Such a guy

Uncles, aunties and cousins oh my

As a prelude to Matt and I's upcoming visit to New York, Matt's cousin Peter visited while he was in town for a conference. Brad and Jenny came over too, and Theo got to play bouncy ball with his Uncle Brad. Theo was a real charmer that evening, walking around giggling, squealing and being all-around a whole lot of fun. Peter fascinated Theo by making a popping sound using his finger in his mouth, and Theo has been trying to replicate it ever since. I've had to learn to do it so I can satisfy Theo's new need for mouth-popping sounds.

Lovin' spoonful

Theo is starting to get spoon-use! Horrah!

We spent a very cold morning at the zoo on Saturday, and had a very fun time. It was the first time that Theo could walk around and direct what he wanted to see, to some extent, anyway. Matt commented on how Theo seemed equally taken by the pigs, orangutans, or just a waterfall in an empty exhibit. Although, as you can see, the orangutan part was pretty awesome.

Thanks for the visit Grandma Betsy and Great Aunt Carolyn!

A couple of weeks ago, Papa went to California and Grandma Betsy and Great Aunt Carolyn came to visit me and Theo! It was such a fun visit, and a very special treat to have Great Aunt Carolyn in Portland! We enjoyed eating Thai food and Indian food, Aunt Carolyn helped me do some painting, and we walked Theo and Lucy to the park and Grandma Betsy and Great Aunt Carolyn helped Theo go down the slide over and over.

During her visit, Grandma Betsy was a big help by babysitting on Monday so I could go to work. She also bought Theo a new set of Duplos, with pieces that form a Thomas the Train plus a big tunnel for the train to go under. Theo loves it! The other day I was playing with Theo with the train, and I would roll the train under the tunnel, and if it would get stuck instead of coming out the other side, I'd say "oops!" and Theo would fall into fits of giggles.

Big boy at the table

Well friends, Theo is officially a toddler. He walks all the time, all over the house, back and forth, round and round. Matt put together his new pint-sized table and chairs this week, and Theo is thrilled with his new furniture. He's too little to get into the chair himself, yet (even though he's a whopping 32 inches high!), but he requests (by whining) to be placed in his chair often, and loves sitting like a big boy at the table. He likes to pound on the table like a drum or play with his teach and touch turtle. The chairs are also really fun to push around. A new word to report, "bird", which he learned at Grandpa Steve's house...of course!

All the things he can do UPDATE!

Today Theo learned to stand up in the middle of the floor without holding on to anything! AND he waited until I got home from work to do it for the first time! He got such a reaction out of me that he did it over and over again, falling onto his butt in between just to do it again. Between this and the advances in walking the last few days, he'll be running in no time.