Month: September 2011

He will hate me for this later, but… I cannot resist that tush! I wanna squeezie!

Theo can show you his toes if you ask him. It’s pretty amazing for me to see how much he understands. I don’t really know that much about child development so I’m really getting a refresher and learning it all as I go. I’ve been trying to teach Theo sign language for the past few months. Just the basics… milk, more, please, all done! He hasn’t done any of them, yet, but I think he may be close. When I do the milk sign, he looks at his hands and tries to fashion them accordingly.

He is also big into imitating these days. We are learning animal sounds. He knows lion, dog, pig, and cow, mostly. I have a video of him doing this that I’ll have to post. He is saying “Mama” and “Dada” really well now and definitely knows what/who he is talking about. He really loves dogs. As you can imagine, he sees them all the time when we are out. He reaches his hand out and lets out a little, “ruff!”. It’s so sweet because his intonation changes and goes up an octave, or two. He is always interested in other babies and kids. Bigger kids he watches intently. His contemporaries he tries to touch and we are working on being more gentle. Theo is tough, I think. He is definitely not a push over, which I am really happy about. He’s not going to be one of those kids that runs away crying, or is easily bullied. I don’t want him to be tough and mean, of course. I am just happy to know that he can (and will) stand up for himself. I want to make sure he knows how to share, wait his turn, and respect everyone for who they are.

What else is he doing lately? Books. Theo really enjoys them. He will sit and look through them on his own and he loves having them read to him. He is just always so happy. He giggles at most things. His walking is quite strong now. He just bounces all around our apartment, happy as a clam. His eating habits are still a bit tough, but we’re working it out. I’m trying to transition him away from the bottle entirely except he absolutely refuses to drink his milk out of a sippy cup. He has been drinking his water that way for months, but when I put his milk in there he acts like it’s poison. I’m at a loss. I got a sippy cup with a straw, instead of a spout, since he seems to like to drink through a straw. We will keep trying. We just love this little guy to pieces and it just gets better and better. I’m thrilled to be home with him everyday.

Theo is (fortunately!) drinking smoothies now… as long as it’s through a straw. Today’s delectable treat was: banana, blueberry, peach, and almond milk. He loves it. He just keeps on drinking and moaning for it when I remove it. He still really won’t eat fruit if you just cut it up and give it to him. He will chomp on a banana, occasionally eat blueberries, and he enjoyed slobbering/teething on an apple the other day when we went apple picking. I tried to give him a straight up peach recently and he’ll take little bites, I think for the juice, because once he gets a piece in his mouth he spits it out. Still a work in progress, I guess, but at least he will drink his fruit!! Oh, and the funny thing about this picture, he was just carrying that lemon around all morning. Just for giggles.

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Theo started walking on Friday! He had been taking a few steps here and there, from one thing to the other, but Friday he just went for it and started walking across the room. Definitely still a bit shaky, but he’s doing great! Love those arms for balance. He is so proud of himself!

I don’t think I mentioned, yet, that, as of this week, I am no longer working at my job. After four something years, I was laid off. Between you and me, it was kind of a secretive, voluntary lay off deal made between my boss and me. I am quite happy about it. I’ve wanted to get out of my job for some time. And after a change in our Executive Director, and the cutting of a crucial program dear to my heart that I’ve worked on for the past two years, I really knew it was time to move on. This scenario works out great for us because now I can be home with Theo, collect unemployment for a little while, and figure out my next move. Without the burdensome cost of child care, we are actually going to be better off. It’s great! I got a waitress job at a small, local restaurant where I am working on the weekends when Jay is home with Theo. It’s perfect. So, this has been my first week home. And, that brings me to Tuesday. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is free on Tuesdays and only about 5 blocks away from us. Theo has been several times before with Grandpa Joe, me and Papa for Cherry Blossom season, and with one of our babysitters, Sarah. I never get to take advantage of the free day because Mondays were always my day off. Well, we went and looked around and had a little picnic by a tree. Theo loved to see the turtles and coy fish in the Japanese Garden. Here are some pictures from that excursion and a few others from the past couple of weeks…

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Congrats to Zander and Ali for welcoming baby Rowan into the family! Everyone is healthy and happy and Theo is super excited for his new cousin. They share a birthday! Looking forward to seeing them over Thanksgiving. What a sweetie!

Theo visited the pediatrician today for his one-year well check-up. He has grown a lot. At least lengthwise! He is 33 inches (off the chart as far as percentile goes!) and weighs 21 lbs 13 oz (36%). He’s gained about a pound and a half and has grown a whopping 3 1/2 inches in the past three months. He had blood drawn for anemia/lead. His hemoglobin was perfect and his lead was low so all is good. The first round of the MMR vaccine was given today. We opted not to get the Varicella (chicken pox) vaccine but it is a school mandate so we will get it eventually. All in all this little boy is growing very well and I’m so proud of how well he does with the shots and the blood draw. Afterwards I took him out for falafel. He’s the best!

Dear Theo,

I can’t believe you are one! It seems as though this year has flown by and, yet, it seems like you have always been here. I think about the day you were born nearly everyday. In part because it was such an amazing, perfect experience. But, mostly because it was the day that you formed our family and the day that you changed my life forever. For the absolute best. You make every day better and make me look forward to the next. Each smile and each laugh you give fills me with so much joy I could burst. Thank you for being you and for shining a light on us.

You are doing many new things these days. You are standing on your own and balancing quite well for long periods of time. You walk along the walls and furniture and you walk with the help of one of our hands. Crawling stairs is a cinch for you these days. You love eating all on your own (you won’t have it any other way!) and you are now giving kisses. Particularly, you love to kiss your robot stuffed animal and gloworm. When I say, “kiss monkey!”, you do so with glee. You are very attached to your lovey, “monkey”, and you snuggle up real close with him for nap time and bedtime. If I had to pick one food you like the best, I would say black beans. You devour them.

You say, “mama” and “dada”, and it makes you very proud. When grandpa said, “where’s mama?” the other day, you turned and looked right at me. This made me smile so big. You understand many words and actions and can do some things on command… like, kiss so and so, say mama, or turn the page! You can put the round block in the round hole and you will do so repeatedly. You dance to music now and shake your head back and forth. Some of your favorite toys are definitely balls and anything with round wheels. You enjoy having books read to you, too, and you love bath time and playing in water.

I love you very much sweet Theo and look forward to what the next year will bring. The up’s and the down’s. Daddy and I are here for it all. Happy 1st Birthday!!!

Lots of love,
Mama