this morning i awoke to "mommmmmmy, i'm poooooooopy." across the hall. which was good, actually, because it meant that owen had actually slept in his own bed all night and was, well, becoming more aware of poop which is that much closer to potty training. so i go into his room and no, he wasn't poopy, "just soggy". so as i was changing him while he stayed snuggled up in his bed i noticed his legs were cold and rubbed them until they warmed up and went back to bed and owen stayed in his own bed. at around 6:30 he comes into my room: mom, is it morningtime yet? no, i answered, but come snuggle me until morning. and he does and as he nestles his way under the covers he says quietly before falling back into dusk sleep, mom, thanks for warming up my legs.
so it's no wonder that on our way out to our preschool commute (we snuck in a full "practice" day before both owen and mommy start school this fall) tears were fogging up my sunglasses as we sung along to elizabeth mitchell's you are my little bird--i agree with this review :
I can't discuss this album without mentioning Mitchell's voice, which is the sweetest and best voice in kids' and family music today. The crystal-clear quality of her voice not only is pleasant to hear, it's also essential to understanding the lyrics so you can then sing the songs to the kids in your life.
yet my misreading of that was, to sing the songs into your kids' life which is the same, but different. for me, it's her cover of what i believe was originally a french ballad, which goes like this:
If you listen you can hear
Birds sing and flowers grow
If you listen you can hear
My love for you just grow
In the silence that's around
Deep peace and love are found
In the days that will be here
My love will call you loud and clear
And in the silent place
Where loneliness is found
I'll wander through the open door
To look for you
There in that magic land
That lies beyond the clouds
Floating on the sea of dreams
I'll sing to you
and it's simple and gorgeous just as unconditional love should be--and i wanted to sing it as a promise, that always always i'll sing this to you, always. and i'm not trying to be monumental here about preschool, but i have this sense that this is just the beginning of the separations, and that it doesn't get easier, but i'll sing nonetheless, even if i have to sing quieter.
mind you, while owen was busy reading chicka chicka abc and adjusting to montessori routine i wasn't pining away. i took advantage of the calm before the storm and had brunch at simple's in riverside--those readers who are familiar know there's nothing better than that ceramic coffee mug and a bacon and spinach omelet (or take your pick--homemade chicken apple sausage, the chewiest freshest bagels, the decadent sourdough french toast, or the winter omelet with those amazing carmelized onions) in that booth by the window. then over to tiggy's where i scored some fabulous wardrobe finds for great prices. and when i went to pick up owen, here's what i found:.jpg)
my little bird
silliness
getting owen dressed has always been a challenge, he's super squirmy and so easily distracted. i've been working on less mommy-help but sometimes my patience gets the best of me. this morning we were in our jammies way too late (how i'll miss these long loungy mornings together!) and trying without much success to get owen to take his pajama shirt off. he could see i was getting frustrated and gigled "should i take my arm off?" so then i had to crack up. and he continued on with the play--"should i take my legs off?" when it was time to do pants (and i won't say what he suggested when it was time for pullups off!). but i love this about him--he has such a curiosity and engagement with new ideas and isn't afraid to try new things. i'm not sure the cognitive phenomena here but i think it's pretty big--like rhyming and word play.
and, yesterday he ate a tomato!
sunday seven (with the preschool three)
i found myself wishing i had a video camera a lot this week, but instead taking quick snaps with my phone and then wishing i had that p.t. i'd always dreamed of (long, inside story--but basically someone to transcribe those brilliant ideas you have or record those moments you want to keep in a jelly jar forever). so here instead are six of those times from the last week.
7. i walked into the garage to see owen sitting on his little blue chair looking at the glitter art project he made with nana the day before. really, just sitting and looking. when i asked what he was doing he simply said oh, mommy, i'm just looking at art.
