14 Best Photos from Thora's 4th Birthday

Thora turned 4 in March and given Thora's love of Theatre, musicals, singing and dancing, and all things performance, we were thrilled to find out about Kidstock in Winchester, MA, this great children's theatre that hosts birthday parties for budding thespians. Prior to the party, we picked the Castle Capers theme, which would allow Thora and her friends to act out 3 short plays involving princesses, kings, queens, knights, dragons, etc. It was an incredible experience. Bob, the party director, was amazing with the kids, so fun and engaged. And while performing on stage in front of friends and parents might not have been all of the kids' dream come true, it was definitely Thora's. (To view the whole album, click here.)

While waiting for all the friends to show up, the kids decorated a castle-themed mural.




Then, once everyone had arrived, the kids warmed up their acting muscles, playing some ice-breaker games. Here they are practicing looking sad. Thora is looking sapped of the will to live.


Here, they're looking surprised.


Once they were warmed up, they began the first of three plays. Bob would begin to tell the story, and as new characters were introduced, he would ask for volunteers. Being Thora's birthday, she was always asked first and when asked what she'd like to play, she always picked a princess. Here she is as a magical princess.


Some of Thora's friends felt really comfortable on stage, and Jack was one of them! He hammed it up in the most hilarious way. Here he is, playing the heck out of the role of "Dragon #1."


At the end of the first play, all the actors take their bow and get applauded by all the parents and other friends.

From left, Zach, Jack, Olive, Clarissa, Ally, and Thora.

The second play found Thora as another princess, this time starring with her dad, King Zach and her mom, Queen Olive.


The final play incorporated all the friends in any role they wanted. So there were several queens, a king, and multiple princesses.

From the left: Jack, Aiden, Zach, Olive, Thora, and Ally

After the three plays were done, the kids got cupcakes and ice cream. I'm not sure what Thora's expression is trying to say here. But I'm pretty sure that despite appearing as if she's glaring at the cupcake tower, I think she was intimidating that candle as she prepared herself to make her wish.


The following morning, a Monday, was her actual birthday and she enjoyed modeling this silly birthday hat before school.


As a special birthday treat, the whole family took her to school. However, Auric couldn't be bothered to get out of his pajamas. But you take what you can get with that kid.


Thora's special day ended at her favorite eatery, Four Burgers. And as I'm noticing now as I review these photos, Auric is still in his pajamas! Sheesh!



For a very cute video of Thora as she's being sung "Happy Birthday," (and actually appearing embarrassed), click here.

Happy Birthday, Thora! Your family loves you!!! (Even if we embarrass* you in your favorite restaurant.)


* You're 4! What are you doing being embarrassed by anything at all, let alone being sung "Happy Birthday"?!? I mean, considering what you wear on a regular basis, I just figured...)

17 Best Moments from March 2011

March... it seems so long ago. How did we fill those long, cold days? We'd finally sent back our Netflix copy of Singin in the Rain and then purchased our own copy. That month saw Thora's interest in classic musicals only broaden in scope. She was fascinated for a long time with the Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers classic, Top Hat and the Gene Kelly and Judy Garland hilarious pirate movie, The Pirate. (Is it crazy that I mark the time by Thora's favorite movie of the moment?)

The snow melted (as we knew it would, and yet somehow couldn't imagine really happening) and we emerged into the outside world again. But there was still a lot of indoor fun, as captured below on camera. (For a look at the whole album from March, click here.)


I had to include Thora wearing this shirt, since I begged her to wear it dozens of times, only to be told how "hateful" of a shirt it was. (She likes to be dramatic.) To tell you that I was crushed each time I heard those words, or how I defensively launched into a lecture/scolding about not using the word "hate" would not entirely capture my disappointment. Let this be a lesson to me: if I want a shirt with Bill Murray from Stripes on it, just buy one for myself. (I've since done so.) Oh well...

I love Auric in the background of this one.

This borrowed pajama outfit is more Thora's style. And of course, we had plenty of opportunities to capture her embodiment of the dragon on her front.

Again, we have another funny Auric in the background, surely trying to mimic his idol.

One of our activities during the last cold breaths of winter was creating this recycled-materials castle. Here is the artist. (This is the "before" shot. You'll have to wait until the April update for the "after".) It is funny to see this castle after so long, since it sat on our kitchen table for months! And it's no small construction. It was quite a step when we finally put in the recycling bin. We'd all grown so attached to it, in the rituals of moving it for meals, cleaning around it, adding new paint and decoration, etc.


