Why did the little boy ask why and then why again?

Avi wants to know the "why" of just about everything these days.

Avi, my three-year-old grandson, has recently launched into the "Why" stage of life. So he's wondering now why the sky is blue and water wet, why the sun is hot and ice is cold.

Curiosity is a good thing, but when every explanation is met with a question it all can be a little, er, annoying. Fortunately, the why of life can also be funny.

Here's a mostly true conversation Avi and I had just the other day:

Avi: What happened to your hair, Pops?
Pops: It fell out.
Avi: Why?
Pops: Because I got old..
Avi: Why?
Pops: Because I wanted to stick around so I could play with you.
Avi: Why?
Pops: Because you're so darn cute.
Avi: Okay ... gimme a cookie.
Pops: Why?

Leaping into the future with Bailey and Avi

2019 edition of the grandchildren.

I blinked and my grandchildren leaped into the future, Bailey heading off to Kindergarten this week and Avi back to preschool. Because their mom -- my daughter, Lauren -- teaches in a nearby elementary school, all of them are now together under the same roof.

Lauren spends her days teaching kids with special needs while Bailey and Avi spend their time showing off just how special they are. Hey, I'm their Pops so I have the right to pop off every now and again!

Truth to tell, the kids are absolutely normal. They run around and play, manage to get into stuff that often drives me bonkers -- why do the kids put beans in their ears? -- and often fight with one another like cats and dogs.

They also both remain pure spirits with hearts of gold, filled with the innocence of youth and unconditional love.

Avi: Always smiling and ready for fun.

After a morning that had me thinking it would be easier to herd a bunch of cats then control my grandkids at play, I finally managed to get Avi into his crib for a nap. As I went to close the door, Avi called out that he wanted a hug. He wrapped his little arms around my neck, then kissed me on the cheek before settling down with a contented smile across his face. A moment later he was asleep.

I then got Bailey to quiet down by handing her my iPad. As she got comfy on a couch in our den, happy to spend some quality time on YouTube, I was thinking I might grab a quick nap.

Bailey: Now in kindergarten and ready to read.

Bailey had other ideas.

"Pops", she called out, "won't you come snuggle with me?" And that's how I got to spend some quality time with my granddaughter and JoJo Siwa -- trust me, JoJo is very big with 5-year-old girls.

In a world that often seems turned upside down, at times dark and troubling, Bailey and Avi provide a measure of light. It might seem counterintuitive, but with all their ranbunctious play and zest for life, they offer up an island of calm, a sense of normalcy ... hope.

And isn't that the way it should be with all of God's children?

Discovering happiness in the moment

Bailey out and about and enjoying life at Chuck E. Cheese's.

Bailey was vegging out in her car seat, savoring the memory of the tasty milkshake she had just devoured. All was good until I told her we were headed back to her house and she made it screamingly clear that she had other plans.

We can stay out another 10 minutes, I told her. No, she bargained, three more minutes. Bailey, thankfully, has yet to master the ups and downs of time!

She had spent the morning with her Bubbe at synagogue, chatting and playing and sort of praying -- see what I did there?! After chowing down on a bagel and a handful of cookies at the Oneg, Wendy and Bailey drove to a nearby Lakeshore Learning Store where I met up with them for a little arts and crafts adventure.

We then stopped briefly at one of the ubiquitous fast food spots nesting in our little corner of the world and had a sugary snack: a vanilla milkshake for Bailey, while Wendy and I shared a root beer float. Yummy!

Avi, Pops and Bailey sharing a little Kodak moment.

A few moments later we were headed home when the screeching and bargaining began. Bailey and I eventually made it to a lake in her subdivision where, she said, she wanted us to stop and spend a little quality time sitting on a bench and watching the world go by.

And that's pretty much what we did. It was hot and humid, I was tired and more then ready for an afternoon nap, and Bailey was just a tad snappish, wallowing in her toddlerness and wanting what she wanted -- now!

A day later, not only had I forgotten the heat and humidity, my weariness and Bailey's momentary lapse into childhood churlishness, but I found myself happily thinking about our short adventure at the lake and wondering when we'd be getting together again.

