Born: July 31, 2005 at 3:44pm CSTWeight: 9 lbs 7 ozLength: 20 inches More photos from Avery’s day

That was the question I received when I was woken up about 30 minutes ago. It looks as if this baby wants out … today.

On July 4th we had a team meeting at one of the hotels. During the course of this meeting, many exceptional athletes were introduced, but for some reason I was left out of this group. While many of the swimmers found it strange (including myself), I did not make a big deal about it. I [...]

I was spending most of today getting a few things done around the house, but I decided to take some time reading articles written during the Maccabiah Games. By far my favorite was from the Jerusalem Post from July 11 after the 100 Freestyle which included one of my best quotes. Bryan Goldberg, Shai Livnat, [...]

We are still scheduled for Tuesday, but it is seeming that more and more this child has a mind of her own and may not want to wait. I guess it is time to install those car seats.

Colleen had her last doctors appointment today, and it was decided that if this baby is not born by Tuesday we are scheduled to be at the hospital at 7am to induce labor. I know that the due date is not until the 4th of August, but as Colleen says "this kid is cooked". Ready [...]

On July 12 – my birthday, Team USA was at the pool competing in the third day of the swimming competition. I remember sitting in the warmdown pool after the 200m free and hearing the news. It was the first successful suicide attack in Israel in many months, and it had occured less than 5 [...]

Shawarma – how I miss thee. Your were the savior of my three week flirtation with vegetarianism. Without you, I may never have eaten meat while in Israel. Chez Claude was the most frequented eating establishment in Netanya because the Shawarma was amazing. Not knowing what I was getting myself into, I quickly learned. Shawarma [...]

I have been home from Israel for the last three days now, and have been quite under the weather. It seems I picked up a sinus infection while in Israel, and going almost a full week without any medication for it really knocked me out. One would have thought that team doctors would have medicine [...]

The hotel threw a 4th of July party for us tonight. They had tons of food, some fireworks, a DJ that sang karaoke, and some dancing, including a couple of grown men in tutu’s. It felt sort of like a jewish wedding.