Three Months Old

No rolling over yet, but we got our first laugh on Jan. 14. Favorite pastime this month: hearing books read aloud while looking at the pictures. We're finally getting some more smiles, but he's definitely lagging behind Tor in that regard (who, at comparable age, was about the smiliest baby known to man--we've got evidence here). Maybe he just doesn't like us as much as Tor did. Or maybe he's just been focused on packing on the weight--the little bowling ball is 15 pounds if he's an ounce.

A feline voyeur comes standard in all furnished flats

We Made It!

I don't even know what to call this post. It covers one of our family's most momentous transitions, rivaled only (I think) by the kids' births. Yet most of it is my backlog of Christmas and birthday photos, so let's start there.

Col is actually getting a personality. I think this is one of my favorite ages because he's not crying that much, he can go anywhere and sleep or nurse as necessary, he sleeps reasonably well at night (two or three wakings), and he stays where I put him. He's starting to use his hands to bat at things and to wring his fingers together like a cartoon villain, which is exciting to see. And he's just so much mellower than Tor.

Very friendly lion

Absorbing skepticism through his rear

Human heat blanket

Thing is, because Tor is the Ham of the Century, he's more photo bait than Col is right now. So the ratio may be skewed for some time to come.

Aunt Judi overlapped with us for a few days in Genoa before we left and helped watch the kids while we did last-minute stressful things like packing the ridiculous amount of stuff I thought we needed to bring on the plane.

Learning the card names--"The Trickster" is his favorite

"England? I'm way beyond that."

We got to spend two days visiting with our old friends Dan and Julia, who brought their nearly two-year-old daughter Molly with them, to Tor's great delight (and hamminess).

Trying out Molly's new tent while awaiting our brunch table . . . 

. . . and at said table with life-sized Mickey Mouse pancake

Drum circle with dads

Kaleidoscope vision, courtesy of Auntie Em

For Tor's actual birthday, Pakka got out huge bins of DaDa's old toys, including (*gasp*) Spiderman. Spiderman has now crossed the Atlantic and Tor is channeling him daily, particularly when anyone asks his name, but also whenever we walk outside. Passers-by likely think the crazed American kid is pretending to shoot them, but really he's wrapping them in webs.

"I'll just take those off your hands"

Nothing says "party" like a plague mask

First order of business: lick the Ninja Turtle

The day after Tor's birthday, we drove down to Orinda in preparation for our flight out of San Francisco. Occasional signage greeted us at the Andersen house (originally laid out in BurmaShave fashion):

When we hopped out of the car, I asked, "Tor, what does that sign say?"

He reflexively replied, "I don't know," but then actually looked. "T . . . O . . . R. That's ME!" The word is escaped him, but he got the idea when he saw the 3 sign.

That night we partied with the Orinda Andersens, including Mormor, Laura, and Hanne and Meg, both home for the holidays.

Center of attention yet again

"This is the family you bring me into?"

Mormor: Eliciting newborn smiles since the baby boom

On New Year's Eve, we trekked up the hill from the Andersen house to the Karplus house, where 35 Karpluses and affiliates worked to prepare the evening meal. Some of you may recall that every year, the family selects a theme for the meal through a rigorous voting process--this year's was "oceans," with "puns" as the runner-up. We then divide into teams, each assigned a dish, to cook our assignments and create a thematic presentation. This year, Lars and I were on the same team for the first time--side dish--so that we could share child duty. One of the highlights was that a bunch of cousins were around, so Tor got to play with them.

Bringing up the rear

TORRITO!

Aunt Barbara buffering Col from the ado

We left the festivities around 9 p.m., celebrating New Year with New York as I did as a child.

Partying like it's 1899: family bed, old media

The next morning we had a belated Christmas celebration with my parents and siblings, since we were at Ah-Bee and Pakka's this year. Tor insisted on being Spiderman for most of it.

"Make the Spiderman face, Tor!"

Surprise! Waiting for Tor again

"Sure I can't charm you into a pediatric residency, Aunt Caitlin?"

"Now I'm bored"

Pre-airplane antics

Immediately following that celebration, we headed for SFO and our overnight flight. Oma and Opa drove along with us and we grabbed some lunch before heading into security.

Tell me you wouldn't want this family emigrating to your country

Honestly, I expected the airplane ride to be worse than it was. Lars and I both got some sleep after Tor passed out around 9 p.m. British Airways let us reserve a bassinet for Col, although they drew the line when we tried to make Tor a bulkhead-floor bed (why, BA?).

Great for diaper changes as well as sleep! (Our rowmates loved us)

Good morning!

Heathrow was a nightmare, though, since we had four huge suitcases plus carry-ons, two strollers, and two car seats--and there wasn't a luggage cart to be found. Lars heroically pulled all four large bags while balancing Tor's car seat on his head, making us far more of a spectacle than we really cared to be when we met our car service (which Ah-Bee and Pakka sprung for--thank you!).

