What with daily life plus a trip to England to check out neighborhoods and meet with a million faculty members, I haven't posted in nearly a month. Since I hate to be that guy, I'll try to fill you in quickly. Lars informally accepted the job (!!!) and is negotiating contract details. We'll hope to move in January. In some ways it seems very soon (house hunting! selling cars! deciding what goes and what gets sold!), and in some ways incredibly distant, since all the quotidian stuff like playing, menu planning, shopping, cleaning, and of course work still has to happen NOW. We're trying to strike a reasonable balance, but I feel a little schizoid at times.
Anyway, no pictures of Oxford, but lots of life around Newark and one of Tor's visit to Tahoe while we were away. It was my first time away from him overnight--in fact, for six nights--and he did solidly. I probably cried more than he did.
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| "Heeeeere's Torsty!" |
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| A phrase sure to backfire: "You may have those M&Ms IF you can open them" |
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| We don't play the actual game, but dreidels are still a huge hit here. Thanks, Joanna & gang! |
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| Working on that dexterity |
Aunt Jodi and Uncle Stan gave Tor a gift certificate for his birthday, so we let him pick out his own presents. What did he choose? A toy laptop so he can "do MY work." And this tea set.
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| England, we're ready |
He's still playing a lot of imagination games, but he also can sit for about twenty minutes and learn about letters or numbers. Tonight he recited the whole alphabet in a row. Twice. We gave him a standing ovation. It's awesome to see him grasping fundamental ideas. When we use words with opposites, we're trying to remember to ask him what the opposite of "front" or "up" or "empty" is.
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| Sporting short hipster bangs--thanks, Fantastic Cuts |
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| Jaw harpin' |
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| We failed to coax him out for a family photo |
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| "Golly, Oma and Opa--a new book AND bubble wrap??" |
Finally, I'm proud to announce that Tor has pooped on the toilet exactly once! I take my pride where I can get it these days. The happy occasion took place on January 20, in case you'd also like to mark your calendars.
No #2 repeats yet, but while visiting Ah-Bee and Pakka during Mama and DaDa's Oxford trip, he got even better about #1. I've even heard him ask to "go peepee on the potty"--and then do it. I give all the credit to Ah-Bee's patience and her Mickey Mouse potty books.
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Upon concluding this post, I realize just how much
he wears that shirt |
