Christmas Eve 2012 Take Two

Doppa i Gryta at high noon was just the start of our Christmas Eve fun.  Alicia and I hosted the Kim family in the latter half of the day.  Committed to ensuring that Anika's only food-related association with Christmas was "Swedish Slop," Alicia went all out and made prime rib.

I confess, two slabs of meat like this make me start to rethink more than fifty years of broth and bread.  And this was only the tip of the iceberg, which was followed with mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, cornbread stuffing, string beans, the best gravy ever created, a tasty salad with pomegranate, and a traditional mouth-watering desert courtesy of Grandma Kim.  Alicia is something of a maestro in the kitchen.  Pretty soon Alicia will start to insist that I call her just that--the maestro. 

Anika got to spend lots of good time with her favorite Aunt Jen, who we're pretty sure she confuses for Alicia. 

Only mom-confusion (or the necklace Jen was wearing) explains this type of cuddling out of Anika these days.  Alicia and I get precious little of it, unless she's just waking up or completely out of her element.  All she wants to do is walk! 

Which brings us to what is currently by far Anika's favorite Christmas gift--this little shopping cart that she got from her other favorite Aunt--Michelle.  For days now, Anika's activity of choice is to push this thing around our main floor in circles.  (Every once in a while she stops to unload an animal or to look and wave at her reflection in the oven.)  Unfortunately, Alicia and I get no back relief, because the cart is so light and Anika so unsteady that someone has to bend over to hold the front of it down so she doesn't fall flat on her face.  Check out her athletic stance in this picture!

Anika's hands-down favorite part of the Kim family Christmas, though, was seeing her cousins Justin, Evan, Gabe and Nolan.  She could watch and laugh at these guys for hours.  Nolan (far right) is her best pal, and Anika loves to play with him.  Not a bad looking bunch.

Anika also had fun with the Kims playing games this weekend.  This is her being a stickler with the Taboo timer.

Christmas Eve 2012--Anika's First Doppa i Gryta

The Freeman family has an awesome tradition that started in "the old country," and which Anika's great, great grandparents Emma and Rudolph brought from Sweden to Minnesota.  It's called Doppa i Gryta.  I've always been told this means "dip and give thanks" in Swedish, but I'm pretty sure (because the internet never lies) that it really means "dipped in a pot."  In Freeman in-law parlance it has come to be called by a different, less glamorous name: "Swedish Slop."  As much as I like the idea of giving thanks, and appreciate the wit in the in-laws' nickname, dipped in a pot is about right.  Doppa i Gryta consists primarily of bread and broth.  In a good year, the family used to have meat as well, though now every year is a good year, and we regularly have beef and and pork.  It's a tradition that I love and cherish.  If my calculations are right, the Freeman family has been celebrating Christmas with Doppa i Gryta for more than 50 years, and if I have anything to say about it, it will go on for hundreds more.  Given that I'm having only moderate success at inspiring Alicia to appreciate Doppa i Gryta, I'm resorting to the next best plan.  If I can inspire Anika, I think I can inspire Alicia (and Anika's future siblings) and then the next 100 years will be secure.  Anika is the key to the plan.

This is Anika suiting up for her first Doppa i Gryta.  We didn't want to soil her beautiful Christmas sweater, so we went with her full-body bib.

This is the bread, the broth, and the "pot."  Because Anika is still toothless, we skipped the meat.  That and Anika wanted to experience the old-school, authentic Doppa i Gryta just like they used to eat it on the farmstead.

Lots of anticipation.  Bite number one.  Many thousands more to come!

Mmmm...mmmm...good.  Anika was quite pleased.  She is committed to showing up her many, many cousins, who somehow manage to get away with eating chicken nuggets at Christmas.

This is the next generation.  Owen, on the far right, was clearly upset about being deprived of Doppa i Gryta.

Christmas Eve Eve 2012

It's Christmas Eve Eve.  Anika's starting to dream big dreams of crinkly paper, boxes of all shapes and sizes, and shiny bags.  And Anika's repertoire of tricks and feats of strength is growing--just in time to impress her family and friends.  