6. in the same "i'm just..." style-- we went to do a "practice preschool" day last wednesday and owen did a super job joining in on circle time with miss sherry and while owen was going around meetin everyone in his class (imagine a dozen three year olds shaking hands saying "hello, owen, my name is tyler. nice to meet you." giggle) he suddenly stops and runs out of the circle and skips around the room. when i asked, again, what he was doing he replied i'm dancing in a circle (of course)
5. ah, preschool. this one is from last week when michael and i went out with owen to drop of our paperwork and introduce him to his teachers--on the car on the way there he suddenly panics: mommy! you forgot to paint the jeep yellow! and i said, yellow? then remembered, ooooh right. school = schoolbus; mommy's bus = jeep; therefore jeep=yellow.
4. and the third preschool--this is just one of those aaaaaaaaw moments--when i came to pick him up after leaving him (for the first time EVER in a public institution!) to enjoy "practical life" and lunch like a big boy the first thing he said to me: mom, i cried a little bit because i .jpg)
missed you but then i was ok. this of course was quickly followed by: but why are we leaving now??
3. i just love this pic-->talking to daddy in norway on the phone with headphones. so i-hip, no?
2. the return of the wednesday boys--owen and west shouting we are super duper heroes with their sea creature foamy goggles and hat which they duitfuly wore for 
i swear an hour while they did super battling, soccering and playhouse cooking.
1. while waiting in line at anthropologie for our fancy new pillow (imagine owen dancing around THAT store singing "an-thro-pol-o-geeeeeee") owen kept himself busy opening and smelling a collection of candles in tins. oooooooh, mommy, candles! this one smells liiiike: strawberries! and this one . . . butterflies! and this one . . . ice cream. . . oh, this one smells like flowers, mommy. we have to buy it! so, you know, i did, and he proudly carried it out in his own bag and when we arrived home ran up the stairs and placed it on my desk. the pillow, i'm taking back, but the candle--well, that's my gift to keep forever and ever.
sukkertoppen
in honor of my dad/brother/sister-in-law/uncle hiking the pacific crest trail, I decided to head out on a little hike of my own. Near the town is a hike up sukkertoppen. The total distance to the top from my hotel is approx. 5.5 miles (11 round-trip) and gain in altitude of 314 meters (1030 feet).
Aerial view of the mountain:
a good sign I found the right path:
me on top:
the "other" view of Alesund:
view of the Aquarium:
i left my heart in san francisco
and really, with boys like this around, how could i not be smitten? papa just sent me some pics from our family roadtrip up to the bay area and these are by far my favorites. we went up for a winery wedding of an old family friend we had grown up with in fremont--it was everthing you could hope for in a wedding: gorgeous weather, tasteful bridesmaids dresses, a bride so raidant you can't help but cry with hope as she walks down the aisle, and a groom that knows he really scored. but it was really beautiful to be there with both michael and owen and my parents--i felt nostalgia for our own wedding, nearly a decade ago! and i remember the bride and her two brothers when they were owen's age. nothing like getting old and finding yourself saying "i remember when. . ."
but thanks to some radisson gold points and michael's expert travel booking we stayed in san francisco and he managed to sneak in an extra vacation before flying out of SFO back to AES. we stayed on an extra day before the mind numbing drive on the 5 fwy and had a great day touristing out at the piers. we started out at ghiradelli square and walked our way through fisherman's wharf where we enjoyed some artisan sourdough bread--owen got a mini turtle and was sooo excited to eat the little feet first!--and out to pier 39 to watch the sea lions and ride the carousel. we took the streetc
ar back to ghiradelli and indulged in some hot fudge sundaes to end a nearly perfect (we had dropped of michael at the airport on our way to all of the sightseeing) day! we enjoyed the city so much--i'm hoping we can find a way to spend another family weekend there (we didn't even get to ride cable cars although nana did buy owen one to introduce to thomas and friends, and there was a antique fire truck tour and more bread to eat) soon...
drive
so I have 4 suitcases and 2 large duffel bags full of my winter clothes, cara's sweaters, and Owen's toys. Since this is possibly my last trip to Norway (I start Sweden in September), I have to take the luggage with me this time. I'm thinking about taking next weekend and drive over a couple of suitcases and duffel bag and drop it off at the hotel I will be at next. I'm thinking about leaving friday after work and stay the night in Lillehammer, which is about half way. Saturday, I will wake up and drive the rest into Karlstad and spend the day/night there. Sunday, I will make the long drive back. I think it's totally do-able, and keep in mind that these roads are only open a few months out of the year. Comments welcome.
