With one thing and another--Oma visit! Chicken pox! Ahbee and Pakka visit! Vacation!--the blog completely got away from me. I can't believe I haven't posted since Easter (or that it's nearly June). How?
Col's hero worship of Tor is increasingly pronounced, but so is his will to have his way. These make an explosive combination when Col decides he MUST have the toy/food/book that Tor has: he is not easily dissuaded. And Tor still has a tendency to burst into tears whenever, as he says, "Col's snatching it off me!" Even if they have the exact same things (see drums below), those things get passed back and forth as Col repeatedly decides the grass is greener.
Why we get to church early
Some of their play, in the interest of evenhandedness, is collaborative.
Tough to tell from here, but this was a full-on pony death grip
My mom came to visit for a week while Lars was in Vienna for a conference. Obviously it was great to see her and to have a second adult around, but it became a serious godsend when Col came down with chicken pox. On my birthday.
Bust out yer plague masks--it'll be a long week
So Oma had Angry Itchy Baby Time instead of a mother-daughter birthday tea as we'd planned. She was immensely gracious about it. And we did get our tea when Lars got home and took the kids for the afternoon (including a mercifully more scabrous Col).
Braving cloudy skies to hike with Oma
Unbeknownst to us, the toys in Tor's bucket were already plotting their escape
You can take the toddler out of the dirt, but . . .
Didn't last long. We'll build up to it.
A far nicer day at the botanical gardens--busting out the double stroller
My "coming of age as a Hobbit" birthday celebration, rudely punctuated
Loving the light evenings!
Longer days, warmer temps = picnics in the park
Fully worth bringing from California
(and the play structure too)
Practicing ninja moves
In posts to come: more photos from Oma's visit, Ahbee and Pakka's visit, and the Lake District!
A couple of Torisms to round out the post:
At the playground
Tor: Let's play The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. You can be the snow witch. I'll be Aslan.
Me: Okay. Who should Col be?
Tor: Col can be the wardrobe.
After school
Me: I saw that the sound of the week is /i/ this week. Like "biiiit." Or "piiiig."
Tor: Or "vegiiiitarian."
