkeeping, but thank you, whoever you are!

Aviva shows off her clapping skills...

...and then gets very adventurous.

Don't worry, I caught her! We will be more careful when letting her climb around on the furniture, since she seems to like risky moves. (And yes, you can hear me laughing when she falls.)

Finally, we received this babyGap 12-18 green and purple polka dot hoodie from our friends Dan and Oszel ("scholars in residence").

We call this her "Wild Things" Suit, after the book, Where the Wild Things Are.

Although she is still jetlagged and has been screaming in her crib for 20 minutes, Aviva is nice and warm.

Happy Friday!

Summer, summer, summertime

2011-07-28T20:40:00.009+01:00

We're back in The Swaz, where it is dark and cold. We're really missing the US now, especially as we look back at our photos of all the summertime fun we had.

From playing naked outside with Aunt Brianne (only Aviva is naked, not Brianne!)...
...to lots of swimming with Peter, Grandma Ellen, and Cousin Seamus, Aviva really loved all the warm weather activities.
We grown-ups (Peter, Ellen, and I) got to go kayaking, right in Westport.

Both Aviva and Seamus enjoyed eating watermelon out on the deck. We had a few problems when Aviva tried to get her slobbery mouth on Seamus' slice.

It worked much better when Aviva got her own piece.

Aviva hasn't mastered eating watermelon yet.Seamus, however, is quite advanced. Observant readers may recall a photo of Seamus eating watermelon at about this same time last year. Click here to see one pic from the archive, and here to see more on Seamus' blog.

Thanks again to Brianne for some of the photos above!

Fashion Friday #31: City Clothes

2011-07-22T20:40:00.004+01:00

A quick post today, from Mountain View, California, where it is sunny and hot. Aviva is wearing a 3-6M Osh Kosh B'Gosh Lauren dress and matching bloomers. She's also showing off her new hair clip, which was a gift from our friends Jeff and Carolyn and their two twin girls.

Happy Friday!

Final Fourth of July Photo

2011-07-22T17:03:00.003+01:00

I finally posted the last two photos of Aviva in her Fourth of July gear. Click here to see them.

More on Aviva's Baby Naming Ceremony

2011-07-22T16:55:00.012+01:00

As promised, I wanted to give a full account of Aviva's baby naming ceremony.

Although Aviva was nearly ten months old during this trip to the US, we still wanted to have a formal ceremony to welcome her into the world, her family, and its traditions. Most Jewish families circumcise their newborn boys on their eighth day of life, and many reform Jews hold baby naming ceremonies for their newborn girls soon after they are born. However, while my (Callista's) parents were in South Africa with us soon after her birth, Peter's side of the family was not. Then, when we returned to the US in March, Peter's Grandma Frances (Aviva's Great Grandmother) was not able to travel to Connecticut, so it made sense to postpone it once more.

Anyway, on Sunday, July 10, 2011, we gathered as many family members as we could at Richard and Susan's house (Peter's father and stepmother) to celebrate Aviva's arrival into the world.

Beforehand, Aviva socialized with her Aunt Brianne...

..and with her Uncle Henry.

Cousin Seamus and our family friend, Joel Jacobson, played with a giant ball in the background.

We tried, with limited success, to get Aviva and Seamus to pose for photos in their matching outfits, along with their fathers. It seems we could either get the kids looking up...

...or the dads, but not both.

During the ceremony, we explained how we chose Aviva's name. We explained that we wanted to choose a name that was unusual, but not unpronounceable, and that we wanted to choose a name that would be suitable for a newborn, a little girl, and a woman. Here's an excerpt of the email Peter sent when she was born:

"First, Aviva means spring— which besides being a pretty name, is the season that just began in southern Africa. Second, the middle initial R is in memory of my dad’s father, Robert. Conveniently, the combination gives rise to a few other honors as well. My paternal great-grandparents were named Abraham and Rose. They were the first US-based couple in the Ehrenkranz family tree. Abraham immigrated from Eastern Europe in an epic family story involving an escape from the Russian Army and a change in his name. Rose was also the name of my grandmother Miriam’s eldest sister who passed away many years ago."

I also explained the choice of Aviva's Chinese name, which is translated as "Ai Qing Qing," (pronounced "Eye Ching Ching"). The first word is a transliteration of Ehrenkranz. The next syllable is the Chinese word for clear or pure, and the last word means the color of grass. Aviva was born in the year of the Tiger, and so she needed a name that would be suitable for a tiger baby. As my father, Aviva's Agong explained it, "Tigers are comfortable in the grass."