All winter, Thora kept begging us to take her to her beloved Inside Playground. And while her logic was sound, (the winter is the perfect time to go), it was hard for her to grasp the grown-up reluctance of driving through a blizzard, or moving the car and risking having to shovel out a whole new spot upon the return. But finally, in March, her request was granted! Here they are enjoying the bliss of running in open space!


This one doesn't really have an explanation. It's just typical Thora, always performing some kind of drama or singing the narrative of her thoughts. Although, Thora never seems to sing at a normal volume (every song is belted out), she has added one nice bit of flair at the end. Click here to watch a 20-second video of this.

"Who me? Expressive?"

Thora continues to love playing dress-up. She loves it even more when she can cajole me into being dressed up as well. Sometimes that means pulling her stretchier dress-up clothes over my grown-up frame. Other times, it's what was captured below, namely the raiding of my jewelry box. One evening, after getting dolled up, we played around with the timer on the camera and managed to capture a very nice family photo.


Below, her and Zach get dolled up!


Auric LOVES puddles. Running through them, bouncing balls through them, long-jumping into them, racing strollers through them, this kid get no end of happiness with a simple puddle. Really, it makes me want to re-evaluate my priorities. Click here for a short video of this.



Auric and Sean were caught in this silly, and sweet, moment. Too cute!


Thora's appreciation of the Theatre took a turn for the grand, when we got tickets with Zach and his mom, Hilary, to see the Broadway sensation Mary Poppins at the Boston Opera House. Both kids had seen the movie and loved it. And yet, a 3-hour event that doesn't even start until after their bedtimes? It was kind of risky. Hil found discounted tickets, and we decided to risk it. We only made it through the first half. (Although the kids didn't realize it was just intermission, so we were able to leave without confusion or protests.) However, the experience of being in that stunning theatre I'm sure left a mark on Thora. You should've seen her acting the princess in that place, including the chandelier-laced ladies' room! We look forward to seeing the musical again, both acts next time, when she's a bit older. But it's a fond memory, despite the abbreviated experience.

Thora and Zach pose in the lobby of the Opera House.

Just prior to Thora's birthday, we got a visit from Baba and NuNu. Both kids had a mighty virus and we spent the first few hours of their visit laying on the couch, watching My Neighbor Toturo and nibbling crackers and sipping ginger ale. But over all it was a great visit which included Thora's birthday party just a few hours before their return flight!



Thora models one of her more famous dresses. Will we ever forget these dresses with frilly skirts and the gem-encrusted tops? Could there be anything more perfect for Thora's continued love of all things pink and/or glamorous? A big thank you to Hilary's mom, Sandy, who saw not just one of these, but a second one in black and pink, and thought to pick them up for Thora!


There are more pictures of Thora's birthday in an album to come, but here is one shot with her fourth birthday present from Sean and I, a big kid bike (it converts from a balance bike without pedals, to a pedal bike).



To help us out with Sean's surgery (during his time in the hospital and the recovery time afterward) Sean's parents visited us. We all had a great time (considering the circumstances) and they were an incredible help to me as I bounced back and forth between the kids and Sean in the hospital. Below, Grandpa Brian and Auric bond over a book.



Look at this kid! What can I even say about this? Seriously, he is too cute. His use of language has really boomed since spring. In March, he began saying his own name! Click here for a video of him being cute and saying his name, and a lot of other names.


One one afternoon, Brian and Beverly took Thora and Auric to Thora's dance class. Here she is enacting something, probably a flying unicorn princess. This was a great class for her. They used their imaginations, guided by the excellent instructor, Katy, and got to do lots of twirling, jumping, leaping, and galloping.


In addition to Thora's Creative Movement (dance) class, Thora continued with her Taekwondo lessons. She's an Advanced Tiger. Click here for one of my better videos (thanks to Foreigner) of Thora practicing Chon Ji, a 19-move routine. In the video, they practice the first 8 moves.

And that's it for now. Stay tuned for photos of Thora's birthday.

Best Moments from February

I've fallen so far behind that now February seems like a blur of snow and shoveling and endless viewings of Singin' in the Rain. Actually, of all the movies for us to watch practically daily, we got very lucky. Singin' in the Rain is a great movie and it stands up to a gazillion viewings. But despite Thora's good taste in movies, I'm happy to say that those cold, cooped-up days are but faint memories. Here are some photos that take me back to those cold, short, but at the same time, very long days. For the entire album, click here.