and the accompanying text
so i've always kept a diary, a journal, a transcription of sorts-- and there's always this point where you feel this need to "catch up" even when you're six or thirteen and writing what you've had for lunch or what judy blume book you'd read. it's all the same, really--and it seems like we've been doing so much coming and going and moving and not really much time to sit down and scribble. and i've been writing, mostly in my head, really, everything from how much i love fritattas, and making them for michael (there's a yellow sticky in my joy of cooking right above the variation on asparagus frittatas that says "i like a whole lotta frittata" and i think i'll never take it out) and how the entire world of words opened up for owen (he's reading, no really, i mean reading-- today in trader joe's "mommy does that say 'fresh eggs'" and holding up one of the new seuss library books i bought "and is this book called fifty trees?" and it quite simply astounds me) and how san francisco is much more an international city than london (we spent sunday at the wharf with nana and papa and i heard more french and italian spoken then 'american') and how the pigeon dove that has nested outside my bedroom window has had two baby birds and at three in the morning i woke up and watched her feed them from her mouth and there was my baby bird who had just crawled into my bed fifteen minutes earlier (and it made michael's empty side of the bed bearable) and really how freaked out i am about the new adventures, so to speak, but excited too (nightmares about preschool bullies and commuting to riverside five days a week and finding that someone broke into our storage cubicle and stole all of my old dusty teaching files). . . but i guess that's the rule, you just sit down and write. whether it's a diary entry or a disseratation and how there's nothing like the tappity tap of keys--even if it's just to say everything you haven't written, or to skip that and start from right now: where there's a fantastic breeze coming through my corner of the office at midnight and tomorrow we do a "practice preschool day" and i picked up 154 prints of our pictures from pairs and bought a crate of paper so gorgeous i want to paste it on my walls and so no, dear heidi we haven't abandoned post--but thank you for the reminder. the beach, as you can see was gorgeous, but seeing owen dance around the sand with his cousins, and haivng inlaws that i love, really love, was, you know, priceless ;)
new adventures
it's been a little quiet on the fidfam blog, but we've been busy re-nesting and gearing up for our next adventure: owen will start montessori preschool in the fall-- he'll be commuting with me out to riverside 3 days a week where i'll start as a full time lecturer at uc riverside. the offer came unexpectedly days (before) we arrived home and with my goal of finishing my dissertation this fall and getting back into academic life it seemed like a perfect opportunity. michael will be returning to alesund to help support the project with b&d and well, we'll just see what happens next.
in the meantime i've enjoyed the california coastal weather and eating al fresco. we're packing packing up to spend a few days with the fids up at the washington coast where we'll get to spend some time in the sand and around the beachfire. we can't wait!!
why you should take your three year old to paris
on our first afternoon in paris i was writing a blog in my head that started something like this-- paris is a life-long love afair. if you're lucky your favorite auntie takes you when you're twelve and the world is not fancy enough (see fancy nancy), and when you've read all your hemingway and stein and go as a romantic twentysomething college student, and you go with your first love because theres a $199 one way ticket, and then you go for your honeymoon, and then of course with your three year old, and you go with your girlfriends, and you go again with the love of your life, and you take your niece when she's twelve. ok, maybe you don't go all those times. but it felt like you could. like there was a little paris for everyone at everytime. because despite the fact that all of the paris souvies are better bought here back in the states--it still fulfills our romantic ideas of what europe should be, or could be like. because there are avenues of bookstores. because there are art museums with wings for children. because there are ferris wheels that let you see remy's paris. because there are wooden carousels and toy boats you can rent by the half hour. because there is a cafe in the tuilleries garden. because laudree on bonparte street really does have the best macroons in the world (i would go back for the blackcurrant). and because you really can take the metro anywhere. and although we've been home weeks and the thought of another transcontinental trip makes my head spin i'd go back tomorrow with any one of those possibilites above. and the pictures of course, are why you should take your little one even if he only remembers the eiffel tower, metro line 9, and chaud chocolat when he is old enough to rembember.
we're home!
