Velocity kid

It's the Incredible Speedy Magnus! From this:


to this:


in only four months.

Magnus now masters:

Eating a teaspoonful of porridge in the evenings. Yum!
Kicking off his socks in three seconds flat.
Lots of different noises, mmms and aaahs and gargles and squeals in an eloquent mix.
Keeping his head steady when lifted.
Laughing at his mirror self.
Laughing harder at his uncle Eiv.
Laughing even harder when someone says 'bæsj' (poo). Already?
Charming every female in any given social setting. Flight attendants are a particular favourite.
Falling asleep - but only if placed between mum and dad in their bed in the wee hours.

Yearbook 2009 II

Most likely to yank your heart out of your chest before you even know what hit you:

Magnus

who is also Most likely to become a spinning instructor, Most likely to double in size and Most likely to be kissed a million times in the coming year.

A question of Sølver

"Lin opened her eyes to a landscape of desolate winter mountains, where a pale, full moon painted the snow silver and stern peaks rose into the sky. Gwen touched her shoulder lightly, and Lin turned around. She found herself at the top of a steep hill, gazing down on a deep, shimmering valley of hillocks and forestclad slopes. A naked, frozen river ran through it like a steel ribbon, and at the end of the ribbon twinkled the lights of a town enclosed by snowladen trees on three sides and a lake of cold, blue ice on the fourth.
- Well, I do see why you call it..."

What?

I've pondered and mulled for weeks on end and not made up my mind. So I thought I'd ask you! Which of these three should be the name of the realm where Snowchild takes place: Sølveros, Sølverdal, or Sølverheim?

I suppose for those of you who don't speak Norwegian, it might be hard to choose. Sølver means silver, but with a slight twist leaning towards *of silver* or *silvery*. Sølveros means the estuary of the river Sølver, Sølverdal means Sølver Valley, while Sølverheim means Home of Silver. All three suffixes are common in place names in Norway, like Røros, Sunndal, Trondheim.

Now, there is a river and there is a valley, so they're all logical enough. But if you can, just listen for magic and music in the name (if any). Which magical realm would you like to go to?

2009 Yearbook

Most likely to pick your heart out of your pocket without you even noticing:

Gwendolen

It's been almost a year since the kittens showed up in our lives, on Christmas Eve of all nights. I wonder how Gwen is. Is she still as smart? Still as agile? Still as mischievous and charmingly crooked in the face? I thought I had other favourites among the kittens, but it turned out, when the time came to send them off to new homes, the only time I really cried afterwards was when I closed the door behind cheeky, little Gwen, knowing that I would probably never see her again.

Miss you, little rascal!

Yes, Copenhagen is right that way

Barack Obama is in town to receive his peace prize. Here he is with the Prime Minister, probably pointing towards my house. Or could it be Copenhagen?

(The image is by scanpix, and I'm hoping they won't charge me for using it.)

Magnus and I were Christmas shopping downtown yesterday, and outside Grand Hotel, we were interviewed by Italian television. They seemed very disappointed in my answers. Yes, I think he deserves the prize. No, I'm not angry that he's spending so few hours in Oslo, because I agree: he should get to Copenhagen as quickly as possible.

But if he wanted to stop by Marselis, I've got good chai tea.

Tree, cat, and disaster waiting to happen

No real tree this year, and my ornaments must spend this season snoozing in their box. But that just makes it even more fun next year, little ones, I promise. In lieu of a pretty green tree, Peter got some larch branches from the garden in Sandvika. Now let's see how long Pims is going to leave them up there. I anticipate a huge crash in the middle of the night. Only good thing is, I'll be up already anyway.

UPDATE: I was going to take a picture of the evidence next morning, but forgot. But Bambi had had her ear chewed and two of the branches were snapped. But other than that: smooth, Pims, very smooth.

Merry Christmas, Magnus Brown

Cute, no? A slightly different advent this year, with no time for gingerbread cookies and no time for a full social calendar. But it's nice nonetheless. I'm almost done with the Christmas shopping, too.

Honest scrap

Yay, I got an award from Catherine. Thanks, dear!

Okay, so I'm supposed to tell ten honest things about myself. Hm. I'll try to make them things not everybody knows already:

1. When energetic, I like to jump around. (It's been a while, I can tell you.)

2. It doesn't look too good, though, since I'm not particularly graceful. As a soccer player, I was best at the running part, or the anticipation of the play part, or really any part not actually involving the ball. (Oh yes, I used to play soccer. I practiced three hours every day during the last year of high school. Sigh. Hours I'm never getting back.)

4. But hey, during that time, I also made out with a world famous soccer player.

5. My two favourite kinds of movie are Christmas movies and disaster movies. Now if they could only replace the little plane in 2012 with Santa's sleigh...

6. I can't stand adrenaline kicks. They hurt.

7. I think I'm better at cooking than I actually am. I also cannot under any circumstances be kissed when I cook, brain overload!

8. I'm freakishly fond of my sister and brother. Okay, that one was not new.

9. I'm a grammar bully and privately sneer at mistakes in people's facebook status, then feel bad for being such a snob.

10. I talk to my father's photo sometimes.

Bedtime battle

Guess who prevailed this night... Okay, so Magnus isn't ready for bedtime at eight just yet, no matter what the books say. He wins. For now.

(Sorry for the blurry pic, but at that point, I actually thought it was because of my own sleep deprived eyes.)