Birthday Recap

All right--installment two, albeit following a healthy lag time: Tor's second birthday!!

Lest anyone we encountered on the 29th forgot the occasion, or had the misfortune not to be acquainted with Tor, he reminded them with a "Birthday Boy" shirt (courtesy of Melissa and Ulises). We began the day with an omelette brunch with Oma, Opa, Tim, Caitlin, Mormor, and Erik and Heather's family. After stopping by the Karplus house for a visit with Grandma, Peter, and David and Catie's family, Lars and I drove a sleepy Tor up to Tahoe for a post-nap dinner, cake, and presents with Ah-Bee and Pakka. Whew!

First "Happy Birthday" rendition of the day

Ladies who brunch . . . and Tim

Buried in his cupcake before anyone else started the main course

Mugging for cousins Hanne and Meg

Without one of these puppies, the party never happened

Tor hasn't been as into playing our little keyboard lately, although he's still wont to make me jump by dropping a La Vida Loca bomb while I'm in the bathroom. Real pianos are where it's at. He warmed up on the Andersens' and was ready to unleash his inner Stevie Wonder by the time we got to Tahoe. (Warning: the piano movie is waaay too long.)

Dodging Christmas keyboard detritus

Before dinner, Tor got to unwrap a new bib and plate from Ah-Bee and Pakka. We captured the plate emerging:

And a big-boy water bottle rounded out the set

The piece de resistance of the Hansen party was this:

His little brain probably generated some surreal dreams that night

Nay, not one Elmo cupcake, but an Elmo cupcake pyramid supported by an Elmo scaffold! (Scaffold available for parties. You know my digits.)

Insulin spike ramping up to outdo its earlier record

And then we tried to make him use his fine motor skills

As we enjoyed a largely relaxing day, the main thing we learned was that while Tor eats up attention from his family, he has little interest in opening many presents after the first one. And sometimes not even the first one. By the time we got to gift-opening time in Tahoe, tears of protest were shed. (Yes, yes, poor Tor.) So we opened presents for the next six days. (I've never thought of Hanukkah as more kid friendly than Christmas, but one could make the argument.) To Tor's credit, he's getting pretty good at remembering to say "Thank you," so there's that.

Thanks to everyone who helped make Tor's  day special, and also to those who sent fond thoughts from afar!

Next post: Sledding! Skiing! Snowman! And a genuine DaDa beard-trimming!