Anika likes to show off her lizard-like superpower, while she waves at you or does soooooo big at the same time.  She's clearly going to be a multi-tasker like her Mom. 

Anika practices her tricks in this little snail mirror.

As you can see, she get's quite engrossed in her craft.  Practice makes perfect, she says.

When Anika's not waving and sticking out our tongue, she's cruising around the coffee table, practicing her speed-walking skills.  Her favorite playtime activity with Mom and Dad these days is holding onto our hands and doing laps around the living room.  Alicia and I are both developing chronic pain in our lower backs.  I like to see how fast we can go.

Anika works up quite a sweat and then insists on some whirlpool and sauna time.  We lovingly oblige.

She's not so good at relaxing in the tub.  It's not long and she starts into her motivational speaking routines.

Anika has pretty much abandoned getting around on all fours using her "worm" technique.  Alicia finally told her that her lats were getting too big.  As reluctant as Anika was to conform to the conventional crawling methods of her peers, she's getting the hang of it and moving four times as fast as she used to.

When she's tired of cardio, we let her move the living room furniture around. 

This tuckers her out fast, and she complains that she needs a gym membership like the other kids.  I then tell her about Rocky IV and how Micky's old-school training helped Rocky take down Drago and end the Cold War. 

At that, Anika sucks it up, re-hydrates, and gets back to business.

Even after a hard day of training, Anika easily transforms back into her cute easy-going self.

Christmas Tree Hunt 2012

This weekend after three years of Christmas tree bliss, we spurned the Home Depot and went into the great outdoors to select our tree.  By great outdoors, I mean the Hansen tree farm in Ramsey, Minnesota, no insignificant commute with an almost-11-month old. We wanted to start a Christmas family tradition of cutting down our own hand-picked tree.   

Anika had a hard time holding back her excitement.  Throwing up her arms in the air and giggling is one of her best new tricks! 

We (Alicia, Anika, our roommate Tracy, and I) walked up and down every single row of fir trees looking for the perfect tree.  This process took no less than an hour and a half.  Our true and embarrassing Christmas pickiness (too thin, too small, too big, wrong shape, too many holes . . .) was fully exposed and at its apex when Alicia suggested we just get our tree at Home Depot. 

Having heard stories of the 2008 Wilsford-Freeman debacle of a tree hunt, Anika demanded that we persevere, and we soldiered on.  Anika remained entertained and begged us to pick a tree so that she could get on with performing the cutting herself.  Maybe she'll be a lumberjack like her great grandpa John.

Anika liked standing next to the baby trees. 

They were just her size!

Eventually we settled on our tree, determined not to go crawling back to Home Depot.  Anika was more interested in the tree than posing for a Christmas card photo.  Clearly, we made a fatal mistake in waiting until the end of our tree hunt to snap the Christmas card photos.

Next, it was time for the hard work.  Alicia and Anika supervised and offered words of encouragement. 

Mission accomplished.  Only a half-mile walk back to the station for bundling the tree.  Luckily, I ate my Wheaties. 

And at least there was a horse drawn wagon ride awaiting us.  Anika's Aunt Lynn has been promising her a pony for Christmas, but she wasn't nearly as excited about the prospect after seeing the size of a grown up pony.

Anika had so much fun at the tree farm, she suggested we cut down a tree every month.  This is one of Anika's other new tricks--the one-hand wave.  She'll do it on command and even waves at strangers!

Anika posing in front of her first of many Christmas trees.

Curious Critters

Over the long turkey-day weekend, Anika continued developing her zoological brilliance.  Even at less than two months shy of a year old, Alicia's television ban is in full force.  Even the most educational programs, like Life or Planet Earth are strictly prohibited.  Luckily, I have acceptable teaching alternatives.  Who needs a zoo, or the television, when you have Curious Critters, by David FitzSimmons?