Aviva's two great grandmothers on Peter's side, Nana Frances and Great Grandmother Miriam, read blessings.
Aviva's Uncle Henry and Aunt Brianne read, as did her Grandpa Richard, with Susan looking on from the side.

Peter and his brother Jeff did the blessing over the children, and Grandma Ellen closed the ceremony by reading an adorable poem she had written for both Aviva and Seamus. You might not be able to tell in the photo below, but I was blinking back tears.

It was nice to have so many family members together.

Afterward, Aviva relaxed in the grass. Fortunately, the only wardrobe malfunction of the day occurred after the ceremony had ended.

Thanks to Brianne and Henry for many of the photos. I've just realized there are so many photos of this event that I'll have to put together a third post of them!

A very special thank you to Richard and Susan for hosting us at their beautiful home and treating us to a wonderful summer meal-- strong sangria and all! We had perfectly cooked beef tenderloin, marinated zucchini/summer squash with basil, mint, and scallions, a cranberry/nut quinoa salad, and a lovely cheese plate. For dessert there was blueberry/strawberry shortcake and fresh whipped cream.

Also thanks to everyone who helped to make this such a special day for us! More pics to come tomorrow.

Happy Ten Month Birthday!

2011-07-20T16:14:00.002+01:00

Aviva turned ten months old while we were in Mountain View, California, at my (Callista's) sister's Sarah's house.

We don't travel with her beloved cow (given to her by Uncle Henry), but we've got a guest co-model, a live black and white animal...Piglet!

Click here to see another post of Aviva and Piglet together.

Happy Birthday, Aviva!

Fashion Friday #30: Aviva's Baby Naming Ceremony

2011-07-16T07:17:00.005+01:00

This week's Fashion Friday post is late. Apologies. Again, we traveled almost all day today, and finally reached California at 7 PM local time. So since we didn't have time to do a separate shoot, I am posting photos of Aviva's baby naming ceremony from last Sunday. The dress she wore is worthy of it own Fashion Friday post! She wore an absolutely gorgeous navy blue and white cotton piqué dress from Jacadi, in a 6M size. The dress was a gift from Aviva's Grandma Ellen and Great Grandma (Nana) Frances. Thank you to both of them for the beautiful dress!

Aviva's cousin Seamus had a matching polo shirt, and he looked very handsome.

I'll do a separate post tomorrow describing more of the ceremony, but for now, Happy Friday!

Ehrenkranz Reunion at the Lake!

2011-07-16T07:01:00.004+01:00

Every summer, there is a big family reunion on Peter's father's side of the family. Peter's grandfather Robert (Bob), was one of five siblings. (Aviva's middle name, Rose, was chosen partially to honor Grandpa Bob.) This event reunites the families of those siblings. Although none of those siblings is still living, Peter's grandmother Miriam is the last living member of that generation. Miriam wasn't able to attend this year, so this year's reunion was a meeting of three generations: the children of those siblings (including Peter's father, Richard), their children (including Peter), and their children (including Aviva). '

It was the first time for Aviva to meet many of these cousins. Karen was holding Aviva at the beginning of the party, while she was still a little groggy from having just woken up from a long nap.

She visited with Stu, who had driven down from Boston.
Aviva socialized with Jane, who was in town from DC.
Here both she and Peter look a little skeptical about the lake.

She did get more confident later.
All throughout this trip Aviva has been playing with lots of older kids. Cousin Erica taught her how to play patty cake.

After swimming, Aviva, spent some time with her great-aunt Cheryl (Richard's sister).

Here are Lois, Peter, and Aviva.

Aviva spent lots of time playing with her cousin Julia, whom we last saw in Atlanta in March.

All in all it was a perfect day at the lake. We're already looking forward to next year's reunion!

Old friends in Philly

2011-07-10T05:01:00.005+01:00

We made a very quick trip to Philly, where we stayed with the Sevin-Goldstein family. Josh and Naomi, and their wonderful girls, Hillary and Maia, welcome made some beautiful signs to welcome us to their home.

Here’s Aviva, looking up to the girls already. Hillary is above Josh’s head, and Maya is leaning on the coffee table.

This photo is blurry, but you can see how much Aviva is enjoying chatting with Josh.

