SFO > MSP

At the end of April, our dear friend Annia came out for a weekend. We tried to pack in all the activities we could while allowing for nap time (which really breaks up the day).

Homemade bagels in the park

Larger than life

"But where are the rocks, DaDa?"

Prepping for sweet English rave parties

Between visits here and there, we've continued our regular Newark diet of library and park visits. Here, Tor checks in with some denizens of the children's section.

"Watchoo readin', ninos?"

Bad parenting 101: photographing when you should be spotting

"MAMAWE ARE MUPPETS"

The Oxford libraries probably have costumes too, right?

Pre-Minnesota Mother's Day pop-in by Oma

Handmade with a little help from Sonia

No clue where he picked it up, but he's started to exclaim, "Oh, MAN!" when either stymied or excited. At first a sometime quirk, it got reinforced when he dropped his cheese off a bar stool, leaned over to look at it and said, "Oh, MAN!"  and got an uproarious laugh from all assembled. Now it's popping up at least five times a day.

"Green playdoh! Oh, MAN!"

We stayed much of our recent two-and-a-half-week trip to Minnesota with our friends the Burnetts, including the irrepressible Madeline. She and Tor fed off each other's crazy, but in an overall great way that makes me hope they'll keep hitting it off every time they visit. Tor was also wild about MJ's sister Greta, who's just about ten months old and the smiliest chunk of baby you'll ever meet.

Whatever MJ gets, Tor wants . . . up to and including pigtails

I assure you this activity is much scarier to look at in person

The drama continues at the Children's Museum, enveloping Owen

About to get nailed in the belly with a perfect underhand spiral

Some of our buddies here got together and spent three days helping Dave and Lindsay redo the roof on their garage. Tiffany likened it to an Amish barn-raising, in which the men do the hard work while the women watch the kids and cook. We've come a long way, baby.

Lesson #1: Don't walk under the ladder

Sawdust, we discovered, is a lot like velcro

Tor's near-contemporary and comrade in size 4 diapers, Sonia, joined us for a day of shenanigans. If Tor is tricky to capture with a non-blurry photo, the pair of them is nearly impossible. We were delighted to learn that Sonia's dad will be doing a postdoc in Cambridge for our first year and a half in Oxford--I predict we'll get to know the bus route that connects the cities well.

Right before Tor's bricks slid out from under him

The mashed potatoes inexplicably did not pass muster

And back outside for pirate training

An evening of pizza and wrestling at the Lascus's

Of course, we also got together with Tor's beloved first daycare providers, Melissa and Ulises. Tor spent a day at their house and visited with me another morning, and we got to take them to dinner one night along with Dave, Lindsay, and Owen (who now attends My First Steps). They surprised Tor with a tiny Gophers basketball uniform, so he'll be the hippest expat in Oxford.

Abandoned the highchair after appetizers

Stone-cold sober and insisting the shorts are a hat

May Day

It hasn't rained here in over four weeks, but Tor is getting his fill of agua at day care.

He often doesn't want to leave. I'm torn about cutting him back to one day a week after the semester ends--he loves his two days there right now--but my unsuccessful job hunt has made the decision for us, at least as things stand now. I won't stop looking, little buddy.

On the plus side, almost done with teaching for the summer! And more time with this ball of fury!

"Mama, there's no drinking fountain in OUR backyard."

"Any other hippos need scrubbing while I'm at it?"

We keep telling him to lay off the beer, but he's plainly overindulging

Playing Catch-Up . . . Again

As usual, I'm behind, so here's a smattering of snapshots and stories from the past few weeks. First, a couple of Oma and Opa with Tor:

Learning to pass

Pajamarama!!

New blanket, blanket cover, and pillowcase = instanap (thanks, Oma!)

Party's at our place, kids

Helping DaDa with Saturday breakfast

Tor finally repeated his January achievement of pooping on the potty, so as Lars had been promising him for weeks, we took him out for ice cream. The kind where you get to choose your own toppings. Turns out he's more of a fruit guy than a chocolate guy, but he picked a healthy mix of options.

"Hey, this is soy froyo, not ice cream! No more toilet for me!"

Taking his seat at the Super Friends table

Fisherd

A chance to dance sans pants

I mustered my courage to hook up the bike trailer while Lars was at a conference in Vienna, and over the course of the week, I took Tor to day care, all over the neighborhood, and to a nearby regional park where we enjoyed a picnic and wildlife-viewing.

Tor was not even a little bit intimidating

Ready for our "hike"

Trawling for reeds

Falafel fiend

Also during Lars's absence, Tor and I enjoyed a visit with Mormor. We got deli sandwiches for a picnic at the park and Tor tuckered himself out.

Lower math

He groused until Mormor would take a turn

Did not want to leave his "fairy house" 

Five minutes after our departure

We got together with a few moms and kids from our Bible study at a local park.

Inventing a tetherball/dodgeball hybrid

Unequally yoked on the teeter-totter

Easter Retrospective

Tor's Easter week involved--count 'em--FOUR egg hunts: one with our mommy-and-me music group, one at Little Hugs day care, one at church, and one at our house after church. Fortunately for my data storage fees and this blog's reader attrition, we just have pictures of the ones at Little Hugs and our place.

At day care, Sonia helped each kid dye a hard-boiled egg with his or her name written on it in crayon. Then she released them to hunt for the plastic eggs hidden in the backyard, each with a treat inside.

"Pink for the 'Tor' egg, please."

It's a fine line between excitement and concern about what's
going to happen when those eggs come out

"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!"

Circle of life: stuffing a chick with eggs

Too busy flirting to mug for the silly picture

Once the Sunday school egg hunt concluded, we took Tor home for an Easter brunch with Oma, Opa, Tim, Caitlin, Christina, and Caleb--the Oregon branch had rolled into town the previous Friday for our cousin Paul's wedding. Tor had been consuming Easter books voraciously for the week before Easter, so he was excited about celebrating the actual holiday. (Although it turns out that the Resurrection is hard to explain to a two-year-old, he got into the idea that we were happy Jesus is alive.)

Both awesomely and bizarrely, Superman and his pup Krypto were introduced into the mix when Tor opened a package from Ah-Bee and Pakka. After helping them punch through a brick wall, Tor conscripted them to hunt eggs with him. He ended up being a little disappointed that in our yard, far more eggs contained stickers than candy, but since we'd rehidden a few from the previous hunts, at least there were some hidden treats.

"WHOOOOOA"

"Leaping lizards, a superpunch feature!"

The mounted portion of the hunt didn't last long

Please don't call Child Protective Services

Opa with the assist

Inspecting the goods

By the way, photo credits go to DaDa for these

"THIS ONE HAS CANDY, MAMA?"

Eagle-eyeing the next target

Superman and Krypto were fading by this point

But Tor was still up for another version of the Easter story