Fun with Bestemor and Bestefar!

Nina and Leif arrived Monday and we're having a BLAST! It's been really fun, and we've had to restrain ourselves from doing a million fun things everyday. Tonight we're headed to the SF Giants game. Stay tuned for pictures!

Hatty McHatterstein

I CAN DO IT MYSELF!

Well, it appears we are at that stage when it comes to feeding. No spoons from Mom and Dad, just finger foods. Which consist of puffs (of course), brunost (funny side story: I said to Pete -- wow she really loves brunost! It must be because I had so much of it when I was pregnant. Him: No, it's because she's half Norwegian), and teeny slivers of banana.

Today, it seems, we've ascended to grapes. Big day.



The great news is it takes FOREVER for her to eat, so she's occupied in her chair for a good hour. Is it wrong that we relish that?

Walking!

Lucia first steps from Pete Hansen on Vimeo.

She Walks!

We've got video of it -- stay tuned. She took a few steps last week, (some while I was on Skype video chat with my mom -- terribly exciting!), and walked to both Pete and I separately yesterday. Just as exciting as I thought it would be. Wow!!

The Eco Jet

It started as a quiet whistle, we have all heard it before sitting in an airplane, but now I heard it coming from a car sitting 50ft away. This I had to see for myself, and heres the video I took:

Jay Leno's Eco Jet from Pete Hansen on Vimeo.

More info on the EcoJet can be found on Jay Leno's website.

A weekend in Pasadena

I went to Pasadena last weekend to be at the yearly car show at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. This is not a normal car show or concourse, but an event focused on designs that push the limit for what is bold, beautiful or innovative, and this year they not only focused on cars, but boats, airplanes and more.
There were cars of all ages, one-off prototypes, experimental airplanes and space crafts, a u-boat, a bat mobile, boats, motorcycles.
This year Burt Rutan received a lifetime achievement award and held a keynote about his planes and hobbies which included figuring out how the pyramids were built, efficiency (home and automotive), the JFKs assassination, and global warming.
He spoke mostly about his hobbies and it was incredibly interesting to hear how he tried to solve each problem like a flight data engineer using the raw data and drawing his own conclusions. Very cool.
I drove down with Christian Morsing and we had a great time. We got stuck in traffic more than a few times and didn't get to do all the things we intended, we also had 43C (110F) driving through San Joaquin Valley. Definitely not a top-down environment. Thank you A/C!
I took a lot of pictures this time and I will make them available soon. I even have a video!

Chillin

It's Sunday a.m., Pete's in Pasadena for a car show and I'm handling things just fine, thankyouverymuch. We got a new high chair yesterday, courtesy of Craigslist (whoo-hoo!). Here's are the full specs on it, in case you care (three reclining positions??).

Little Miss has decided that puffs trump everything, and bananas are no longer interesting. Or avocados. She ate puffs for a good hour this morning, and I was so impressed with how many she was eating and figured, hey at least she's eating. Then I removed the tray and realized where at least one-third the puffs had gone, all over her lap.

I have had some challenges putting her down for naps; she wants me to pick her up and in the past I have; I've created a monster! I'm getting better at it, and though she cries everytime, it's getting easier each time.

We're headed up to the city to see my girlfriends, and I've packed banana and oats with me for her. She'll be eating it, for sure.

I hope Pete is having fun -- it was his birthday yesterday!

We Likey the Puffs!

Lucia snacks on puffs from Pete Hansen on Vimeo.

She like the puffs!! Exciting!

New teeth are coming

While I am assuming the role of a dentist, Lucia becomes the screaming patient.

BUSY weekend

We had a really busy weekend! Pete was a groomsman in our friend Niels' wedding; they had a bachelor party Wednesday night, the rehearsal dinner Thursday night, the wedding Friday night and a picnic last night. All were in the city (20 miles away); that's 8 round trips. PLUS one more on Wednesday for the tux fittings. Craaaazy. We are so tired! But it was fun! We were lucky to have babysitters Thursday and Friday, so we could enjoy the night.

Gakk Gakk Gakk and Eating Updates

Lucia with Mormor in Norway in March with her favorite book. See the red button? That's the magic one.

Lucia's favorite book in the whole world is her duck book. Purchased in Norway by Nina? Mormor? She absolutely is obsessed with pushing the button that makes the quacking sound -- which is Norwegian is gakk gakk gakk. I don't know what the book says, other than first there's 5 small ducks, then 4, then 3 and so on and so forth. But don't worry, they didn't get eaten by snapping turtles and they reconvene at the end. I always make up a story about where they went, as I'm still learning Norwegian. Typically the ducks veer off to go the mall, of course.

So anyway. I changed Little Miss this morning and handed her a small rubber ducky to play with while I changed her, since without a toy up there, it turns into a wrestling match. She said, "gakk gakk gakk." I immediately said, "That's right! Gakk gakk gakk!" Then I told Pete. He didn't believe me, but when he changed her later she did the same thing. Then in the car when we were talking about it, I said Gakk and she repeated it!

She may be starting to talk and soo close to walking, but eating wise she continues to eat like a 5 month old. Sigh. We've expanded her palette to bananas, peaches, avocado, applesauce and bangoes (banana and mango). But that's about all she wants. No sweet potatoes. No prunes. Carrots only if you hide them in something else. Mind you, other kids her age are eating things like chicken. We can't seem to move past the basics. I'm going to talk to the pediatrician about it. She's gaining weight like a champ, but I'm still worried.

I had a feeling she was going to be this way when she was so attached to the Nuk bottle. Remember -- FIVE lactation consultants, countless hours of me crying my eyes out, and NOPE, she continued to refuse the breast. I should known then she was going to be a picky eater. Sigh.

I guess she's like all other kids; advanced in some ways, notsomuch in others.