Aviva also spent some quality time with Naomi.

Last night, we had dinner and drinks at the home of some other friends. We got to meet their newest addition, Baby Miles, who is 5 months old. Aviva actually seemed interested in Miles.

Miles’ older brother Noah very generously shared his Legos with Aviva.

Here, from the left, are Maia, Naomi, Aviva, and Hillary.

We had an absolutely wonderful time in Philadelphia with our old friends, and thank them all, especially our very gracious hosts! We hope to see them again soon.

Grandparent Time!

2011-07-10T04:43:00.003+01:00

One of the best parts about being home is that Aviva gets to squeeze in lots of grandparent time.

On Tuesday, she played with Grandma Ellen and Cousin Seamus – at the same time!

On Wednesday we hung out with Grandpa Richard and Susan. Aviva got to play on the floor...

...and eat breakfast with Susan.

Grandpa Richard took us swimming at the New Haven lawn Club. First Aviva had to get used to the water.

And here she’s chatting with Grandpa Richard.

She loved sitting on Grandpa Richard’s shoulders.

Aviva repaid Susan for a lovely garden tour by grabbing Susan’s face.

On Thursday we had breakfast with Grandma Ellen, who spent lots of time drumming with Aviva. Aviva loved it!

We're so glad Aviva gets to spend this time with her grandparents, and we're looking forward to more of it this week.

More Fourth of July photos

2011-07-10T04:28:00.004+01:00

In addition to celebrating with lots of family last Monday, a few friends also joined the party.
Here’s Melanie, pulling Owen and Seamus along.

Even Amy the dog was festive in her red and white bandana.

Nicolas got to hold a sparkler.

Peter helped Gabriel with a sparkler, too.

The Ciminiello boys (Gabriel, Nicolas, and Alexander) gave us some nice good-night smiles before they left.

Happy Independence Day!

Fashion Friday #29: Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-09T15:29:00.006+01:00

Sorry this post is late, but we had some trouble getting online yesterday. This week’s Fashion Friday (I know, it’s already Saturday!) post is a special Independence Day edition. On Monday, the 4th of July, Aviva’s Uncle Jeff and Aunt Brianne hosted another terrific party. Aviva got to show off several red, white, and blue themed outfits. It was a busy day, however, so Aviva didn’t have time to pose on her own – she had to visit with many relatives and friends!

First, she wore a red and white striped 9M dress/onesie by Absorba. There are red stars and a heart on the chest. In the morning, Aviva played with her cousin Seamus on an excellent piano toy. Aviva enjoyed all of Seamus’ toys, and now we know what to buy next.

She also played with Great Grandma Miriam.

Later that afternoon, Aviva swam with her cousin Seamus and Uncle Jeff, in a red and white striped Tommy Hilfiger bathing suit with blue trim (Loyal readers may recognize this suit from our trip to Mozambique.)

After her swim, Aviva put on her next outfit – a sleeveless onesie/dress by Just One Year (a division of Carter’s sold only at Target). It featured bloomers covered in little navy blue stars, a collar with red trim, and a shirt featuring red, white, and blue stars and trim. Very patriotic, indeed.

The next day, Aviva still had more Independence Day fashions to show off! Here she is in a red and navy tank top with white stars. She wore her new jeans (9-12 M by Carter’s) that featured embroidered flowers. (I’ll update this post with the brand and size of the tank top when I find it in her luggage…)

There's one more festive outfit – a white 6-9M onesie by Oshkosh B’gosh. With ruffly, lacy sleeves, and a knitted American flag on the chest, this piece is the prettiest of the bunch.

Thanks to the Sevin family for all of the 4^th of July clothes. Hope everyone had a happy 4^th of July!

Back in the US of A

2011-07-08T21:14:00.005+01:00

Last Saturday we flew from Johannesburg to Atlanta, and then on Sunday, from Atlanta to New York. Despite a six-hour delay in departing JNB, Aviva did great.

Our friend Craig and his two daughters, Avery and Kira, were traveling with us. They helped entertain Aviva for the long flight.

Here's Avery, 5, standing by while Aviva tried to jam a huge bite of banana into her mouth.

Kira, who's 3, checked out Aviva's rattle.We a middle section of three seats to ourselves, which was nice, because we could make a little play zone for Aviva. She did try her best to escape over Peter's leg.