thanks to everyone who made the coming and going possible! getting settled in--unpacking boxes and suitcases and sorting through buckets of mail. updates and of course more pics soon! love to all!!!!
no kidding
we were just charged 980 NOK to wash a week or so worth of underwear. that's roughly $191.
the return of the dinner party
we had the honor and good fortune to get invited to rosemari and nil's for dinner last night--and thanks to the generous hotel staff we also had a volunteer babysitter so we could enjoy a proper adult dinner party--complete with golden goblets, jeweled candelabra and fancifully folded napkins. and it was amazing--rose and her cousin "whipped up" an aromatic feast. there was baba ganoush with subtly smoky eggplant and the creamiest humus i've ever had with rich olive oil i didn't know existed in norway. there was a nutty chickpea dish with toasted pine nuts and walnuts and some kind of creamy cheese sauce that pulled it all together alongside a tangy fava bean dish. the main course was a tomato and potato bake over a savory minced meat and a spicy lamb and green bean entree. there was italian wine and spanish wine and caroline came with sweedish green wine and there was conversation and more wine and then liquer soaked strawberries and cream. absolute heaven!
owen the museet curator
after spending the morning waiting around for DHL (who never came) and dealing with foreign shipping paperwork and navigating tourbus and cruiseship traffic to pick up pullups and other essentials we indulged in our last piece of rosemari's moka cake and went to the kube to check out janniche & her sister lilian's exhibit "stoppested jante" --a visual de-mystification of the scandanavian law of jante. they play with the grey area between sticking-your-neck-out and sticking-your-neck-in-the-sand and the result is a larger than life commentary that at the very least has owen dancing around monolith medalions and peeking through statues. there was also a mini-version of the scandanavian design in the milennium exhibit which i must confess felt a bit like a high end ikea showroom. the most fun for owen though was the rhythm 69 william morris/art nouveau exhibit. but i'll let owen show you around:
here's a loose captioning: after owen muses on the pictures,"those are sculptures mama" (we had just left the sculpture room) he does some counting and points out some cauliflowers i ask him which is his favorite and he runs up to a white floral print "cause there's flowers on it." he then quickly runs across the room and tells me "this is a button" pointing to a circle on the floor. owen then explains "when you push a button the pictures will turn red and when the pictures turn while there will be flowers." now if that isn't propaganda on why children SHOULD be allowed to run amok among art. . .
happy birthday america!
we celebrated sans fireworks but with a lovely bbq with some locals and their tots. owen had a great time drinking fizzy drinks, coloring with sidewalk chalk (he told me that janniche lived on "norwegian sesame street") and getting to know elias the norwegian tug boat in the wading pool. there was also a silly seagull who jumped into the potato salad and a gorgeous view of the water and the yellow schoolhouse. on the way home we ran into some of our other friends who invited us for dinner at 
their place on tuesday. so it goes, just when you make a new place your home it's time to return. perhaps that's a sign that you've earned the ticket back ;)
american as apple pie, norwegian as
james the red engine and his spaghetti adventure
owen has become quite the reader, here he is telling HIS version of the story of james from the thomas the tank engine books (a reprint of the original 1948 The Railway Series set):
happy birthday grampa!
we got you some cake. it was sooo delicious and tasted good and we sang happybirthdaygrampahappybirthdaytooooyouweloveyou!
but then we had to eat the cake all up!
love owen
quote of the day
it's been crazy over here with michael working 15+ hour days and we're all tired and hotel-weary. so this afternoon (after we missed breakfast) we all managed to sneak in a family lunch at invit. we indulged in gourmet sandwiches and smoothies and then ordered ourselves a french press pot of coffee and all shared a flourless chocolate cake with melty vanilla icecream. covered in chocolate bliss owen exclaims:
we're having a breakfast party!
indeed :)
friday five!
so while we're not exactly sitting poolside, here are five signs it's summer in ålesund:
1. pickled fish has made room for kiwis and almond pastries at breakfast.
2. "turists" are out taking pictures of the judgenstil from the bridge.
3. ding ding! the bytoget train-bus is taking sightseers around town
4. strangers offer to take your picture
5. the radisson wii room is officially open
