Since September 12, Lars has been in Europe--first Belgium for a conference, then Oxford for an intense two weeks of employment-logistics-managing, house-hunting, and visa-activating. Fortunately, his dad accompanied him there. And both fortunately and unfortunately, Tor is really missing
his dad.
We hit some sort of threshold around two weeks of DaDa absence. Before that, Tor enjoyed Skyping with Lars but didn't ask about him much. After that, he started waking up in the middle of the night crying, "I want my dad." At every meal, he's now asking, "Can we Skype with DaDa?" While he painted a picture, he mentioned three times that "I need to show it to my dad before he gets back."
And in what is bizarrely the most heart-wrenching manifestation of dad desire, he has dubbed large Superman and Batman action figures the fathers of smaller Superman and Batman action figures. These superdads look for their sons when they're missing ("Where's my boy?"), assist them in fixing things ("Dad, this truck is broken." "Okay, sweetie, I will help you."), and generally play random imagination games with them ("Dad, how do I go underground?" "Follow me, little buddy.")
Maybe this is the beginning of a dad phase, and honestly it'd be pretty timely, given that Baby Brother is set to arrive exactly two weeks from tomorrow. Somehow, it's all going to work out, but I'm definitely enjoying the calm before the storm.
 |
| Wet 'n' wild |
 |
| Intro to origami |
 |
| "My berries are gone. May I please have yours?" |
 |
| Chicken coop designer |
Christina has watched Tor and kept me company many times over the summer, sometimes with Caleb, sometimes solo. She's also volunteered to be on bedtime patrol for two of the six night classes I teach this term. (Holy Names gave me an accelerated course so that I'll finish up October 8.) Last time, they made
oobleck together, to Tor's everlasting delight. We'll see what tomorrow holds.
 |
| Pressing a sound button that doesn't match the sound indicated = HILARITY |
 |
| Dicing up the triceratops his aunt so lovingly crafted |
 |
| First happy meal (followed by obligatory PlayPlace experience) |
 |
| The way we walk |
 |
| This is a real dog |
 |
| Only two weeks to go! |
 |
| Enjoying some new-to-him books from Christina and Caleb's current hosts |
 |
| Thought about keeping the bowl cut . . . |
 |
| . . . for about a second |
Aunt Judi came to visit from Oregon, and she charmed Tor by playing Toot-Toot Guy before sharing a bowl of popcorn with him.
 |
| Showing Judi how it's done |
 |
| "Your turn!" |
 |
| Playing American football with DaDa |
 |
| I'll miss you most of all, maternity nightgown |
 |
| This about sums it up |
 |
| Grating the cheese for risotto |
