Baltimore!

Or as the locals call it Bawlmer!

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Christmas eve

New tea set, new hats, so many new toys.

Christmas lunch

Quoted: What is Lucia thinking??

Holiday Parties

Phew. It's been a busy few weekends. 


Last weekend we went to the Young Scandinavians Club Santa Lucia celebration at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco. Lucia got all gussied up in a cute dress. We ended up chatting with and meeting Tabitha Soren (the MTV VJ from the late 80s-90s). Which I'm not gonna lie, was super cool. I can't act low-key in those situations, so that was kinda hilarious. She's the redhead next to me here.

It was fun to see the singers though. Lucia kept calling the Santa Lucia a birthday cake because of the candles. Which was funny.

Afterwards we waited forever and ever to see Santa, only to have Little Miss freak out.

This past weekend, we went to our former daycare provider's house for dinner with the other families; it was really fun. Lucia still talks about Stacey and the other kids all the time; it has truly been the hardest thing about the move: leaving them. We really, really loved them. We are hoping our new daycare is also wonderful like that.

Saturday we went to another party in San Francisco and ended up staying for dinner. Our friends have 21 month old twin boys, so Lucia played with them and ate about a million pepparkakor (like ginger snaps). It was nice to just relax with them.

On the way home we drove the past the famous Tom and Jerry Christmas tree in San Francisco. It's amazing. Read more about it here.

PS

As soon as I can find my cable to download pictures, I'll be posting some here. Until then, enjoy my ramblings. :) 

Found!

We have selected a daycare! We're super excited. Going to Jamie and Nick's house reminded me of going to a friend's house. It's very warm and inviting and they are just wonderful. They have 3 kids; 2 girls age 8 and 10, who are obsessed with Lucia (and vice versa) and a 2 year old who is just a few weeks older than Lucia. They moved here from England 9 months ago (he's English, she's American and from California), and they ran a daycare there for 9 years. There's a cozy play space and a huge backyard. The clincher though is Jamie has asthma and the kids have either asthma or severe food allergies (sadly), so she's very familiar with how to handle those things. Poor Pete looked at 6 daycares; we wanted to make sure we found one we we both loved as much as the last place. And we do. She starts Jan. 5. 

Tour O Daycares

Pete and Lucia have been all over the area this week touring daycares. There was the one that smelled like a dog. There was the one where they teach the kids Russian and the playspace sucks. There was the one that reminded me of going to my friend's house (hint: #1 contender). There was the one with the snotty attitude. There was the one where Lucia's hair got pulled. There was the one with the awesome play space but lukewarm provider.  We're leaning heavily to the place we both really liked, but I'm ruling the lukewarm provider out today. Maybe she was having a bad day yesterday.

Of course, Lucia now has a cold. She woke up coughing and snotty. Thankfully, she's learned to wipe her nose on her sleeve. 

A friendly cat

Lucia and the cat from Pete Hansen on Vimeo.

Lucia wanted to give this cats nice rocks more than anything. I'm not sure if she intended to feed the cat rocks or gift them to the cat. Cat was not impressed.

Lucia Sings

Lucia Sings from Pete Hansen on Vimeo.

Mommy, Daddy, Baby

I'm positive it's a coping mechanism from the move, but Lucia has really gleaned onto the concept of Mommy, Daddy and Baby lately. Would you like an apple, Lucia? Yes, she answers. A mommy apple. Later, she asks for a baby apple. Then a daddy apple. Her new pajamas? They not only have monkeys, but Mommy and Baby Monkeys. In case you were wondering. 

We have an adorable video of her singing; I'll have Pete post it ASAP. Also, stay tuned for Lucia FREAKING OUT on Santa's lap last night. Such a rite of passage! 