As I've mentioned before, we got almost record snowfall this winter. And with all the very cold days, there was nowhere for it to go. It wasn't melting, and so with each new snowfall, we all just dug out our sidewalks and cars, and added to the mountains of snow. They took on such height that the local hoodlums began tagging them. To give you a sense of scale, here is Thora near a snow mountain just outside our house. (Notice how her feet aren't touching the ground.)




Many of our afternoons were spent indoors and we were grateful for all our friends with whom we passed the time. Here is Thora and her friend, Ally, in one of their spirited dress-up/tea party sessions.



But mostly, my memories of the late winter are of Thora doing her best to express her desire to perform, while in the confines of our living room. With the daily viewings of Singin' in the Rain, there were daily performances. Here is Thora performing "All I Do is Dream of You." Click here for the Debbie Reynolds version from the movie to see what Thora is imitating. And if you're an It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fan, you might like Thora and Auric's rendition of "Dayman." Click here for that.

We tried to get out of the house as much as we could this past winter. A few days a week, we braved the elements to attend various activities. Thora practiced Tae Kwon Do twice a week, continued with tumble tots gymnastics once a week, and we added a great Creative Movement dance class once a week. Thora loved it. The kids were encouraged to trot and twirl and leap and skip to various styles of music and with accompanying storylines, e.g. "Now the ponies are going to gallop to their friends on the other side of the river [represented by a long line of scarves tied together]," or "When you get tapped on the head, you become a bird and you fly through the sky to your tree." Thora loved it. And so did Auric. The instructor is wonderfully accommodating when it comes to younger siblings. As long as I kept Auric from hurting himself or disrupting the class, he was welcome to dance and move (which usually translated into him mimicing the older kids) as much as he wanted to. The picture below shows Thora off to the left in the middle of some expressive dance, while Auric reaches up to the ceiling (in the red and blue striped shirt), surely mirroring what the older kids had all been doing a moment before.



Thora continues to enjoy her mornings at her pre-school. And during the winter months, they are lucky to get a second day of swimming each week. And with her lessons on Sundays at MIT and her twice-weekly lessons at school, she was getting lots of time in the water and getting better and better. Here is a progress report that came home with her in February. We were very proud parents!


In addition to all the activities and time with friends, there was still plenty of time for Auric to develop his love of getting into what he shouldn't. For him, some of his favorite elicit activities are indiscriminately pressing buttons on the DVR and DVD players, turning the microwave on, and his favorite, getting at our computer. Here he is, giddy at being caught, and waiting to be scooped up and away.



This month also saw him really flexing his vocabulary muscle. Here are a couple cute videos of his new-found power of speech: "Auric's Budding Vocabulary" and "Auric's Budding Vocabulary Part 2."


In February, Thora got her first taste of live theatre. The Boston Children's Theatre put on a production of Lily's Purple Plastic Purse, a mash-up of three Kevin Henkes books that feature Lily, the mouse. This is a character that Thora knew well and we thought it was a great opportunity for her to see some kids acting on the stage. Thora loved it. She wondered what the next play we would see would be and asked if she'd be one of the kids on stage. Somehow I don't doubt that there's some acting in her future. Here she is with the girl who played Lily, who posed with audience members after the play.



February wasn't all inhospitable weather and graffiti-tagged snow mountains. In fact, one day in late February, we got a surprisingly warmish day (for February) and we all went for ice cream after running around in the park. Here is Thora and Zach enjoying a well-deserved cone.




And lastly, February marked my first attempt at giving the kids haircuts. It was quite the milestone for me and Thora, since it marked Thora's first ever real haircut. (She'd had a few snarls cut out by Grandma Jane when she was 18 months old.) I was nervous, having never cut anyone's hair that didn't require buzzing it with electrical clippers (Sean's). But they both cooperated superbly, thanks to Gene Kelly and the rest of the gang in Singin' in the Rain.

Here's Thora about to be shorn.



And here's the final result. I was actually really proud of myself, giving it a good trim while maintaining the natural layers she's had her whole life.


And here's Mullet Boy, watching Don Lockwood try to woo Kathy Seldon.



And here he is, about to be enlisted in the army. I couldn't believe how easy he made it for me. And by him, of course I mean Gene Kelly. Auric sat bug-eyed, just like during each daily screening of our family's favorite movie.

22 Great Photos From Chicago

This January, I took the kids to Chicago for a quick visit with family. The original plan was for us to travel the week between Christmas and New Year's, because not only did Sean not have any extra time off work, he in fact had to work more than usual. So we all thought that would be a good time to go. Except Mother Nature didn't think the same thing, and we got slammed with a blizzard and our trip was canceled. But we rescheduled and made it there in January. Click here to see the whole album.