Most of the time she was smiling...

...but then she became very determined to climb over the barrier.

She made friends with the people sitting behind us.
And we discovered that airplane food, at least the frittata served on Delta's flight from JNB-ATL, is a perfect consistency for babies. She couldn't get enough of Peter's breakfast.
More, more, more!

We were sad to say goodbye to the Pike family, who had just left Swaziland to move back to DC.

But we were all thrilled to finally reach Atlanta. As you can see, 24 hours of traveling took its toll on the cleanliness of Aviva's outfit....

She's Everywhere

2011-07-01T22:15:00.003+01:00

For the last several weeks, Aviva has been getting faster and more confident at crawling. She's interested in exploring everywhere:

...the piano pedals

...the underside of the ExerSaucer...
...the drawers in front of the stove. In this case, she pulled herself to standing, and then got stuck, because she didn't yet know how to move along sideways. Don't worry, I helped her sit down...after I laughed at her and took photos. Heh heh.

Girl Stuff

2011-07-01T22:02:00.002+01:00

I know, this looks like we allow our 9 month old baby to get manicures. Well, we do, sort of. Welile files Aviva's nails down so that she won't scratch herself. Unfortunately yesterday Aviva gave herself a huge gash on the face, so Welile quickly filed Aviva's nails a bit more to prevent additional self-mutilation. Silly baby.

Fashion Friday #28: Whatever Mom Could Find

2011-07-01T21:29:00.004+01:00

Today was a busy day, so we didn't get to do Aviva's photos until late this afternoon. I was rushing to find some outfits for her, so I just grabbed whatever I could find quickly (as you will see.) Thanks to the Sevin family for all of today's clothes!

First, I found the top that goes with her excellent yellow and orange 6-12M Oink Baby pants. She was already wearing her light pink turtleneck onesie from Old Navy, and it was kinda cold today, so I left it on. I know, it doesn't match, really, but she didn't seem to mind.

I didn't even get a photo of the best part, which is the orange oval on the crotch of these pants.

Clearly, that wasn't that great of an outfit, so I did find one more. Next she wore a 9M blue and white striped dress from Carter's. It has a very cute duck on the front, flowers on the collar, and matching bloomers. Socks by Trumpette, as usual.

As you can see from the photos, Aviva's new favorite activity is clapping! We're not what she's applauding, but something is definitely making her very happy.
This last photo I just could not resist. I have to confess that I didn't actually capture this shot with a regular photo; I was making a video and took a still from a clip. She looks sort of skeptical.

Happy Friday!

Fashion Friday #27: 70s and 80s Gear

2011-06-24T15:26:00.006+01:00

Aviva turned 9 months old this week, and her Auntie Sarah has rightfully pointed out that almost all of her pants are too short, so I figured that it's time to bust out some new clothes. So I went exploring in her piles of 12M clothes, and lo and behold, some of them fit! Thanks to the Sevins for outfitting Aviva today.

First, she's wearing her 3-6M Old Navy turtleneck onesie, a 12M long-sleeved t-shirt from The Children's Place, and some 70s-inspired 12M pants, also from The Children's Place. Socks, as usual, by Trumpette. The pants are decorated with butterflies and flowers. Ok, maybe the pants are late 60s, but you get the point.

Next we've got her in some excellent Carter's Kids 9-12M jeans featuring embroidered flowers, and an oversized 6-12M pink sweater from Jack Rabbit Creations, and the Old Navy turtleneck. I don't know about you, but I was definitely wearing oversized pink tops in the 80s.

And as a special treat, we've got some video of Aviva talking for this Fashion Friday. She gets a little tired in the middle and has to rest.

Happy Friday!

Bad Hair Day

2011-06-24T09:48:00.000+01:00

Aviva's hair isn't nearly as funny as it was when she was younger, but she still occasionally has bad hair days.

Fortunately, she is not self-conscious, so it doesn't stop her from exploring the house. For some reason, she really enjoys hanging out under our kitchen stools.

Happy Nine Month Birthday!

2011-06-20T21:57:00.002+01:00

We can't believe it, but Aviva is nine months old today! She looks huge! (Ok, it's partially because her pants are too short.) Underneath her right leg you can see the remnants of the first sign (she ripped it up as soon as we handed it to her.)

Happy birthday, Aviva!