The Incredibles trumps Oxfordshire views

Some parking-related hijinks later, we got to our short let (i.e., short-term furnished rental apartment). The kids and I crashed for two solid hours while Lars got groceries and ran by campus (tip o' the hat to SuperDad!).

Lagging

So per the title I chose, I'll stop this post at the point where we've arrived and save a discussion of what it's actually like to be here for the next one. Here are a few photos of the kids in Oxford, though:

Milk coma (or, in which this shirt
is apropos of more than Thanksgiving)

First English purchase for Tor: finger gloves

Unimpressed by the architecture

Dear Tor

Two peas in a pod

As I did last year on your birthday, I tried to crystallize some aspects of YOU as you are at three years old. It’s a poor attempt, because you’re already a complicated guy, but hopefully one day you can read it with interest.

·         You’re an excellent big brother—not jealous when Col needs attention, eager to try to entertain him both when he’s happy and when he’s angry, quick to present him with your toys to “play” with, and declaring at least once a day how much you love your “bruzzer.” It melts my heart. I know it won’t last, so I’m trying to capture it in my memory and in pictures.

·         Your sense of time is developing, but it’s still got a long way to go. Everything before today is “yesterday.” Everything in the future is “tomorrow.” Various durations—hours, minutes, months—escape your understanding. The main surprise during the last few months has been you linking counting to elapsed time and sequentiality. For instance, you’ll say, “I’m going to count to seven. When I get to four, it’s time for dinner. When I get to five, it’s time for PJs. When I get to six, we can brush teeth, and at seven, it’s time for bed.” (Why seven? Why do events begin at four? Who can fathom the toddler mind?)

·         You. Remember. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. Example: the other day we saw deer outside in the snow stripping the bark off trees and talked about what animals eat in cold weather. Two days later, you were playing with your PlaySkool Nativity scene and had the angel climbing a palm tree. When I asked what the angel was doing, you said, “She’s eating the bark.”

·         You like reading Bible stories for kids. The David and Goliath episode is a favorite right now (although I have mixed feelings about its lessons). And especially this month, you’ve been sensitive to Jesus’s birthday coming right before your own. I’m praying we can find a Sunday school in Oxford as excellent as the one at our church in Newark.

·         You walk on your tiptoes in stocking feet. Like on the knuckles with your toes curled under. It’s weird.

·         Your imagination games continue to improve by leaps and bounds, facilitated by your expanding vocabulary and increasingly complex syntax. On the way home from drop-in daycare near Ah-Bee and Pakka’s house this week, I asked whether you played with anyone and you told me, “Yes. I played with a boy named Owen. He was littler than me. We made presents for Ah-Bee and Pakka and opened them, and inside Ah-Bee’s present there was a pogo stick. And when we get back to Ah-Bee and Pakka’s house, she can use the pogo stick to jump in the snow. But that might make a big hole in the snow, so you have to be careful not to slip, okay?”

·         You take a nap in the afternoon and go to bed at eight, and while you’re awake you have insane amounts of energy. Sometimes you channel this energy positively. See this video for an example from April:

·         When we chastise you or we say you can’t do something (like send Col flying in his swing), you pout cartoonishly—head down, shoulders slumped, lip out, shuffling feet, obstinate “hmph” noises. It’s hard not to laugh, because I have no idea where you learned it, but you’ve got it down pat.

·         You interact eagerly with kids from one to five years old wherever you find them: church, museums, libraries, and of course childcare centers. Sometimes they’re a little put off by your penchant for pretending you’re (variously) Spiderman, Batman, Mr. Incredible, and Luke Skywalker, but the cooler ones go along with it. (Also, when adults ask you your name, you prefer to give one of these pseudonyms.) You’re getting better about grabbing toys away from other kids when you want to play with them, but it definitely still happens.

·         You sometimes love doing crafty stuff like painting, making sticker pictures, folding “origami,” and cutting paper. At other times you don’t have the attention span. You like coloring in rather than just coloring.

·         Most of the time you have a great attitude and it’s easy to make you laugh. (One surefire way to get you in stitches is to feign ignorance of the next item in a sequence: “One, two, three, seven” is an absolutely hilarious utterance.)

·         But you’re still a toddler in many ways, with tantrums and illogical desires and fears. I sometimes catch myself being too hard on you because although you speak clearly and seem to reason, you are, after all, only just three years old.

The bottom line is that your behavior is frustrating at least once a day, but I absolutely adore you and love spending time with you. I can’t wait to see what the year ahead holds for you.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve was a full day: visits from aunties Mandy and Em (with Nolan accompanying this time), Chinese food for dinner, a goodbye to Chippy until next year, and the Christmas story before bed.

