Goodbye, Summer

A few photos from the past few weeks here--very hard to believe it's September! My dear friend Sharin' came to visit, with her husband one weekend and solo the next, with a conference in between. We enjoyed mostly good weather and took the kids out to the Oxford Botanical Gardens one day. Tor wanted to pick us flowers and had a tough time understanding that he shouldn't, until we told him it was like a museum for flowers.

He then contented himself with gathering leaves
and trying to feed them to disappointed ducks

Showing off his five teeth

Ah, to be a baby

Back home: least focused fisherman ever

"Big Yoda," a third-birthday gift from Brian and Tiffany, has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity for the last few weeks. Here he is in Tor's wellies ( = rain boots).

"Mom, I need to keep Yoda's feet dry."

Tor recently enjoyed painting a set of wooden dolls that Rhonda and Tamer gave him. It's been wonderful to have them in town! One bonus is that we now have the ability to invite friends to do last-minute things, which is more how we generally like to do things but less how folks around here roll.

"This one is surprised, because she has really big eyes."

Col has been starting to drink cow's milk at work, sometimes mixed with breast milk and sometimes just on its own. I'm trying to cut back to pumping every other day, and my body is slowly adjusting. Solids are going great, and I'm pretty sure he could survive just off them if he had to. This one is a cheeky eater, giving you the side-eye and dropping his food off his tray as often as putting it in his mouth.

"Half for me, half for the floor"

Finally, as I do, Tor has started to say, "It's not my favorite" instead of "I don't like that [food/movie/etc.]" This week Tor and I were hanging out in Col's room while Col was watching his mobile, which has fish revolving around some seaweed. Tor pointed to the seaweed and asked, "What's that?"
Me: It's supposed to be seaweed.
Tor: It doesn't look like seaweed. It looks like tentacles.
Me: Oh! What kinds of animals have tentacles?
Tor: Octopuses.
Me: Yes. What else?
Tor: Jellyfish.
Me: Yes. I was thinking of squid.
Tor: Ugh! Squid are NOT my favorite.

Ten Months Old

Col's moved from standing to cruising this month, with /n/ and /m/ added to his phonemic arsenal--meaning yes! I have heard the word "Mama" uttered. Though not yet with meaning.

We're about to start some fresh sleep training, since he's now getting up at least twice a night but is really old enough to sleep through without eating. I'm down to pumping once at work, which means I now get a 15-minute break where I just eat lunch, instead of eating lunch and milking myself. Moving on up!

Lars is out of town this week in New Hampshire, but hopefully Col will wait until he gets back to start walking. He seems to be on the cusp--I've even caught him standing unsupported a few times--but who really knows. Could be months yet, which I'd be fine with.

His biggest teething toy yet

There and Back Again

I've got a backlog of photos stretching from mid-June to the present, a select few of which I post here. These begin at our old house, around the time when Uncle Tim and Aunt Caitlin visited (but left no photographic evidence of themselves).

Graciously handing down his old toys

More material evidence of his brother's love (and Caitlin's hand!)

Fill-in-the-blank father's card: "If my dad could go anywhere, he'd go to: London."

"Ladybugs GOOooo!!": another cherished weekend with the Lascus

Stroller cupholders: making Brits jealous all over Oxford

One out of two Hansens approves this falafel

"Closer...closer...too close."

Bedtime selfie

Hometown pride

Our two-week trip to the US was a whirlwind time of connection with family and friends (although also a bittersweet reminder of how many friends and family we didn't get to see on this trip). We started off in Corvallis with Oma and Opa, and Ahbee and Pakka drove up to visit us too. Then we took just Col to our friends Josh and April's wedding about an hour away, where I was honored to officiate and Lars and I celebrated our twelfth anniversary on their zeroeth. After we picked Tor up from Corvallis, we drove up the Oregon Coast to camp on the beach as a family. Then we ended up in Portland for Independence Day festivities with Dan, Julia, and their daughter Molly, before flying out veeery early the morning of July 5th and arriving home the 6th. And of course, we stumbled back to work on the 7th. Whew!

Lean green squirting machine

First roller coaster ride!

Getting schooled by Pakka

Super Soakers: The Musical

That post-play glow

Lucking out with the Oregon Coast weather

One of the few times he slept through the night

We all slept well, apparently

Beach picnic with April and Josh

'Nuff said

Col's first vertical steps

Happy Fourth!!

Our little invertebrate

Once back at home, we dove into our routine. One key purchase for our commute: a Tor seat for the back of my bike. Now either Lars or me can tow around both kids. It's a game changer, practically eliminating the need for the bus in our weekend forays, unless they're out of town. From the new house, we can be in the city center in 8 minutes flat.

The workday commute

Sleeping in . . . until 7 a.m.!

"Hey guys, whatchoo watching?"

Muppetor

Tor is loving walking around the park behind our house. There's a path ringing it with exercise equipment every 500 meters or so (see how I'm converting?). We like to walk around it in the evenings, and Tor's getting good at jumping up and swinging on monkey bars.

Merry men

King of the Mountain

Col is getting increasingly confident at pulling up on things. He's also started to give high fives, which is about the most adorable thing ever, and to clap (usually for himself, sometimes to music). He is at that stage where if there's something on the floor, he finds it.

The diaper is essential. The socks are more for style.

About to erupt into the Nativity scene

That intensity!

Lars got out the instruments that have been in cases for years, including the banjo, which Tor immediately adopted. They sing "the blues" together and Tor makes up songs. A recent one had to do with a Dali painting that we have a poster of, "Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bumblebee around a Pomegranate a Second before Awakening." He summed it up pretty well: "There's an elephant with reaaaally long legs! And a bee flying around a pomegranate! And the fish and tigers are jumping out of it!" 

Pre-dinner jam session

Thinking to escape the heat in the movie theater, we took the kids to see The Lego Movie. Funny thing about English theaters: not air conditioned.

"Moooom, I'm a Master Builder!"

And we finally tried punting, a traditional Oxford pastime that involves pushing a little rectangular boat around with a long, heavy pole. Rhonda and Tamer came along and Tamer bravely took the first shift.

Punting . . . it's Oxford, after all

Could they look any less comfortable?

Nine Months Old

What hasn't Col done this past month! Here are some of the highlights:

• Cut not one--not two--not three--but FOUR teeth! We are talking full beaver over here. He's started to nip a little bit, at which point the soda fountain gets shut.
• Started pulling himself up to standing using furniture, legs, step stools, and especially boxes, given that we've just moved to a new house. I love seeing the toes on his flat, fat baby feet grip as he struggles for purchase.
• Taken his inaugural journey in the bike trailer, cutting our commute time to and from day care by two thirds
• Weathered his second round-trip transatlantic flight with aplomb, earning himself the praise of fellow travelers in both directions
• Visited both sets of grandparents and assorted friends
• Expanded his solid food repertoire to include chicken, beef, and pork, as well as several more kinds of vegetables, fruits, cheeses, and carbohydrates

Enjoying his new backyard--that's right, the back gate opens into this park

No idea of the speed he's in for

"This must be MY box!"

This is the face of hero worship

Dad on double duty

Another day, another picnic

And Dad is out for the count

I have a slew of lovely vacation pictures to post when I can steal the time. What the blog really needs is for Lars to take a trip so I have no one to hang out with after the kids go to bed. I'll try to be more diligent this month lest I amass more photos than I can reasonably sort through for one post!