The image playing out in my mind was bathed in a golden glow, a cool breeze whisking away the summer heat and mosquitoes. The real stuff -- Bailey pointing out a couple of turtles sunning themselves on a rock and a raft of ducklings enjoying an afternoon snack -- seemed both casual and intimate, a slice of life of a slice of life. Add a soundtrack filled with a gentle melody heavy with strings and I'm thinking we have the centerpiece for a coming-of-age blockbuster.

I mention all this simply to make the point that happiness sometimes is hidden away in the moment, but almost always surfaces in our memories.

And this is what I remember most.

As we sat quietly chatting about this and that, enjoying the day and the moment, I glanced down at Bailey and realized she had quietly reached over and was holding my hand. It was a sweet and innocent gesture of trust and unconditional love. And it's one of the best perks of being a Pops.

Avi racing around the sun into a bright future

Avi came bounding into the room with his preschool teacher and classmates, a 30-pound bundle of energy in search of adventure. He spotted me, revved up his engine and headed my way in overdrive.

Avi, Bubbe and Bailey (in the background) having a giggling good time.

Unfortunately, his legs were a bit ahead of his balance and he tumbled the last few feet before coming to rest where I sat. I bent over and lifted him up into my lap and he thanked me with a broad smile before resting his head on my shoulder.

A moment later he wiggled his way to the floor, grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the gaggle of kids preparing for Shabbat morning sing. He changed course mid-step and headed off toward the entrance to the sanctuary, making a dash for the lobby and freedom!

Did I mention Avi is filled with energy? If he's not moving around then he's thinking about moving around. Today, I'm thinking, he might notice his mom and dad, big sister Bailey and school chums will be giving him plenty of time and room to do his thing with abandon. After all, it's his birthday!

Avi's managed to make it around the sun twice now -- a happy, curious, whirling dervish of a toddler.

His life is filled with a pleasant blend of play and schooling. It's also filled with two of his favorite pastimes: eating and sleeping. He's happy to grab hold of as much rack time and chow as possible, taking a quick nap in the early afternoon and going off to bed without a peep each evening.

Avi and a few furry friends during visit to the Atlanta Zoo.

When Avi's not sleeping, there's a good chance he's eating. His day is a running smorgasbord of treats and grub, a jarring cornucopia of yogurt and cereal; bagels, crackers, goldfish and cheese; pancakes and strawberries; applesauce, fish and chicken; cake, cookies and donuts.

It's reasonably easy to figure out his diet each day. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or chef to discover his culinary choices. Just follow the trail of crumbs scattered about the floor and his clothes, and the stains on his hands and face.

Avi's also got an odd fascination with water. He likes holding onto a plastic cup filled to the brim when running about and, whenever near a water fountain, enjoys holding his hands under the running water. Go figure!

Meanwhile, all this play and coming and going is a studied effort, I'm told, at figuring out the world. Avi, it appears, is doing a fine job at being a toddler.

He's happy and enjoying his young life; loves his mom, dad and big sister, and is excited about what's waiting for him just the other side of the horizon. Me, too!

An ode to Avi on turning one

Avi is turning one and he's darn excited!

The noise is what you notice first. It's a jarring blend of banging mashed up with a banshee howl! In an instant Avi whizzes by in his baby walker, colliding with whatever happens to be in his path. His destination? Pretty much wherever he sets his sights!

Welcome to Baby Watch 101, an exercise that's more or less like herding kittens or trying to catch the wind. The good news is Avi always stumbles about with an infectious grin across his face and his wails of excitement are filled with good cheer.

As he finishes up his first trip around the Sun and officially turns one this week, he has mastered all those firsts you'd expect of a healthy, happy baby.

Avi poops and pees just fine, thank you very much; is just about finished with nursing and now enjoys a wide range of tasty foods; is talking gibberish that I'm thinking will morph into recognizable English sooner then we might expect and is pulling himself up and cruising about with abandon!

