Our Family Tree

Like most new parents, we've spent part of each day looking for the familial resemblance in our child's face, perhaps in attempt to make better sense of him. What's really fantastic is watching his natural expressions and matching them to ours. We can see Chris's moon-face sheepish grin and Christine's open-mouthed squeal-smile on our boy. It's hard to pinpoint, but somehow his eyes are both of ours in shape and expression. (We do have the advantage of looking alike.)

So here is a visual family history to place this beautiful face we wake to each morning...

Christine, shocked.
Avery makes this expression when he accidentally hits the wall with his fluttering hands. We can see resemblance in the "ooh" mouth and the eyes.


Uncle Peter (with sisters).
Avery has this toothless smile and signature Braunohler kid under-eye puff.


It could come from Christine's mom, Vivian. (And yes, Christine is wearing a baby bikini!)


Okay, so now it's clear that the three Braunohler kids couldn't have gotten away without inheriting the under-eye puff. Christine's dad, Bob, is the little one on the left. (We also see Avery's long face in Bob.)


Avery definitely inherited his Aunt Ingrid's bee courage. I took him to the hive today and he did not bat an eye.


Here is possibly where Avery gets his full lips: Otto Braunohler, Christine's paternal grandfather.


Now let's look at the other side.

Here is Chris's mom's family. Pat is the little one with curls. We hope Avery gets her hair. It seems like Avery has Pat's chin and cheeks. (His namesake, Vincent, is the younger boy in front.)


Here is Chris in his grandparents' arms. Avery has a similar hairline and wispy hair.


Chris's uncle Frank (the older boy in the Barbaria family picture above). Now there is a head of curls! Avery has the Barbaria family cheeks beautifully pictured here.


Chris's Dad, Carl, the carrier of the blue eyes on Chris's side. He is also really chubby, not unlike Mr. Avery.


And Chris, on Easter in his blue vest. We expect Avery will have this level of egg-hunting enthusiasm next month.


And finally, the expressions...

Avery's squeal-smile expression is captured here on Christine.


And Chris's moon-face sheepish grin. This expression is one a sleepy Avery does while being burped over the shoulder in his milky stupor.

The California Academy Of Sciences

We made the trek over the Bay Bridge yesterday to visit the Academy of Sciences. We had no idea how engaging it would be for a ten week old, but were happily surprised. Avery is clearly a naturalist at heart.

The famous albino alligator (in the gift shop).



Avery and some onyx. ("Oooh! That tickles!")



Nuzzling on the Serengeti.



Watching live penguins.



And Amazonian fish!







Observing a butterfly in the 'Rainforests of the World' dome.



Catching an exciting glimpse of himself.



And coming home to Papa to tell him all about the Strawberry Poison Dart Frog.

Monkey in the Middle

Monkey in the Middle, Piggy in the Middle, Pickle in a Dish, or Pickle in the Middle is a keep away game played by kids all over the world. And somehow, Avery has acquired the nickname "Monkey in the Middle." It suits him quite well, surprisingly, because he is often in the middle of everything.

Here he is in the middle of his family.



In the middle of a banjo jam.



In the middle of the kitchen floor.



In the middle of the Farmers' Market.



In the middle of a soup pot.



In the middle of a workout.



In the middle of a challenging puzzle.



In the middle of his car seat.



Okay. Time for the end. Here he is near the end of his workout.



Go, Monkey in the Middle!

Toy Oh Boy!

I received some birthday mail from my first graders. One question caught us off guard: Will Avery have toys? Well, he does. But we hadn't shown him one single toy from his wonderful collection gifted to him by many loved ones. So we pulled them out and showed him.



Here he is deciding whether fruit with a face is scary or benevolent.



And what about mobs of wild animals??



Hmmmm, a singing lion from Belgium. What will be next?



Oh! Dragons! I like dragons.

When baby sleeps...

his mama can get some yardwork done.

When he is awake, he can entertain a room filled with 1st graders.

(who ask such surprising questions!)

Sabine and Baby Avery

I will let you come up with your own dialogue for this one.