Episode CLXII: Elliot's First Ever Birthday

Elliot just turned ONE YEAR OLD!

To celebrate, his grandparents came to visit. Here's everybody celebrating at Elliot's baby work (aka daycare).

 [That's his baby work boss in the back]

On the day of his birthday, Elliot's second cousins came over (the Sanchez family) and we all played at the park.

 

[Elliot "opening presents"]

 Most kids get to make a giant cake mess on their birthday. Well *my* son chose to make the world a cleaner place:

 

Elliot is really enjoying his new birthday toys. At first, however, his favorite part was sitting on the boxes they came in:

Later while my parents were still out, the WHOLE NORRIS CLAN went out and played tennis.

Happy Birthday sweet baby!

Episode CLXI: Twin Cities

Meg and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary by heading to the cooler climes of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul.

What is there to do in the Twin Cities? Well, for starters, we headed over to the largest mall in the USA:

[Yes, we are overlooking an amusement park, inside the mall]

We visited a modern art museum in Minneapolis, where we "participated" in one of the works of art.

 

 

Did you know that Minneapolis was the "Flour Milling Capital of the World" in the 1800s? Well it was, and now you can visit some of the "ruins" of abandoned mills along the Mississippi River, and observe re-enactments of how the mills worked.

[We're on the 7th floor of a now-defunct General Mills flour mill]

We headed over to St. Paul, where you can visit earthen mounds thousands of years old, built by Native Americans on a cliff overlooking the Mississippi River.

We also took some time to enjoy Northern (Scandinavian, that is) food.

 And we couldn't pass up the opportunity to splash around in the kiddo pool.

And finally, Elliot developed quite a knack for looking away from the camera during selfies. Here is a brief sample:

 

Episode CLX: Barcelona

 
Now that I'm my own boss, I get to choose which conferences I go to. This year, go figure, there was a conference about C. elegans in Barcelona!

The meeting was held at a big convention center / hotel / cruise ship port of call. It's the big bowl-shaped building at the tip of the pier in this photo.

In my free time I visited a museum dedicated to the art of legendary Barcelona artist Joan Miró.  I found a painting that looks remarkably like C. elegans worms crawling around on a petri dish. Maybe he was a fan!

Here's a photo of the whole gang of worm researchers at the meeting.

I'll also mention just one tourist attraction. La Sagrada Família is a cathedral, and is currently the longest-running construction project in the world (began in 1882). I've been to a lot of cathedrals in my lifetime, and this one takes the cake.

The outside entrance is a nativity scene that looks like it's made of melting wax. Unique features include angels playing bassoons and violins, pillars held up by turtles, and a cypress tree full of doves floating above Baby Jesus.

The inside is ethereal. It's how I imagine the Forest of Lothlórien from The Lord of the Rings. The pillars morph into trees, and the trees meld into heavenly light.

The centerpiece is a Jesus on the cross who simultaneously appears to be ascending into heaven.

Plans for completion in 2026.

Every night I was able to Skype with Meg and Elliot. One night, for the first time ever, Elliot decided to "crawl" and greet me.

 ["Hi Dad, just gonna come over and send you a text message."]

Episode CLIX: Dr. Mom, Ph.D.

The Norris Family recently returned to Boston to celebrate Meg's Ph.D. conferral!

 First was the flight from DFW to BOS. Elliot is now officially a pro at flying. Here we are just hanging out on the plane.

[Elliot is trying to touch my phone with his foot]

We met Meg's parents at the Boston airport and then we all stayed in an Airbnb up in Malden, which was a quick subway ride away from Harvard Square.

[Elliot riding the Orange Line]

Here's the whole gang posing beneath the iconic Harvard Biology Rhino.

And now the main event! Meg is at the podium receiving her degree in historic Sanders Theatre.

After the celebrations were over, we all went up to Maine to stay with Meg's parents. Here we are at Two Lights, Maine, enjoying some seafood and Elliot's first visit to the Atlantic Ocean.

[Elliot seems none too impressed]

Our trip to Boston clearly made Elliot a subway-riding pro. Here we are taking the subway back home from DFW airport. Look at how well he nonchalantly fits in with the train-going crowd.

Episode CLVIII: Rusty Jr.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you the second car I've ever owned, a 2016 Mini Cooper that we call Rusty Jr.

Long-time readers may remember that for many years I owned an old Nissan truck named Trusty Rusty, which was formerly owned by my grandpa Shearer. Thus the new car's name, although the color is technically "Volcanic Orange." There are a few similarities though.

Interestingly enough, I was car shopping online via AutoTrader, and the perfect car just happened to be in Long Beach, CA. So my dad drove down and took it for a test drive, then the dealer shipped it all the way out here to Dallas. Our first family trip in Rusty Jr.? In-N-Out, to spend some Grandma Shearer gift cards!

We just recently came back from our first road trip in the Mini Cooper, and it was great. We drove out to Searcy, Arkansas to attend the wedding of Jenny Martin. Here we are hanging out on the campus of Harding University in Searcy (Rusty Jr. in the background).

The road trip was also a convenient excuse to meet up with my parents and sister. Here are all three Moms celebrating Mother's Day with their sons.

And of course Elliot got to share some quality time with his cousin. Here they are practicing "sharing."

I personally didn't need my own car, as I have a pleasant bike-ride to work, and was just fine with our one car family. The real need was so that I could help out taking Elliot to daycare. Here we are playing peek-a-boo out the back seat, right before dropping him off. I think he's enjoying it.

Episode CLVII: Family and Grandpa's Funeral

We traveled back to California for a funeral for Grandpa Norris. It was a nice time to remember and celebrate his good life, and to catch up with a whole lot of Norris folks.

Here's one of my favorite pictures shown at the funeral. It's Grandpa (standing) and his siblings (seated). You can already identify a number of recognizable Bill Norris characteristics from even that young age.

The trip was also an excellent excuse for Elliot and his favorite cousin to hang out some more. His cousin is now big enough that he can hold Elliot in his lap!

He can also hold Elliot in his lap while administering a dental exam, should the need arise.

Here they are sharing each other's sorrows, shortly after a sudden loud noise. (There are often sudden loud noises when lots of Norrises get together.)

Elliot also took advantage of the lovely SoCal weather to go for his first swim!

In another first, Elliot ate his first solid food! We'd been offering little tastes of fruit and whatnot for the last few weeks, and he'd always declined. But when we offered him a homemade peanut butter chocolate square (made by his grandpa Norris), he DEVOURED it!

[Truly his dad's own son]

He liked it so much that when we got home we made him some more peanut butter squares, and guess what? Devoured again!

[Peanut butter squares have been transformed into peanut butter drool]

Episode CLVI: The Cousins Meet

We brought Elliot back to The OC to see the Norris family, and my sister likewise brought her son, so the cousins got to meet for the first time! They were fast friends. Here they are sharing a couch seat:

 

Sharing a "hug":

 

Sharing a hand to suck on:

 

Sharing both a hug and a hand to suck on?

 Sharing a menu at BJ's Pizza (with Great Grandma): 

Sharing a stimulating conversation:

Sharing a yoga mat:

 And telling a joke:

What else was Elliot up to while we were out in the OC? Well, he was taking skateboarding lessons.

He also sampled some choice Californian coffee.

 

He joined the Norrises for our annual Christmas Shopping Trip to Goodwill.

 
Here he is celebrating Christmas with Mommy.

And finally, here he is posing as part of FOUR generations of Norris boys. In fact, as it occurs to me, four generations of Norris eldest sons!