Theo and mama

My boy is so sweet. And fun. He has become quite the snugglebear and loves to laugh and play with his mama. The very next day after writing that he says baby whenever we try to get him to say mama, he started saying mama to get my attention. Yay! I know I'll grow tired of it one day after hearing it for the hundredth time in an hour, but for now, its the greatest.

15 months and counting

Theo is still long and lean at 15 months: 32 1/4 inches tall and a scant 22.5 lbs. Some of his favorite activities include running, laughing, climbing into chairs, and pointing at body parts and other objects, requesting we name them. A typical conversation with Theo right now goes something like this (you'll have to visualize the pointing): "Thats" "That's my nose" "Thats" "Thats my eye" "Thats" "Thats my ear" "Thats" "That's your ear" "Thats" "Thats your belly button" "Thats" "Thats my belly button" "Thats" "Thats your belly button" "Thats" "Thats my nose" and so on. His vocabulary has grown to include "socks" and "baby", but amazingly, no actual body parts yet. He says dada pretty regularly now, but inexplicably, he's taken to saying "baby", kind of like a frenchman, with the accent on the second syllable, instead of "mama". Go figure.

Like a new yard

Matt and I are almost finished making-over our new back yard. We expanded into the driveway and built a new gate across, nearly doubling our space. The result is a patio area perfect for Theo to run around and someday soon ride a trike! We are enjoying it tremendously as the spring gets warmer and brighter.

Visit with Grammy Betsy

Grammy Betsy came to visit last weekend and we had so much fun! We enjoyed beautiful spring weather out in the yard and walking to the park. Theo and Grammy laughed and laughed as they played together, and mommy and daddy got to go out to dinner all by ourselves!

More than just toast

We have finally gotten Theo to regularly feed himself more than just toast, cheese and crackers. Horrah! It just took a little effort on our part. His self-feeding repertoire now includes beans, tofu, apples, pears, raisins, quesadillas, pizza, and all sorts of good things. He even helps feed himself with a spoon, but mostly we still are only willing to let him help with the spoon. If we let him have it, he throws it after almost every bite! That gets messy.

Little drummer boy

There was a time when Theo would play open and close, open and close with the pots and pans cabinet in the kitchen and never actually take anything out or cause any trouble. Those days are over. Theo's interest in drumming has been obvious since he first started standing and pounding on chair seats, but now it has taken a much more creative slant. These days he creates his very own drum sets by setting up two pots, or this afternoon in the yard two plastic flower pots, up next to each other, taking turns hitting them and enjoying the different tones created. Matt recently showed him how to hit two lids together like cymbals. Not sure that was the best idea, but luckily his arms aren't quite long enough to do it by himself...yet!

Motor skills and motoring down

Theo, and his parents, have survived Theo's first real illness. He got a doozy of a cold, fever and all, unable to breathe through his nose for over a week. Not only did he get sick but he has all four, yes four, of his canine teeth coming in right now and the top two molars are still not quite all the way in. Self-soothing out the window as he was unable to suck his thumb, Theo did a lot of fussing and we did a lot of tending. Poor kid. And poor mom and dad. Thank goodness that's over!

Meanwhile, Theo has been learning new motor skills at a tremendous rate, and sustaining a the occasional requisite injury along the way. He learned to put together two duplo blocks and I was so proud I clapped every time he did it. He quickly followed suit and now often claps after he assembles blocks. He learned to climb up onto the couch, perhaps his favorite new accomplishment, and of course fell off within the first hour of the new skill. Fortunately he has not fallen since - he learns! He is running - he ate concrete for the first time just as he was recovering from his cold and got a huge fat scabby lip cruising down the driveway. Not to worry, thought, despite the blood he was much more upset at being carried inside than he was about having fallen. The kid likes to be outside!

Trip to New York Part 6: Brooklyn

Matt and I got to visit our friends Brian and Susannah and their 3- year old son Ezra in Brooklyn. It was a beautiful sunny day and Matt and I enjoyed the charming brownstone neighborhood. We all went to the neighborhood park and played on the equipment. Theo's favorite part was the tunnel!

Trip to New York Part 5: New Talents

Theo showed off his intelligence quite a bit in New York. He showed Grandma and Grandpa where their noses, bellybuttons, and ears are. He made the sounds of a rooster, lamb, and dog. He threw balls. He said cracker over and over again. Most impressively, he learned to open his new jack-in-the-box without turning the crank, by just pushing the latch that holds the lid down. No one showed him this, he just figured it out on his own. Boy was he pleased with himself. We were all pretty impressed!

Trip to New York Part 4: Grandma Janet and Pop

Theo got to spend lots of quality time with Grandma Janet and Pop: playing with fabulous new toys, reading books, and of course, hanging out upside down. They were super hosts to all three of us and showed us all a really good time!

Trip to New York Part 3: New things

Theo got to experience lots of new things in New York. One of his favorite things was long hallways, which he spent quite a bit of time gleefully (almost) running up and down. We also went in a swimming pool for the first time, which Theo wasn't too sure about, but he loved splashing in the puddles once we got out. He had his first conscious experience of a plane ride, which he seemed to think was pretty cool, his first New York pizza, and his first ice cream, from the famous Carvel, which he loved.