Tusen Takk

Or Tusen Tusen Tusen Takk, as the case may be. Nina and Leif arrived 2 days before the move, and well, let's just say we're indebted for life for their help. We literally could not have done it without them. It was incredibly chaotic and stressful and somehow we all managed to make it through. We somehow managed to squeeze in some lovely times (and my birthday!) out before the move; afterwards it was mostly chaos and trying to get things done. Nina is an absolute workhorse; I kept joking that she runs on coffee and chocolate, but I really was amazed and inspired and SO INSANELY GRATEFUL for her pushing to get things done. Before the move I had been very sick and was recovering with the help of three steroids; after the move I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of stuff to do. We moved from a 3BR/2BA to a 2BR/1BA apartment, so there was a whole lotta selling/purging/getting rid of stuff. The enormity of the task was pretty insane. Leif was a great help entertaining Lucia with walks around the new 'hood. Lucia had a really good time hanging with them. We're still working on getting her to call her Nana. She defaults to Bestemor or Ninny, despite our efforts.

It was great for them to be able to stay for their first Thanksgiving. I tried to explain the holiday the best I could: You eat a lot. Then you eat some more. Sometimes you watch football, but sometimes you have cable disconnected and you frantically try to find an antenna and then realize the stores are all closed, so you meekly explain to the football lovers that there will be no football, and they say no problem, to your chagrin and delight. True to form, we ate too much, then had a nice walk around the neighborhood before devouring desserts and coffee. It was an awesome Thanksgiving for sure. We have so much to be thankful for; our health, a warm apartment, a great job for me, and each other. 

And amazing in-laws: thank you so much Leif and Nina. We love you lots and are so thankful for your help. 

Sleeper

Finding a Christmas Tree is hard work!

Giving Thanks

Yesterday I worked on a project where my company's client handed out turkey dinners to 750 families in housing projects. To say it was humbling was an understatement. The communities face 60-70% unemployment and we mostly very very grateful for turkey dinners and bags with canned goods. It set the tone for the holiday tomorrow. We are so lucky and grateful for all that we have. Here I've been complaining about having to go back to IKEA a zillion times, when there are people out there who can't afford to a winter coat. So tomorrow's celebration will be great and seems all the more special.

We are having dinner at our new place with our chef friends Chris and Mandy, my brother Josh and his girlfriend Lindsey, and Leif and Nina. We have some new side dishes planned, which I'm really excited about. We're unpacking just a little bit more and are excited to show off our new place.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope yours is warm and festive. 

Cast of Characters

Introducing from left to right: YouYou, BoyBoy, YouYou Baby and Baby. Clearly all are extremely well cared for.

Saying Goodbye Sucks

We moved last weekend, and one of the hardest parts was saying goodbye to our daycare provider. We love Stacey so much and will really miss her. We found her totally by chance, and she was not only really conveniently located (a block away), she provided amazing care for Lucia. We hope to find a new provider soon; Lucia loves loves loves daycare. Here are a few pictures from Lucia's shenanigans from September 2009-November 2010.

Say cheese!!

Heather Voted

The line was long, but why use a booth? If there was only a instruction/information booklet in English somewhere..

Haloween!

Just finished carving out the pumpkin. Note to self: choose a simpler font next time.

ELMO!

Not Just an Easter Basket

Growing up, my brother I often used wicker baskets as helmets. So you can imagine my reaction when Lucia walked out of the bedroom wearing this yesterday: I like your style, kid.

What Complaining +$3 + A keen eye for coupons will get you

I bought a dress this summer I adored. Unfortunately it was pricey, so I was going to return it. Then it went on sale for half off, so I called to complain. Then I kept it. The company gave me a credit, and I saw this for Lucia + 10% off + free shipping means this cost $3.40. High five!

I'm invisible!

Usynlig from Pete Hansen on Vimeo.

Passy Sucks

Lucia's relationship with her beloved passy has become increasingly "passionate". We think it is about time for her to let go. I figured it was time for her to do this when she started "preferring" the blue passy over any of the others, just based on color. Now if she could only get on the potty first.

Hipster Alert

New shoes. Impossibly hip. We're trying to get over ourselves.

