At just two-and-a-half years old, Avery is already a budding pun master.

Today, Avery is thriving. He keeps Taji and Jesse on their toes, literally, delighting in running up and down (and up and down) the hills and steps around LACMA or playing on the playground in the California sun. He loves to blow bubbles, ride scooters, and help out his mom Taji, an accomplished chef, in the kitchen – though despite Taji’s best attempt at promoting veggies, “he could live on pasta and waffles as far as he’s concerned.”

Taji and Jesse are cognizant and thoughtful about the implications of transracial adoption, and and the incredible importance of expanding their circle to allow Avery to feel the representation that so many take for granted. They’ve joined playgroups for mixed race families, sought out representation in books and media, and found support groups through social media to help them field their blind spots and intentionally put themselves in communities of color. They are already considering what schools and sports teams he will join in the future to ensure that he stays connected to the Black community.

“It’s about so many little choices you make every day about how to give him as much representation as possible,” Taji said. “There’s been a great movement to have more books written about little girls that aren’t princesses, including little girls of color. But how many books for little kids are written about Black boys? Not a lot. We’re always searching.”