I love watching Thora and Auric play with classic toys! Here, they play with a Barrel of Monkeys.

Thora shows off her accomplishment while Auric mugs for the camera.

And I have to take this moment to flashback to the moment 2.25 years ago, when Thora was just a bit older than Auric is now. I love this photo of Thora and Baba.

Moving on, more mugging. This boy... what can I even say about him?

On our first full day, we worked our way over to the Lake Bluff's Park District, for a little sledding. We'd had success there the year before (see video here), and had quite a bit of success this winter in Cambridge. But I guess this sledding was a bit too intense for her. I mean, personally, I thought it was pretty awesome: it's easy to climb; it has a long ride down (so you get a thrill that's worth the relentless climbing); and in its current incarnation, it was really, really fast due to the melting and then re-freezing snow. But as you can see, either Thora was just in a foul, and therefore less-than-daring mood, or she was sincerely frightened, or both. Here's her second and final trip down the hill. And I'm holding back the link, just for one more sentence, because I have to say that her brother was tossed off the sled (out of my arms) and his body did a kind of little ninja-throwing-star move... face down! And he was fine. So again, I think she was in a foul mood. So here's the link--note the sobbing and running away at the end. And my "oh goodness..." comment.

Anyway, on with the visit.

On our first day with Grandma Jane, we made a visit to the Rainforest Cafe ("Rain Corest Cafe" as Thora says it) which has become a much-anticipated tradition.

As are the coin-operated vehicles kiosk that occupies some mall real estate between the Rainforest Cafe and the closest exit.

We spent much of Friday and Saturday watching the kids bounce around inside jumping castles and big inflated obstacle courses. On Friday afternoon, after a highly entertaining trip to the Rainforest Cafe, we hit My Jump Place near my mom's place. It's not flashy, but it's got the bases covered. Thora loves this place and bounces, climbs, and flops around until thoroughly exhausted. Which is what we're aiming for.

The following day, Grandma Jane and Aunt Natalie accompanied us to Monkey Joe's, a jumping castle paradise. This place--a midwest chain, I think--was very well-run and we managed to eek out about 2 hours there, feeding the kids in the middle, (which actually kind of had me worried... I mean do you really want kids full on pizza and juice to be bouncing around?) But we were puke-free and exhausted when we left.

Here's Auric "driving" a race car video game.

And when I say "we" went home exhausted, I do mean "we," since Auric and Thora love it when we do these activities with them. Natalie is always tireless when she's with her niece and nephew.

After some lunch and some outlet shopping, we headed back to Grandma Jane and Grandpa Terry's house, where we were treated with some sledding and frozen-creek playing. Below, Thora and Auric are loving the ride to the creek in the big sled.

Here's the workhorse, Grandpa Terry!

He kindly shoveled a path across the frozen creek. We loved walking around on the frozen water and throwing the frisbee for their puppy, Abby. And despite Thora's earlier protest that would never sled again, ever, here she is eating her words.

Here we are, later, warmed up, having eaten Grandma Jane's home-cooked Chicken and Dumplings (one of my favorite meals from childhood), and having watched Shrek (Thora's first time). Since then, she's comically referred to Shrek as "the Yoger." "The yogurt? Why does the Yogurt run into the church? The Yogurt?!? Oh... the ogre!"

Then, on our last full day, we headed to the Botanic Gardens, where we thoroughly (THOROUGHLY) enjoyed the tropical and desert greenhouses.

Below, Natalie helps Thora with a Botanic Gardens bingo game where you hunt for various sights within the garden. Here, I think they're checking off the banana tree square on her bingo sheet.

Here's NuNu and Thora, I think maybe identifying an orchid.

And here, the boy enjoys a new toy from Aunt Sue (Cathy's sister), a perfect fit for his interest in sorting, stacking, and just generally fitting things onto/into other things. He's happy. But really, when is he not?

And then we found a baby mermaid statue and we tried for next year's Christmas Card photo. We kind of got it. And it wasn't for not trying.

And then, while every other Chicagoan was watching the Bears' playoff game with the Green Bay Packers, we were allowing Thora to expel the afternoon's worth of cooped-up winter energy at the LB Park District's open gym. Here she plays with/forces her brother down the slide. Again, I mean what else can I say about this boy?!?

And then, I couldn't resist ending on a sweet note.