He's also at that exasperating stage where there is no corner he doesn't wish to explore, no staircase he doesn't want to climb, no sharp and shiny objects he doesn't have to grab! He's a study in rapid motion and energy and a challenge to watch and contain!

Bailey and Avi are already the best of friends.

Avi is also a joyous spirit, filled with the stuff of life; a malleable piece of clay that with proper care and attention will find a unique place in the world one day. The poets and philosophers among us might explore how a meaningful destiny patiently awaits his arrival just this side of the horizon, second star to the right, and straight on till morning!

My birthday wish is much simpler, that he remains healthy and happy!

Fortunately, that shouldn't be a problem since Avi has loving and doting parents, Lauren and Josh; loving and weary grandparents, Janice, Steve, Wendy and me; and an older sister, Bailey, who finds her younger brother adorable!

It's clear that all is well with the world when Bailey wants nothing more than to gently hug Avi and give him a kiss before heading off to preschool each morning. Bottle up such sweet innocence and sprinkle it about and I'm thinking all our days would be a bit brighter.

So Avi, dude,
you're now working on two;
and all I can say
is HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Oh, it's also true
that we all love you ... and the check is in the mail!

Grand welcome comes with tiny cut!

Rite of passage: Grandpa Steve, Avi share special moment!

A bris is a memorable tradition filled with much high ritual, the moment when a Jewish boy -- for those who believe in such rites -- becomes part of the ancient covenant given by God to Abraham and his descendants.

It's part of the bedrock of Judaism, one of the numerous mitzvot, or laws, that are at the heart of the religion. It also offers up a distinctive mark -- both literally and symbolically -- that helped create and sustain the Jewish people for thousands of years, a community filled with rich and robust traditions, rites, ideas and laws.

Baby Boy Levetan's bris was such a happening, a gathering of family and friends to welcome him into our lives and community with love and good cheer eight days following his birth. Oh, there was also a mohel, trained in the practice of brit milah, the "covenant of circumcision," to whack away his foreskin.

Ouch and welcome to the tribe!

Say ahhhh: Avi with his mom and dad, Lauren and Josh.

It's also the moment when a child receives their name, when what already is becomes even more, defined and enriched by a back story that adds weight and context to a precious being at the starting point of life.

For those with even a smattering of Hebrew, baby boy Levetan's name -- at least his Hebrew name, Avraham Yisrael -- was first heard uttered by the mohel, Rabbi Ariel Asa, as he went about his liturgical chores. But it was left to Lauren and Josh to announce and explain the proper name that now will be forever linked to their son and all he will become.

Avi Kenneth Levetan, a euphonic blend of old and new, ethnic and modern, is inextricably meshed with the ganze mispucha, the entire family. The Hebrew and English names honor and recall a great grandfather and grand uncle from Lauren's extended family and both Josh's paternal grandfather and, most poignantly, his maternal grandfather, Ken Stone, who died last year.

Their collective lives offer up a rich tapestry of being that stretches back to the Pale of Settlement, spanning half the globe and the last century or so; men who both embraced the ancient customs of their ancient religion and communities while striking out for the New World and all the wonders to be found in America.

We are family: Bailey (l-r), Pops, Lauren, Avi, Josh and Bubbe.

All they were, in a fashion, will now be carried into the next century, a bit of spiritual energy comfortably resting in the heart of a sweet little boy.

Avi, sucking away on a cloth dabbed in a bit of wine, rested comfortably following the bris as family and friends feasted on deli delicacies at a celebratory meal, Seurat mitzvah, that is yet another custom of a folk who are defined by such traditions.

So this is my hope, Avi, a little postscript from your Pops on the day after your bris.

If at some distant time you find yourself surfing whatever passes for the World Wide Web in the next century and stumble across this post, you should spend a few moments reflecting on all that happened on this special day in 2016. Then take a moment to understand that even when you were little more than a vibrant idea and bit of flesh you were already part of something huge and ancient and, most importantly, from the very beginning you were loved.

With that, I'll sign off for now with this wish, offering up a priestly blessing (sort of) while quoting that ancient Talmudic sage, Mr. Spock: Live long and prosper, Avi Kenneth, live long and prosper!