"Erm, I will have to mention to Santa that you did not share your muffin with me"

 Christmas morning began with Tor in our bed and the sound of jingle bells in the hall. By the time Tor got out to "go see Santa," Ah-Bee was peering out the window and waving goodbye to his sleigh.

Then we dove into the stockings.

Baby's First Christmas--and stocking to prove it happened

The Hansen guys in order of size

Little Drummer Boy

Tor helped Pakka deliver presents to everyone from the tree. This is the first year that Tor can read his name, so he got very excited every time he read "T," "O," and "R" together. The catch was that all the tags started with "T" and "O," but usually those letters preceded someone else's name. He was pretty gung-ho about helping other people open presents too, though, so that was all right.

Christmas cheer

Family tableau

Bows for all!

Pouring the eggnog, which Tor immediately chugged

Trying out his new headphones while watching Star Wars with Star Wars action figures

Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

...and I haven't posted since before Thanksgiving! Turns out we've amassed a lot of photos in the interim.

The one-week countdown to our Newark departure began with a visit from Josh the Godfather and his far saner fiancee April. No sooner had they arrived than Josh bestowed this little gem on Tor (but mercifully removed the "Batteries Included!"):

Dendro earning his epithet "the Noseless"

Sure to be the most popular kid in the UK

Though they stayed less than 48 hours, it was great to connect. And now we know that we can carry on our chainsaws instead of checking them.

Baby Whisperer

We expect playmates soon, guys

Lars's last week at work flew by and before we knew it the movers had come, packed, and shipped. Then it was off to Orinda for Thanksgiving dinner with my family, assorted Karpluses, and Mormor.

Gave the turkey a run for its money

Cuddles with Great-Uncle Richard...

...and Mormor

After dinner, we headed to a vacation rental in Discovery Bay with just Opa, Oma, Caleb, Christina, Caitlin, and Tim. It was excellent to sit back and come to terms with the fact that all our possessions were on a boat and we didn't need to have anything more to do with them until mid-January. The house was huge yet cozy and also located immediately above the inlet to the bay, with its own dock and kayaks. We played games, caught up, cooked together, decorated a gingerbread village, and enjoyed our last California sunshine for who knows how long.

"Beats the hell out of that infant life preserver"

Tor and his kayak chaperone

"NO SUN WILL TOUCH THIS BABY"

Stalking that elusive imp, the ideal family photo

Impending sugar rush: now in Technicolor!

Toddler-go-round

The most and least hirsute family members

Played "Scrabble" (i.e., identified letters and built "words" with them) with Aunt Caitlin for hours

About to punch through his sleeper feet

 Finally, on December 1, we drove up to Ah-Bee and Pakka's NEW HOME in Genoa, NV, and here we remain until the 30th. We'd never seen the interior before and It. Is. Awesome. Tor sleeps on a chaise lounge in the office and Lars, Col, and I share the guest bedroom. We've been walking around town, getting some snow play in, attending local events (in a town of 225, everyone shows up to everything), preparing for Christmas by making cards and ornaments, and enjoying the town church, which has the tiniest Sunday school ever and Tor loves all the attention he gets there.

Oh, and Lars has been working his tail off. Because, you know, we're about to move to England so he can plunge into a new job. At least he got a shout-out in the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

Loves his grandmas in equal measure

And then he pooped in the bubble

Photogenic again post-diaper change

A stroll with the boys before the snow hit

A revelation: pockets keep your hands warm!

But pockets just don't cut it for snow play.

"Ah-Bee! Look at the cake I made ALL BY MYSELF!"

Rocking his hottest holiday look, "The Rudolph"

"Spiderman" photo bomb

Best. Haircut. Ever.

Debuting the new 'do at Ah-Bee's favorite Chinese place

"I'm going to lie with my little bruzzer because I LOVE him.
Col is the BEST."

You don't stomp bubble wrap after your bath?

Hasn't licked a frozen pole yet

Gnome home outside Ah-Bee and Pakka's

Watching The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition
with the eponymous elf, whom Tor dubbed "Chippy"

Col is not yet much involved in cunning nightly elf placement...

...but Pakka has taken to it with a vengeance.
(And yes, that's Santa in the pink convertible)

The cast of the next Christmas misfit special

Breakfast with Santa (as syrup kicks in)

Col's first photo with Santa...fast asleep

Tor refused to mount the stage to see Santa, so Santa came to him

Toting the Christmas tree from the local lot

Heading home to set it up

Putting together a few Christmas cards

Train table at the Carson City Children's Museum

More Christmas crafts, this time with the smock on

Auntie Em and Auntie Mandy came to visit, to everyone's delight

Another day in paradise

Cuddly chunk

Backgammon shark

Bubble wrap again

Placing the first ornament

The piece de resistance

Finally starting to get some good smiles here and there

Happy last Sunday of Advent tomorrow! We'll aim to post a Christmas photo here in just a few days.