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!
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.
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!
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!