The inside is as striking as the cover.  Curious Critters was a wonderful gift from Mrs. Hansen, "the Judge's" wife.  The photos are breathtaking.  In light of Alicia's gift at making animal sounds, we could probably charge admission for the other neighborhood kids.

The giant goldfish is one of Anika's favorites.  It's about 50 times a goldfish's actual size!  I doubt Anika will tolerate Mom's trips to the fish store ever again.

When Anika's eyes get really big, I tell her that it'd taste like chicken.  I don't think she is convinced.

Sometimes Anika gets over-anxious, and we tell her to stand still politely until she is called on.

I will take lizards for $500, Alex.

The different kinds of frogs are also a big hit.  Probably because Anika is so adept at moving around on all fours and sticking out her tongue.  I'd guess her tongue is three times the length of a normal human tongue, but I'm sure it's just right for a frog.

We are working on smile correction--with no real success and no promising methods.  Nose scrunching and eye-squinting are endearing when you're one.  Twenty one . . . not so much.

Curiosity and mischief are in full swing at the Freeman household.

Movember and The Beard Project

November, also known as "Movember", is now the one month of the year in which men can shamelessly let their facial hair grow regardless of whether it can be sported well or poorly--even in professional settings.  (Because I'm not convinced a mustache can ever be pulled off in a professional setting by anyone born after 1960, I'm opting for the beard.)  What boss or client can fault you for supporting prostate cancer?  Thus, I have joined the Movember facial-hair growing movement this month.  While I'm all in favor of whipping prostate cancer, I confess that I have ulterior motives.

Ever since Anika has been old enough to observe her environment, she's been scared of Grandpa Kim.  Alicia and I are at a loss for this phenomenon.  We finally decided that it must be Grandpa Kim's (extremely impressive and sporty) beard.  Thus, when Movember rolled around, I thought perhaps my growing of a (not as impressive and sporty) beard would help Anika overcome her fears.

This is before the days of Anika's keen observational skills.  (That or she was simply immobile and unable to express her fear of the beard.)

This is Saturday morning.  I've been hard at work growing my beard for twelve days or so.  You will note that Anika is all smiles notwithstanding the dark, and intimidating scruffiness of my face.

Needless to say, Anika is a lot more excited about this new development than Alicia.

This weekend, after almost two full weeks of the beard project, it was time to test my hypothesis.  Grandma and Grandpa Kim came to South Minneapolis for a first-time trip to Marla's Caribbean Cuisine--a hot spot that has been featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  Anika doesn't like to mess around when she eats out.  It's only high-profile, international fare for her.  

This is Anika a month or so ago at Victor's 1959 Cafe--also a Minneapolis favorite, which was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  The Cuban food is wonderful.  Anika got in the mood by doing her best Fidel Castro impression.  Or maybe she's expressing her agreement with the UN's condemnation of the embargo?  Hard to tell.

After enjoying Victor's so much, Anika wanted to stick with the Caribbean theme.  As you can see, both Anika and Grandma were quite happy about Marla's colorful red sign. 

Anika got right down to business when she arrived.  Marla's has the tastiest menus around!  We had to teach her that the Caribbean vibe involves being relaxed and, thus, voraciously eating the menu wasn't scoring us any points with the waitress.

Anika was outraged when we told her she couldn't order the ox tail, and we started feeding Anika her standard-issue pureed chicken and mashed up vegetables instead.  You'd have thought we were feeding her MREs.     

Luckily, this was not a problem that a bit of play time with her rattling ball wouldn't solve.  Few are.

So far so good.  She was quite happy sitting next to Grandpa Kim, beard and all.  But long-distance proximity is really no indicator of success when it comes to Anika.  We were cautiously optimistic.

Alicia and I give Marla's two thumbs up.  My chicken jerk was fantastic (just make sure you have plenty of napkins to wipe the sweat off of your forehead). Alicia's meal was also scrumptious.  We'll be going back for sure!

At home, it was time for the true test. 

In the midst of a spirited family game of Rook (the men won), Anika finally settled in happy and comfortable next to Grandpa Kim.  Mission accomplished.  Physics 101 starts next week.