Potpourri

I've been waiting for the infamous three-month growth spurt to begin, but while Tor seems to be waking up more frequently during the night this week than he has over the past several, he's still only eating every two hours during the day. My main concern at this point is that he's getting enough sleep. It's hard to say.

Smiling in his sleep

Getting swaddled for bedtime

Wrapped up and ready for a top-off

Every week, the kid's personality develops a little more. I don't get much work done while we're hanging out, but he sure is fun.

Our little filet-o-fish

Stronger every day!

Wary Tor

Getting ready to venture into the tail end of snowsuit weather

Bin ich nicht niedlich, Tante Christina?

Hopefully he loves baths this much forever.

The main struggle with the sitter so far has been getting Tor to take the bottle. Lars has kindly volunteered to practice with him so he gets used to it--he gets REALLY angry when I pull that crap with him.

Not impressed

Memorizing the plays

I got a disproportionate thrill last week when Tor began intentionally fondling the keys we jangled in front of him. He's been following objects with his gaze while engaging in "midline mutual fingering":

but hasn't understood that these appendages can make things happen. It's exciting to watch him form a picture of himself as a causal agent. (Warning: If you aren't directly related to Tor, the picture will probably do it for you; the video might be overkill.) 

"I'll have the car back by 11!"

Happy Three-Month Birthday!

The tiny Torrito turns twelve today. (See what I did there?) Our baby book comments that at this time, we may wish to stop referring to his age in weeks and use months instead. Milestone!

All pictures on this post are courtesy of a guest photographer: my little sister Christina, who's visiting her favorite nephew from San Francisco. 

With the house elf

Wrangling the beast

At three months old, Tor smiles for nothing like he smiles for bein' nekkid. He is wearing pants in exactly none of the following photos:

Dressed up for Daddy's birthday

He plays, sleeps, and eats (not pictured) on the couch:

 He hangs tough in the Minnesota winter (almost over, little friend!):

 And he's starting to smile when we bathe him!

Ready for the plunge

Getting the royal treatment

"We can do it!"

Nighty-night, old sausage!

Working Stiffs

So today we met with a couple who are going to watch Tor for two days a week, four hours at a time while I do some dissertating. We decided that while I can grade while taking care of him, I can't sustain the long periods of critical thought (and physical stability) necessary for writing to happen. At present, work gets done in two ways: on the couch with Tor in my lap or in his carseat, or standing with Tor in the Moby sling.

We met these people through an attachment parenting listserv I subscribe to. They have a one-year-old daughter, so it's fortunate that Tor has been working on his skills with the older ladies lately. Below, he woos the lovely Sonia (17 weeks):

                            
                                "Get over here, young man!"

Now that he's almost three months old (11 weeks today!), we've started trying to dress him more like a tiny human and less like a newborn. (Or at least I have. If it were up to Lars, he'd wear nothing but sleepers, since they're so easy to unsnap for diaper changes.) This grey sweatshirt is a new favorite:

Raising the roof! (with killer dog lurking)

And here he is dressed in his Yetis'-littlest-fan outfit at Lars's hockey game:

"It's a no-check league, you thug!"

Tor's begun vocalizing more often and getting more interested in toys, although as I mentioned in my previous post, he's not reaching for them yet. It's only a matter of time, though--all our literature says "right around three months," and he's only a week away! *gasp* The point is, he likes the mobile over his bed a lot more than he used to. I can plop him in there and it's usually good for at least five minutes (enough time for my basic getting-ready-to-face-the-world routine). Disregard my far less adorable vocalizations in the first video.

Finally, the kid is now a sometime thumb sucker. Not the crispest picture ever, but we captured the moment:

Today Tor turns ten weeks old. He seems to be dealing fine with my return to work two days a week--it helps, I'm sure, that his old man watches him. The Hansen boys in blue:

We feel fortunate to be able to postpone sending him to daycare until he's slightly older, either this summer or fall. At this point, we take him everywhere we go: bars, stores, Lars's lab, various gatherings. Below: Tor welcomes incoming geology students at the annual prospectives party. For our convenience, the sling can hold a baby and a beer.

We just used part of a remaining Babys R Us gift certificate (thanks, Kohlstedt lab!) to buy Tor Vitamin D drops and a rattle. Guess which one he enjoys more. He doesn't reach out for the rattle yet, but he'll look at it for a while and smile sometimes.

The free associations I make with photos of Tor doubtless say more about me than about the unwitting victim of my comparisons. Just think of it as an opportunity to get better acquainted with my arcane thought processes.

No plain-bellied Sneetches here

I sometimes fall back asleep after the morning feeding. Usually Lars doesn't catch me.

Hopefully double chins are not hereditary. Shudder.

Out and About

It's been a weird week of weather here--negative temps one day, sunny and 35 the next. In such a mercurial climate, a baby has to be prepared. Below, Tor represents his Scandinavian heritage with mittens by Aunt Christina (left) and looks gnomic in a hat by Grandma Char (right). Thanks, ladies!

Recently baby boy has been scratching his face up with his mad flailings, so we've added hand socks to his ensemble. Here he is welcoming Lars home from giving a lecture at a local college on 2/24 (left) and chilling with me on 2/27 (right):

Also on 2/28, he got to try out the new jogging stroller that Oma and Opa sent him. Lars took him on a two-mile jog in it on 3/1, and it's going to work out great. Thank you so much, guys!

(note Tor detritus on Lars's sweater)