Nonstop chatting

2011-06-20T02:34:00.002+01:00

In the last few days, Aviva has been talking...a lot. Here are a few clips of her from Saturday morning. In the clip it looks like I am pushing her away, and I am...but only to keep her from eating the camera!

Weekend at Mbuluzi

2011-06-17T18:50:00.006+01:00

Two weekends ago we went to Mbuluzi Game Reserve again, the private reserve where we went for a night over Christmas. This time, we went with two other families (Jessi, Uri, and Asher), and Benoit and his kids, Leo and Emil.

This time we rented a different property, with luxury tents. As Jessi said, we were "glamping" (glamour camping.) The tents had electricity and full bathrooms inside them! It was my kind of camping.

We went for a walk, and a group of giraffes were about 100 meters from our lodge.

Aviva practiced feeding herself by slobbering all over an apple.

It was too cold to swim, so we just sat around the pool. Here are Peter and Aviva with Jessi and Asher.
We had a terrific time, especially since we were with a big group of friends from Swaziland. Amazingly the three of us avoided the ticks that seemed to bite just about everyone else that was there. We look forward to going back!

Fashion Friday #26: Sundress and More Googly Eyes

2011-06-17T18:17:00.004+01:00

Hello everyone! Today wasn't too cold here, so we thought we'd go back to Aviva's dress collection. Her first dress is a 3M sundress by Clayeux from the Sevin family.
She's very quick now, so right after we took a few photos of her seated and facing me, she turned around and pulled herself up. Someday she won't be thrilled about this photo of her chubby thighs, but we couldn't resist.

Her next outfit featured another one of the items that my girlfriends Mel and Kirsten bought for me in Brazil last year. More googly eyes! She's wearing a 6M t shirt by Chicco, her white long-sleeved onesie from Old Navy, and her "Lovely" blue pants from last week. Her pink socks are from BabySoy.

Here's the close up of the T shirt.

Aviva poses for the camera...

In the photo below, look closely...at her two bottom front teeth! They are more visible everyday.

Enjoy!

More Progress in Crawling

2011-06-12T21:05:00.003+01:00

It's been a couple weeks now that Aviva has really been able to crawl. It seems as though she gets faster everyday.

Here's a clip of her from last Wednesday, crawling toward me and pulling herself up:

And here's a short one of her tonight. She's just a teeny bit faster and more confident:

She's making progress!

Miss Manners

2011-06-12T20:29:00.003+01:00

The nice thing about being 8 months old is that even when Aviva does "rude" things, like chewing with her mouth open or burping (and then laughing at herself) she is pretty cute. Ok, we're slightly biased. But seriously, she's really cute.

In the last 2-3 weeks, she's been getting better at feeding herself all kinds of stuff. One of her favorite foods is wholewheat crackers. In this clip, she likes eating her cracker so much she wants everyone to see it.

Tonight in the bath, she showed off her manners again.

That's our baby!

Fashion Friday #25: Crazy Pants

2011-06-10T13:18:00.006+01:00

I may have said this before, but Aviva has some crazy pants. It continues to be cold here, so unfortunately we are staying away from her dozens and dozens of sundresses. However, we're looking forward to pulling those out for our visit back to the US in July!

For her first outfit today, I honestly am not sure what I was thinking. I guess I wanted to combine one of the warm weather outfits with some of her crazy pants. She's wearing her usual long-sleeved white onesie from Old Navy, a light blue 9M top by Carter's, and some pants that say "Lovely" on the bottom. She also has on some cute socks that look like ballet slippers.

Thanks to Ama for the pants, and to the Sevin family for the onesie, tops, and socks.

She loves her wooden toy, which we got from our friend, Nicole. Thanks, Nicole!

For her second outfit, she's wearing a long-sleeved pink t-shirt by Shilav and some pants that really are sort of crazy. They are 6-12M pink cotton pants by Gymboree, and they are covered in an image of cats and hat boxes. I don't know who designed them, but they're terrific!

The usual bored look...
Today we let her stand up by herself for a moment. She's leaning back against the chair. Don't worry, Welile is standing just out of the view of the camera, ready to catch her when she wobbles. Aviva seems to be concentrating hard on not falling over.
Here's the close up so you can appreciate the crazy design on her pants.

For her last outfit, she's wearing her beloved sweatshirt from The Black Dog, courtesy of Grandma Ellen, and some orange and green striped 12M pants from Target, from the Sevin family.

Happy Friday!