Happy Easter! (sans Easter photos)

Bit of a hodgepodge again this month, I'm afraid. Who thought that keeping current on a blog would be tougher when Tor was two than zero? Not I, but strange to say, he's more constantly demanding now than he was then.

Fortunately, the demand is usually for me to play with him, which I enjoy; the hard part is convincing him to play by himself while I get any kind of meaningful task accomplished. So to all of you whom I owe emails: I'm sorry.

Lars pokes fun at me for not being able to sustain attention to anything else while Tor's around. Last night we took him to the climbing gym and tethered him to our harnesses while we belayed each other, and I got a way better belay than Lars did. (Tor was gung ho about it at first, gamely tolerating the chest harness, but lost interest after three "climbs.") I do have a tough time focusing while he's yelling, "Mama! Mama! Mama!" So we're going to have to train him incrementally to play solo at times. And to be patient when others are speaking or working. Easier said than done, I fear, for someone who cried every time he cried it out during sleep training.

The reason I like playing with Tor is that he is turning into a card. He not only laughs at the slightest provocation, he makes (beginner's) jokes. For example, last night, he showed DaDa his "prune fingers" after bath and good ol' DaDa, misunderstanding, said, "Poop fingers?" Tor about lost it. Then he came back with, "I put Dendro poop on my fingers and put it in bed! I put Dendro poop on DaDa's head!" (Actually, this may go to show that our whole family has a two-year-old's sense of humor. Life could be worse.)

Two other behavioral updates before I get to the photos:

1) Right now, Tor likes to say what things are NOT before he identifies them: "It's not a square. It's not a triangle. It's not a circle. It's a RECTANGLE!" "It's not an A. It's not a B. It's not a C. It's an F!" Same with animals, colors, numbers, articles of clothing . . . you get the picture.

2) The kid's also obsessed with pointing out similarities between things. I ask him what color a bird in a book is; he says, "It's blue! Like my agua!" I ask him what shape a cookie cutter is; he says, "It's a circle! Like that plate!"

These two probably go hand in hand as marking some kind of "categories" phase. It's neat to see him start grouping items by their properties, but I also (of course) worry about his identity formation in that respect--what's the loss if he also starts to view himself as "boy" or "young" or "white" or "working class" or whatever?

On a lighter note, the photos:

The comeuppance to a good whack on the slide

"STELLA!"

Eyes like augers

Saying goodbye to Great-Aunt Diana . . . and carrying on
her passion for all things chocolate

Now hell on wheels with a camera--thanks, Nick

We took a Saturday morning trip to the Stanford campus with Aunt Christina to see where DaDa worked, get Mama a library book, and mingle with the tourist groups.

"Impressive, but it's no Ivy League"

Freaky Friday, Hansen edition

Not pictured: Tor's incessant begging to jump in a fountain 140 feet below

"We're here to look at these rocks, right?"

Two toys that never mix well: Barbie ATV and ninja sword

We took a drive north to see Mormor, who took us to a park and cafe by the library.

"Focus. Focus. Do not fall through the hole again."

Dampness right of fountain attributable to
the kid in the sodden sweatshirt

Mormor found this way funnier than I feared she might

Big boy bed voyeurism

"Where my pockets, DaDa?"

For his birthday, Oma and Opa got Tor a gift certificate for a backyard play structure. We conscripted them to help assemble it last weekend.

The kind of guy who doesn't read instructions

Oma picked up all the Dendro bombs before green-flagging this

Three generations, two species

"May I please have snack in my fort?"

This aspect's going to take a little more time

Crafting his own very hungry caterpillar
at a toddler group we attend

Bet you haven't seen cray-pas in a while, eh?

Happy Easter to all! I'll do my level best to post some Easter photos next week. We've got a lot to sort through!

The Month in Review

What with daily life plus a trip to England to check out neighborhoods and meet with a million faculty members, I haven't posted in nearly a month. Since I hate to be that guy, I'll try to fill you in quickly. Lars informally accepted the job (!!!) and is negotiating contract details. We'll hope to move in January. In some ways it seems very soon (house hunting! selling cars! deciding what goes and what gets sold!), and in some ways incredibly distant, since all the quotidian stuff like playing, menu planning, shopping, cleaning, and of course work still has to happen NOW. We're trying to strike a reasonable balance, but I feel a little schizoid at times.

Anyway, no pictures of Oxford, but lots of life around Newark and one of Tor's visit to Tahoe while we were away. It was my first time away from him overnight--in fact, for six nights--and he did solidly. I probably cried more than he did.

"Heeeeere's Torsty!"

A phrase sure to backfire: "You may have those M&Ms IF you can open them"

We don't play the actual game, but dreidels are still a huge hit here. Thanks, Joanna & gang!

Working on that dexterity

Aunt Jodi and Uncle Stan gave Tor a gift certificate for his birthday, so we let him pick out his own presents. What did he choose? A toy laptop so he can "do MY work." And this tea set.

England, we're ready

He's still playing a lot of imagination games, but he also can sit for about twenty minutes and learn about letters or numbers. Tonight he recited the whole alphabet in a row. Twice. We gave him a standing ovation. It's awesome to see him grasping fundamental ideas. When we use words with opposites, we're trying to remember to ask him what the opposite of "front" or "up" or "empty" is.

Sporting short hipster bangs--thanks, Fantastic Cuts

Jaw harpin'

We failed to coax him out for a family photo

"Golly, Oma and Opa--a new book AND bubble wrap??"