Unfortunately

The only one making progress on potty training is Yuyu, Lucia's doll. Despite us praising Yuyu and Lucia rewarding her with chocolate, someone is still being super stubborn. We're consulting the books for advice.

Sunday Funday

Farmers market, brunch and a three-hour nap. Ahhh.

Spoiled Rotten

My parents were in town for the past week, and suffice it to say, they spoiled us rotten. Dinners made, mornings sleeping in, kid entertained, babysitting. I mean, they really went all out. It was so wonderful. Lucia and Big Pappa (my stepdad) are madly in love, especially after he taught her about football, complete with arm gestures and the phrase "Touchydown!" My mom enjoyed teaching her some new songs, watching Elmo and mostly helping me out more than anything. We got to spend a lot of time with the lovebirds Lindsey and Josh (so fun!) and we laughed a lot.

Thank you so much Mimi and Big Pappa!! We loved seeing you. Now could you please come back?

I Just Don't See It?

So strange that people say these two look so much alike, isn't it?

Happy Birthday Lucia

She's 2!!!!!! We had such a fun day. It was a jam-packed day of fun activities. We started with Mimi and Big Pappa letting us sleep in, which was awesome. Then we started opening gifts: a dollhouse from Mimi and Big Pappa. Then an Upsy Daisy doll from Bestemor and Bestefar, along with baby bedding for YouYou, her doll, to rest comfortably in her bed. Aunt Kate sent her a stroller for her doll that Lucia kept commenting was so "nice." Mary sent her some wonderful books, which was great cause our supply was getting a little tired. Uncle Josh got her the book Where the Wild Things Are and a stuffed character from the book.

Since we had gulp - 37 people - coming to the party, we did a LOT of the prep work last night and made lists upon lists of lists. We planned for ham and turkey sandwiches, chips, pasta salad and of course, chocolate cake.

It was an awesome party; Lucia wore her new tutu and dazzled everyone. She played a lot on the slides and swings while we waited for everyone to arrive. You've got to love/hate California for people running constantly late. It was nice because we had some time to breathe before the chaos began. It was great to see everyone. Big Pappa organized a game for the kiddos, which they loved. We sang Happy Birthday, blew out her candle and Lucia managed to eat 3-4 bites of chocolate cake without breaking out in hives.

We are SO GRATEFUL AND LUCKY to have friends who love us so much. Mandy made this teepee for Lucia. She MADE IT. Stayed up until 5:30 a.m. to finish it. Seriously. How cute is it? She already pulled her dollhouse into the teepee, and as you can see, she's making herself at home in it.

After the party we all took long naps, then went to In-N-Out for dinner. I asked Lucia if she had a good birthday, and she said yeah. "What was your favorite part?" I asked her. She didn't answer. "The cake?" I offered. No answer. The teepee? Upsy Daisy? Your dollhouse? No answer. I agree. It's a tough call as to the best part of the day. What an awesome day.

The Hansen Sandwich

Potty training

Waiting for the weekend

Wedding in Florida

We had a wonderful time in Florida. We enjoyed the warm water almost as much as Lucia, and we are looking forward to next time we have the opportunity to spend time there with the Harrisons. The rehearsal dinner, ceremony and reception was very nice, and spending an extra day really topped it off,

Upsy Daisy

So when Nina and Leif came over this summer, they presented a DVD for Lucia to help her relax before bedtime. I have to admit, I was skeptical. TV before bedtime? That's a good one. Apparently the BBC children's series was created specifically to calm down children. So we let Lucia watch one episode once in a while. Fast forward to two months later, and let's just say Upsy Daisy is her favorite thing in the WORLD. She busts into a gigantic grin when she comes on the screen and points and shouts "DET UPSY DAISY" (There's Upsy Daisy!).

When she's tired but isn't quite ready for bed, she now asks for Upsy Daisy. We absolutely love this video, and once we watched the making of, and the thoughts that went into the storyline and scenes, we kinda fell in love with it even more. 

Flower Girl

Without further ado: