Fourteen Months!

It's lucky that we're still counting Col's age in months, because without those reminders, I could go blithely on about life without ever remembering to post. Apologies to the boys' die-hard fans!

The fourteener, captured this very morning
as he selected wine for the table

Fireplace bumpers brought to you direct from our Newark house

Col now demands to do several kinds of self-care autonomously, most notably brushing his hair and teeth and feeding himself. He also likes to clean his tummy with a wipe during a diaper change.

The feeding is the most high stakes of these. It's highly gratifying to watch him learn to do it himself. For instance, yesterday I gave him a mini yogurt and a spoon, and I watched him grasp the spoon right above its bowl and poise it over the yogurt, ready for the plunge. But then he paused, looked into the yogurt, put the spoon down, moved his hand a little higher on the spoon handle, about the height of the yogurt container, and proceeded to take a bite without getting his hand all yogurty. You could practically see the gears turning.

Of course, there's always the hand if he needs backup

A less successful yogurt experience

Baby's First Hairbrush should come two-sided

It's been a full, full month. The highlight was a visit from our amazing newlywed friends Josh and April, who trekked all the way from Texas to spend our first UK Thanksgiving with us. Due to a week of Col being off sick, I had to work that day, and I came home to a feast the likes of which has never been seen--well, at least in England. The piece de resistance? A succulent smoked turkey (since our trusty Weber is twice the size of our oven, it was the only way to go). We ate leftovers for a week with gusto.

Off the plane and into Col's heart

On the quotidian front, our daily routine has been somewhat marred by Tor's propensity to fall asleep on the way home, and then to be grumpy for the rest of the evening once he's awoken. Col tends to fall asleep too, but he's usually willing to rally when offered food.

Just another 6 p.m. back at the homestead

So our weeknights tend to wind up with Tor draped over the couch like this and demanding the only dinner he generally eats:

"I need cheese sticks, peanuts, and bread with butter and no crusts"

whereas Col usually ends up more like this:

"I STOLE A CHEESE STICK!!"

Sometimes we can bring Tor back around with an activity that interests him, like a game, a movie, or, recently, Christmas stuff.

This quickly devolved into pip-counting

This year's Advent calendar

Busting out the tree: who is most excited?

Picking up a few tricks from The American Boy's Handy Book

Mornings are my favorite, because Tor is so much happier. Although he does sometimes border on the manic. 

It's sometimes a toss-up which kid is the messiest eater

"You know, Spiderman is my favorite superhero
because he has red on him, and red is my favorite color.
And Ironman is also my favorite superhero because he's red."

I also enjoy chatting with Tor while I bike the kids to day care. Tor throws out a daily gem or two.

Scene: Biking behind a garbage truck
Tor: Ewww. It smells like the farmers' market.

Scene: Tor repeatedly clearing his throat
Me: Need some water?
Tor: I just have a frog in my throat.
Me: Water can help wash it out.
Tor: No, I'm going to use some dandelions, rubber bands, and a starfish to catch the frog. I'll mix them all up with some salt and that will make a net. Then I will put some oil on the starfish to make it into a hard pink bowl for the frog to sit in.

What do you even say to that?