Finally, I'm proud to announce that Tor has pooped on the toilet exactly once! I take my pride where I can get it these days. The happy occasion took place on January 20, in case you'd also like to mark your calendars.
No #2 repeats yet, but while visiting Ah-Bee and Pakka during Mama and DaDa's Oxford trip, he got even better about #1. I've even heard him ask to "go peepee on the potty"--and then do it. I give all the credit to Ah-Bee's patience and her Mickey Mouse potty books.

Upon concluding this post, I realize just how much
he wears that shirt

Tor Does Tahoe

Demolishing a French omelette before even saying "Guten Appetit!"

Only 3.5 weeks after these events occurred, I'm finally posting the last of my holiday installments. I have many excellent excuses, but you're here for the goods. Highlights of our time in Tahoe included late Christmas/timely birthday present opening (which filled the whole week), snow play for Tor, two ski dates for Lars and me while Ah-Bee graciously watched Tor, Ah-Bee/Mama/Tor outings ranging from shopping sprees to the Tahoe Tot Spot, cozy evenings chatting and watching movies after Tor went to bed, and, as always, great food.

Realizing his lifelong dream of owning a pizzeria

He may have to grow into CubeBot

Fledgling Jacques Pepin

"Snow. Snow! Snow! Snow! SNOOOOOOW"

We hustled him out the door before he could change his mind

"No need to carry an ice scraper, Mother; I'm on the job."

We captured Tor's sledding initiation on film just before Pakka tweaked his back dragging around thirty pounds on a two-foot snow shovel. Totally worth it, right, Pakka?

Cocoa time rolled around 25 minutes after Tor initially left the house.

We all drank out of the same mugs, but the rest of ours contained egg nog and Grand Marnier

Nope, he never changed out of his PJs that day

We forged ahead with the snowman the next day. And by "we" I mean Pakka and DaDa--Tor helped until he figured out the snow resisted packing, and then he focused on sledding. He was willing to decorate and pose for a photo with the finished product, though, and for the next few days he became highly agitated whenever its cork teeth fell out.

"So, why do you guys have all these corks?"

Faceless yet . . .

. . . but once decorated, it resembled Gaia

When Tor's attention began to slip from sledding and the snowwoman, we broke out the skis. Oh yes: the skis. Ah-Bee found them at a secondhand store for $4, and the bang-to-buck ratio was unbeatable.

Thundercats GOOOO!!

On to poles already: obviously a prodigy

The Grand Marnier lurks temptingly

Working the magic

Clip imp

One more trip where his head didn't get stuck = success!

Chilling at Sam's

The Tahoe Tot Spot, as it turned out, was willing to part with its floor model of a cunning wooden play kitchen, so we spirited that back home along with all the new presents. It was a full car, but now our house is a way better place to play.

Shortly before I removed him for madly bailing balls over the side

"Where have you been all my life?" (Note kitchen in background.)

This post would be incomplete without a farewell salute to a longtime part of the family.

Lars's Beard: A Tribute

The night before we departed for home, Lars bowed to the pressure of his upcoming Oxford interview and hacked his overgrowth down to a distinguished goatee. As these things should be, it was a family affair. Lars had no shaving equipment to his name, so his dad supplied the necessities while the women heckled and Tor tried to do whatever DaDa was doing at any moment.

Obviously a solemn occasion

Then we got punchy

Toy razors: why so hard to find?

Presumably, we can thank this episode for earning Lars the job offer! Stay tuned for an agonizing decision-making process along with more snippets of our daily Newark lives.

Birthday Recap

All right--installment two, albeit following a healthy lag time: Tor's second birthday!!

Lest anyone we encountered on the 29th forgot the occasion, or had the misfortune not to be acquainted with Tor, he reminded them with a "Birthday Boy" shirt (courtesy of Melissa and Ulises). We began the day with an omelette brunch with Oma, Opa, Tim, Caitlin, Mormor, and Erik and Heather's family. After stopping by the Karplus house for a visit with Grandma, Peter, and David and Catie's family, Lars and I drove a sleepy Tor up to Tahoe for a post-nap dinner, cake, and presents with Ah-Bee and Pakka. Whew!

First "Happy Birthday" rendition of the day

Ladies who brunch . . . and Tim

Buried in his cupcake before anyone else started the main course

Mugging for cousins Hanne and Meg

Without one of these puppies, the party never happened

Tor hasn't been as into playing our little keyboard lately, although he's still wont to make me jump by dropping a La Vida Loca bomb while I'm in the bathroom. Real pianos are where it's at. He warmed up on the Andersens' and was ready to unleash his inner Stevie Wonder by the time we got to Tahoe. (Warning: the piano movie is waaay too long.)

Dodging Christmas keyboard detritus

Before dinner, Tor got to unwrap a new bib and plate from Ah-Bee and Pakka. We captured the plate emerging:

And a big-boy water bottle rounded out the set

The piece de resistance of the Hansen party was this:

His little brain probably generated some surreal dreams that night

Nay, not one Elmo cupcake, but an Elmo cupcake pyramid supported by an Elmo scaffold! (Scaffold available for parties. You know my digits.)

Insulin spike ramping up to outdo its earlier record

And then we tried to make him use his fine motor skills

As we enjoyed a largely relaxing day, the main thing we learned was that while Tor eats up attention from his family, he has little interest in opening many presents after the first one. And sometimes not even the first one. By the time we got to gift-opening time in Tahoe, tears of protest were shed. (Yes, yes, poor Tor.) So we opened presents for the next six days. (I've never thought of Hanukkah as more kid friendly than Christmas, but one could make the argument.) To Tor's credit, he's getting pretty good at remembering to say "Thank you," so there's that.

Thanks to everyone who helped make Tor's  day special, and also to those who sent fond thoughts from afar!

Next post: Sledding! Skiing! Snowman! And a genuine DaDa beard-trimming!