Wordless Wednesday

March Madness

I'm waaay behind on my posting, but that's going to be the name of the game until early April. Two weeks ago we hosted a play date for Tor, Sonia, Madeline, and Owen. Here are a few of the better pictures:

Sharing like a champ

"Blast, those tenacious mamas are still on our tail!"

"Tor and Sonia sitting in a tree..."

Post-playdate crash

Before all the snow melted, I took Tor into our slushy backyard to play a little frisbee with Dendro and enjoy some sunshine. He immediately tasted the goods.

"Ah yes, this patch has a nice canine bouquet"

Then he abandoned all pretense at refinement.

Fortunately, you can't see his jaw unhinging from this angle

Just like his old man, minus the hair

At this point, his gloves were totally soaked, so I gathered him up to great protest. I'm guessing this is our last Minnesota snow, though, so I'm glad to have snapped a few shots of Tor enjoying it in our backyard.

Vamanos afuera!

A couple snaps from day care and I'll call it good for this week:

Mango shark

Two things that should never be paired: breast milk and Texans gear

Getting Busy

Sometimes, when we're at the store or the park or church or daycare or out to eat, people who meet Tor say, "He's so smiley!" This usually gets followed by, "And he's very busy, isn't he?" Congratulations to these people. In two adjectives, they have crystallized Tor at fourteen months. A case in point: the pictures below were taken within a ten-minute window. Before I got exhausted and put down the camera.

"NOW I remember why this was in the laundry"

"High five, birdies"

Wreaking havoc with the food chain

A fourteen-month finger is exactly the size of a very hungry caterpillar

"What's in here?"

"What's in here?

"What's in here?"

"I believe in zooming through 100 words before breakfast"

Out, In, Up, Down

Our super-awesome day care providers sent us some more Tor pics, which I now pass on to you. We had a big, wet, slushy snowstorm last week, and then it warmed up dramatically, so the kids have been getting outside playtime. Tor is rocking some tiny rain pants and a hat from Oma and Opa, boots from Erik and Heather, and a jacket from Ben and Jen. Shout-outs and thanks to y'all!

Very serious business, strolling

We thought we'd get more sledding in this winter, but
it's been bone dry. Glad he's enjoying limited exposure, at least!

One-Tor open sleigh

The verdict on el mono de nieve: fascinating but a little freaky

While inside, Tor and his contemporary/best friend Dominic have been loving hide and seek with two-year-old Jaiza. She ensconces herself in the slipcover and they try to crush her.

"Fair warning: while I'm down here, I may steal your socks"

Eighteen-month-old Luisa has taken a shine to Tor and often pulls him onto her lap to cuddle. He looks into it, if you ask me.

Future luge team?

He continues to try new foods and eat a lot. Which is great. Fatten that kid up! Speaking of "up," Tor now uses the word to indicate, "I want to run around." This can confuse people when he utters it while being held (and thus elevated), since "up" then means "down." Just the beginning of a lifetime of daring semantic play, I anticipate.

Buttered toast: as seen in Dr. Seuss

Happy Fourteen-Month Birthday (...tomorrow)

As is the norm these days, we had a busy, stressful week (writing introductions is hard) and a busy, relaxing weekend. New words emerged--"clock" and "bib"--along with a third lower tooth. At least we made time to bathe our offspring.

Get thee to a water park

"Again!"

Duckie enacts his dual functions as a temperature gauge and a veil of modesty

Tor's frequently found zipping around the downstairs on his Pewi "bike" from Oma and Opa: 

Once both feet can touch down fully, we're in for it

Last Sunday was so nice out that we accompanied our friends Lindsay, Dave, and Baby Owen on a long walk after lunch at their house. The frozen lake needed some walking on, but we let the menfolk handle that while Tor ran around on the dead winter grass.

Dave, Lars, Lindsay, and our yuppie strollers containing our smug children

Rocket bib? Check. Rattle? Check. Let's start this revolution

Tor continued to hone his spooning skills and chill in the high chair after meals.

Huge miscalculation in yogurt removal timing

The sun is the only piece he can actually put in. Yes, because it's round.

Finally, the boy is clearly developing a sense of self-privilege. (Spoiler alert: he's human!)

Sharing his swing with the monkey, but desire is kindling in his breast

"Perhaps you'd be happier over here"

"Eat my bib, simian!"

Viddy well, my droogs

Here are the latest uploads from our trusty FlipCam. First up, we've got Tor with the toy alligator from Madeline (mid-January). He's enamored of the word "alligator": he says something like "aaah-day-uh" whenever he encounters one and then points to this little guy. (As to how often Tor might encounter alligators, there's one in the Dr. Seuss ABC book, one on his plate, one in a jungle puzzle, one stuffed toy...very popular with children, alligators seem to be.)

When Tor finishes a meal, he often prefers to chill in his high chair and play with a few toys rather than get up right away (late January). It probably aids digestion, so we're fine with it--especially because it keeps him contained for a bit longer.

The lad has been practicing animal noises like it's his job (early February). He's hit or miss on the performance, but his competencies include the sounds of a monkey, dog, horse, bird, fish ("blublublub"), elephant, and train. New words this month are "guitar," "uh-oh," and "up." He also says "yeah" to indicate an affirmative response.

And he still loves his bath friends (mid February). And the music of Queen.

Happy Valentine's Day

Tor was a pretty adorable Valentine last year. (Remember when we weren't dressing him in anything but sleepers? How far we've come!)

"Did you love me more before I could move, Mama?"

But this year, he can give kisses. They're pretty sweet, even though they're basically open-mouthed glomming onto your face. And he's learning how to blow them. Tor's Valentine at day care, incidentally, was a little man who drives a truck when you press his head. They spent half an hour together, which is approximately a thousand years in baby time.

Those hydraulics have brought Tomy nothing but grief

Tor also consumed a vast amount of fruit, demonstrating a new-found enjoyment of papaya.

He eats one fruit at a time, widdershins

"YOU feed me these! And fan me with a palm!"