This past Saturday - although Morgan is still trying to fight off a nasty cold - we headed into Mormor's (Liam and Morgan's grandmom) and celebrated the birthdays of Ken, Janne and Mormor.
It's tough for us to get anywhere on the weekend these days with the babies, for any number of reasons - we're still so busy trying to get the new house the way we want it, or I have to do weekend public appearance-type work for the radio stations, or have to just go into work to play catch-up with my music responsibilities, plus the price of gas also limits our travel a bit - but we haven't made the journey into Toronto for quite a while, and Lene, as much as she'd probably love to see the new house 'live' rather than in pictures, can't travel to see us, so we need to congregate close to her place.
Although it wasn't their birthdays being recognized on the weekend, Liam and Morgan were the centre of attention anyway, and they received some cool new toys.
Morgan has taken quite a shine to stuffed animals/plush toys/stuffies, whatever you've grown up calling them. Janne calls them 'stuffies', and I always think of a doctor's office full of people with bad head colds when I hear her use the term. For as long as I can remember, I've called them 'stuffed animals', which probably makes people think of taxidermy - but I believe the prevailing terminology of the day is 'plush toys'.
Regardless, Morgan loves 'em.
Proof, found here one morning at breakfast, with two rabbits, and an elephant - 'Ellie' - which you can't really see, but part of it is barely sticking out under Morgan's hand in the pile - her little arms as far around as she can reach. Sometimes it's tough to navigate spoonfuls of food toward Morgan's mouth around the critters without getting something on them - but God forbid you make the mistake of trying to take her little furry friends away from her.
This weekend, Morgan found Mormor's 'ChrisMoose' on her travels through the place,
only moments before she was presented with this other-planetary creature that we've best-guessed is a cross between a cow and a giraffe, although the far more rare red-and-white-coloured variety. The colouring is probably some kind of subliminal Danish ancestry thing, actually. ;-)
After pointing out that the 'little red and white thing' didn't have the kind of neck that could make it possible to eat the leaves at the top of the trees, a common genetic trait among the giraffes I've had the pleasure of meeting, I asked Lene (the presenter of the toy - because her 'lil sis' Janne asked for things for the babies for her birthday) why she didn't think it was a cow, and she replied, "...because cows don't have manes".
...Okay. I can follow that logic...but I think I'd like to meet the person who designed the critter to get the real story, or at least the name of their doctor.
Liam was very well behaved through dinner, considering he didn't receive the kind of attention his sister was getting at the other end of the table. He was stuck sitting beside boring old me, you see, while Morgan was between his Moster (Aunt) Lene and Mormor.
...so he deserved an after-dinner ride for his good behaviour.
Both Liam and Morgan had their first taste of ice cream during Saturday's celebrations - a momentous occasion - with both of them making faces at the extreme coldness in their little mouths.
Michele, (originally a friend of Lene's through their university days together, and so much more to all of us now), pictured here seated across from us with birthday boy Ken by her side at the dinner table, was having fun trading raspberry noises with Liam (Sorry, Michele, but I warned you I was going to post it). She had brought along her youngest boy, Scott, and Scott's friend. We don't have pictures of the two of them here because their faces were almost perpetually behind their Gameboys when they weren't eating.
Speaking of eating - Mormor, the senior member (although sometimes the biggest kid) among our birthday partying group on Saturday - prepared the entire meal, provided incredible dessert to follow, and was - as she always is - happy just to have everyone over - and to maybe receive a few tulips on the side. There are no pics of her here, either. She was far too busy doing stuff to sit still long enough for that.
Ken, yet another gifted soul introduced to us through Lene, has been a friend of the family for as long as I've known Janne, and, for all intense and purposes, is a member of our family - he's been at 'The Danish Christmas' celebrations (on what North American celebrants consider Christmas Eve) with Janne's family for as long as I have - possibly longer, actually, come to think of it - and he spent part of Saturday's triple birthday shindig knitting a sweater so nice, you wouldn't be able to afford to buy it at Harry Rosen's in Toronto (if they had the good sense to market such an item). About this particular sweater, I'll just say I'm glad that Ken is getting to keep it. Sometimes you have to provide your own birthday gifts, and that's just that.
Finally, my birthday girl, Janne. No matter how many birthdays she has, she'll always be far too young and pretty for me, yet she still hangs around with me anyway. Things have been kinda stressful lately, but she managed this smile...
p.s. I've stolen some of these pictures out of Lene's collection from the weekend.
The rest are Janne's.
