Asa Reger Born 11:59PM on Dec 31, 2011

1 month 5 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

Asa Reger was born on Dec 31, 2011 at 11:59PM. He's 21" long and weighs 8 pounds, 11 ounces. He's healthy and happy.

Heather went to the hospital on the evening of Dec 30. Over the course of that night and the next day we watched the clock, wondering when Asa would arrive. Being so close to the new year he was the subject of much speculation. With an hour to go it looked like he'd be a 2012 baby. But with 15 minutes to go things really heated up. His official birth time is 11:59PM on Dec 31, 2011.

If I were to get all "sciencey" I'd say that he was born 20 seconds after midnight. A couple hours prior I had synchronized my watch with the official NIST atomic clock. The clock in the room was a little slow... a minute or two. But all of the digital clocks on the delivery carts were synchronized with the correct time. I figured they'd roll one in for the birth. They didn't so the official recorder used the 1960's style wall clock. Asa was most likely the first baby in Atlanta. But Heather didn't want the attention and in the heat of the moment I wasn't about the belabor the point. We were more focused on a healthy and happy Asa.

He's a sweet little baby. Not much crying. Lots of snuggling. Somewhere between Ava and Emme on the sweetness scale.

He has a dimple on his right cheek. Heather says he has my nose and mouth.

His umbilical cord had a knot in it! It was loose when he came out but you'll see in the pictures that it tightened down after being cut. The nurses were amazed by it.

It was a rough labor for Heather. The epidural wore off halfway through the 28 hour process and when they tried to give her more it didn't take effect. This led to an excruciating hour of natural labor contractions. Many docs later they just decided to replace the epidural. When that happened it seems that all of the medicine did take effect. Heather was 100% numb, which isn't actually the plan... they want to see some sensation of pressure and ability to move the legs. Then she started to vomit.

Then about 30 minutes before midnight the epidural again wore off. Another excruciating 20 minutes followed, hoping for more meds. Ultimately it was time for Asa to arrive and after a few minutes of pushing he did.

Ava and Emme visited Asa the next morning. They have some big plans for the little dude!

Thanks to friends and family for all of the support!

Ava and Emme's First Night in Their Own Beds!

2 months 15 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

A big night for the kiddos!

We've had their new bedroom set up for close to a year. But never made the switch. So yesterday we ran some final errands to pick up the missing pieces for the room.

Night came and the kiddos jumped right in. Mom stayed with them for a while (after kicking dad out because apparently he's a force of distraction.) They stayed in the beds all night.

I woke up with the sun and snuck up to take a couple pics of them waking up. Too cute.

Big step for the little ones. Now we have to make it stick. I'm already coaching Mom... we do not negotiate with terrorists! The new bedroom is where it's at! Keep the momentum!

Ava's First Grade Science Fair

4 months 1 day ago | Posted to: The Fam

Ava's First Day of 1st Grade

5 months 21 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

Maths with Ava: Addition with Carrying

5 months 29 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

Working on some maths with Ava this morning. We ran through the process of addition with carrying. It only took a couple examples and I was able to write problems on the board and she'd solve them. I gave her some crutches like the line between decimal places and the boxes where each digit should be so that the carrying number is more obvious. I think the real trick however is getting her to be able to do these things after a period of time without prompting. In other words, identifying the problem and technique to solve it. During our evening math sessions I throw up different types of problems... she can solve them all... but often just identifying the type of problem becomes the stumbling block. Which, if you think about it, is often the challenge for all of us in life. Enjoying the maths with the Ava! And so happy that she enjoys the maths with GooDah!

Ava's 6th Birthday and Swim Achievement!

6 months 26 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

The party was yesterday but today was Ava's actual birthday. Breakfast at J. Christophers. Learning Express for some toys with Mimi. And then in the pool... no more than 5 minutes after her birth time of 3:55pm she accomplished a many-month goal of swimming on her own from one side of the pool to the other and back! I promised her a cake way back when and today she got it! With bonus Publix misspelling of "swimmer!" We had worked on slowly increasing her distance each day for a long while. Nice to see her achieve a goal and do something she was afraid of. After that she snuggled up with me and we watched some Tour de France. She asked a ton of questions and assured me that she would be much faster than the riders on the television! Eventually she fell asleep, exhausted. A great sixth birthday. Heather and I are, of course, stunned that our daughter is six years old! (Note that the swim video is from a few days later on her 3rd crossing!)

Ava's First Tooth Out

7 months 10 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

Ava at Publix

8 months 13 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

Ava Kindergarten Awards Show

8 months 17 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

Ava's First Wiggly Tooth

9 months 9 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

Ava's Kite

9 months 24 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

Her class hung kites at a local learning store. We visited today... and bought stuff.

Baby Turtle

9 months 26 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

I found a baby turtle in the pool and showed it to Ava and Emme. It was Emme who was the most interested. She wanted to help me release it. We learned a little about turtles and then let him free in the back yard. He crawled under a rock.

But we thought he wasn't safe there so we brought him back. And he made an heroic jump from a six inch step.

Emme on the Computer

10 months 15 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

Ava's Kindergarten Class

10 months 15 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

Ava Book Fair

10 months 21 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

Book fair at ava's school tonight. They had a bunch of games and Ava picked out a bunch of books. Emme and Mom joined in too!

Ava: Donuts for Dads

10 months 28 days ago | Posted to: The Fam

Amaaaazing morning. Ava's class put on a Donuts for Dads event. They sang songs and showed us dad-related art. And at the end we ate donuts. What could be better!?!? They also showed us the Senteo smartboard system with student voting remotes. Students log in and submit answers to questions. Ms. Fogel pushes a button and the results are tabulated on the board instantly. Amazing kindergarten tech! I could use this in about 99.9% of my meetings to facilitate real discussion. Attached is a note and artwork that Ava gave me at Donuts for Dads. I've framed it and hung it in my office... love it!

