As Thomas was lighting off fireworks on the 4th of July (good Davidson Uncle practice, Thomas!) Riley was in the air on his way to the land of fire and ice. Riley arrived in Iceland on Monday, July 5th (which happens to be my birthday). A visit from a little brother and brand-new Davidson Uncle is by far the best birthday present I could have hoped for! The night before my b-day, Tumi took me out to a fabulous dinner...tapas, wine, and no baby...it was glorious! It was the first time Tumi and I were out together for a date since Elsa María's arrival. We are gonna have to make that a regular thing, because it absolutely kicked-ass. When we got home that night, Tumi was bouncing Elsa to sleep (she was having one of her 'the-world-is-coming-to-an-end-and-I-will-not-be-comforted-because-I-am-so-sleepy-and-don't-know-how-to-relax cries) and told me there was some boxes and junk in the back seat of the car that I should go clear out so as to fit Riley's bags the next morning. When I got to the car, there were indeed some boxes in the backseat...boxes wrapped up in paper and ribbon for my birthday! My man bought me some wonderful movies and a new bread-maker! Now I can make delicious bread easy as pie and make the house smell good all the time...I am a very pleased lady.
Riley has done a wonderful job as a Davidson Uncle so far, he is teaching Elsa about the guitar and making her giggle like a good fuzzy-faced uncle should. On the many strolls we've taken through downtown Reykjavik, he is not shy about letting me know which buildings he could climb, and how he would do it. He appreciated the graffiti in my fair city, and has had an Iceland hotdog every single day of his visit so far.
Riley is also an entertaining houseguest/couchsurfer .... asking as he comes out the the bathroom, "Hey Mef, what's your policy on flushing?" To which I reply, "Well, Riley, it's really a judgement call; you just do what you think is right." To which he replies, "Cool," and then walks into the living room to chill on the couch. Or, when watching the World Cup, he glances up at the shelf in the kitchen where we keep our liquor and says, "Hey Mef, whose whiskey is that?" And I am tempted to answer, "Oh, that? That belongs to our neighbors. They keep it here so that when their little brothers come over to visit they don't have to give them any." Instead I simply say, "Whose do you think it is? If you want some, just ask!" Ah, brothers.
Last week, I had a graduation party with Gunnhildur and Taru. All of us finished our Master's Degrees this spring, and none of us had held a party to celebrate the achievement, so we decided to combine resources and threw one big summertime grill party, and called it "Master's Degrees and Mojitos!" Tumi's parents generously let us use their house and we went to ENGI, the organic farm out in the countryside where I spent a couple of days last summer to buy the mint we would use to make the mojitos. They have a market open during the summer, so we made a road trip there last week with all the girls (Me, Gunnhildur, Taru, and Elsa María).
Riley brought some wonderful books from Gramma Julie for my darling little Elsa María. It is so cool to sit with her and read the books I remember from my own childhood like Goodnight Moon, Each Peach Pear Plum, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Good Dog Carl. She likes them, too. She looks at the pages and is mostly calm as we read to her. I can tell that reading to her is going to bring all of us a lot of joy in the future!
Elsa María is growing like bad debt (to borrow her Grandpa Frank's phrase). She coos, squeals, giggles, and makes other adorable baby noises. I swear I heard her say 'vuvuzela' the other day. She has also learned the name of her favorite aunt...well, almost. She can say 'Guuuu' and now all she needs to learn is the '-nnhildur' part and we're good to go! Elsa loves her aunt Gunnhildur very much. She also loves to watch soccer almost as much as her Pabbi does. The bright colors and noises on the TV are very exciting, and I imagine that when she sits snuggles up with Tumi while he is watching an exciting game, his heartbeat is probably very stimulating for her as well! Elsa is now three months old, and can roll over both front-to-back and back-to-front, and drools like it's a competition.
We are now waiting patiently for the rest of the family to arrive in just under a week (hooray!) there will be plenty of new pictures and stories to share after their visit!
Here is Elsa laughing at her hilarious father...he's quite the funny-man!
Elsa has started putting her hands in her mouth. Sometimes her hands also grab her slobber-bib. Often, the two actions occur simultaneously. The results can be very confusing for everybody:
Elsa watching the World Cup with Pabbi. What the hell ref? He was off-sides!
Elsa's reading 'Goodnight Moon' with Pabbi:
Happy bouncing with Aunt Gunnhildur:
Gunnhildur at the hotdog stand in Selfoss....cuz it's whatcha do when yer in Selfoss.
...But when you're a veggie-eater, like Taru, you order the 'vegetarian pita' from the hotdog stand. That's when they give you a piece of bread filled with lettuce. It's your own fault for not eating meat, you hippie!
Elsa is having an important conversation with her blue elephant friend. Looks like they're talking about bubbles, and Elsa has some valuable words on the subject:
Sunshine!
The Grads at the 'Master's Degrees and Mojitos' party:
This is towards the end of a long car ride. To me, her face says, "What the fuck, Mom. Why are you taking my picture when I'm wearing my teddy-bear outfit? You are so lame."