Secret Reader for Ava's Class

1 year 2 months ago | Posted to: The Fam

Today was one of those amazing days in the life of a father. I got to be the secret reader for Ava's kindergarten class!

It's funny how nervous I was to read to a bunch of kindergarten students! I mean, I'm no stranger to presentations. But a long table of "suits" has nothing on 25 kindergarteners! These kids will call your bluff in a heart beat!

Ava sat on my lap in one of the rocking chairs. Terp and Emme sat beside us. Terp held the book while I read. (We practiced book orientation and flipping technique beforehand.) Luckily we were able to break the ice quickly and get the kids smiling and laughing. Once that happened I just had a blast. It's great to hear what the kids have to say, how they interject, what they think.

Ava helped me out. And Emme helped out in her own way... which is to say that she made noise, moved the book all over the place and generally caused mayhem! At one point I was peering over Ava's head, reading a crooked book out of one eye, fending off Emme complaints and trying to interact with the students! Too fun.

I got to experience losing control of the group a couple times! Wow... when they go, they go. Laughing, giggling and yelling... all of a sudden! No warning. Impossible to predict what would trigger them. Just... boom! Luckily a quick shhhh-ing got them under control. And, of course, intervention by Mrs. Fogel... she's in charge! I am not :) It really is amazing to see an expert like Mrs. Fogel work with her kiddos.

More than anything I was just proud to be part of Ava's life. It was a magical moment when she entered the library and jumped onto my lap. She's been talking about this reading session for weeks. I didn't want to let her down and the big hug and smile after the session told me that I did well!

Thanks to Mrs. Fogel and Mrs. Quintero for having us in to read! We had a blast!

Ava's First Race! Mount Bethel Fun Run

1 year 2 months ago | Posted to: The Fam

Ava's first road race! The Mount Bethel Fun Run! 1/2 mile... tons of fun! Ava did a great job. Didn't stop once and smiled the entire way. She got a medal and afterwards emme and I did our own little run! It was cold this morning... about 38 degrees. We bundled up and wore hats and gloves.

One year ago to the day I toed up to the starting line of Ironman Florida for the 6th time. A number of my friends are at this year's race as I type. But today no IMFL for me... I got to race in the Kindergarten age group! And I enjoyed it 100x more than any IM!

Congrats to Aves on her first race!

Framed Ava's Owl

1 year 3 months ago | Posted to: The Fam

Today after picking up Ava we went to Michael's to pick up a frame. We put her owl artwork into it... too cute!

Ava's First Computer

1 year 3 months ago | Posted to: The Fam

They're starting to roll out some home-based skills stuff at school so today Ava and I headed to MicroCenter to grab a netbook. She chose purple. Big girl!

Ava's First Movie: Toy Story 3!

1 year 4 months ago | Posted to: The Fam

Picked Ava up from school today and we went to see Toy Story 3. I remember when my mom took me to see Star Wars when I was about the same age. We were living in Naples, Italy at the time and it was a big day for me. For Ava's first movie there weren't any other people in the showing. We moved from the front to the back to the middle to the front to the back. It was fun. Watched in 3D. I think Ava enjoyed it!

Lunch at Ava's School

1 year 4 months ago | Posted to: The Fam

Ava's school lets parents visit for lunch. Today I jumped in there and it was awesome! I packed up my Keropi Frog lunch box with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (with the crusts!) I waited in the hallway for Ava's class to head into the lunch room and took a seat next to her. Lots of fun. I can't believe how many times our table got "shushed" by the lunch lady! I love seeing Ava in her native environment.

Ava's First Day of Kindergarten

1 year 6 months ago | Posted to: The Fam

The big first day! Up early, she was in "No" mode. But we got her into the car and had every intention of dropping her at the school like good little parents... the school repeatedly told us not to walk her in. But they didn't have people to unload her from the car, which was a big change from her pre-k. And in addition to her backpack she had two big bags of supplies. So after talking to a couple of the school helpers we just parked and walked her in, like 92% of the other kindergarten parents. We thought we'd only make it as far as the front door but everybody was walking in. We walked her into the classroom, she sat down and didn't flinch when we walked out. In the hallway walking back to the car mommy and daddy were teary-eyed. Go Big Aves!

Happy 5th Birthday Ava!

1 year 6 months ago | Posted to: The Fam

Ava, you are amazing! I love you so much and I am so proud of you. You're growing like a weed, expanding your mind, having fun and being a wonderful daughter. I can't believe that five years has already gone by. I think back to the hurricane smashing the Florida coast as you made your appearance. I'm not yet as good at this parenting thing as I'd like to be so please continue to keep me on my toes! Today we're heading out to Beep-Nana's for your birthday party. Love ya Beetle Bot!

Emme's a Morning Person, Ava Not so Much

1 year 9 months ago | Posted to: The Fam

I love the differences between Ava and Emme. It's what makes having two of these little buggers so special. What's become clear in the last six months is that Emme is a morning person. She wakes up and is cheery, peaceful and outgoing. Ava, on the other hand, wakes up groggy, anti-social and a little difficult (she gets into the swing of things quickly though... 15 or 20 minutes.) This creates a great opportunity for me to get some Emme time in the morning. She'll walk over to my room, crack the door, peer in and smile. It's cute and I always rush over to her, scoop her up and then get some work done with her in my lap. We record little videos and do Google searches for whatever she's interested in at the time (often spiders lately.) Ava and I spend time more in the evening, after bath. We'll curl up and watch a Nova or something. She asks me questions about the planets. Love my daughters!