Month: June 2012

Theo is getting pretty excited about using a regular cup these days. He has always enjoyed taking drinks from our cups, but now he can really drink on his own. Now, utensils on the other hand…

Just as soon as I wrote about the official feeling of summer, we were smacked with a gloomy and rainy few days this week. Fortunately, today things are back to normal. The sun is shining and it’s hot. We plan to visit the park this afternoon and probably stop by the water fountains at the library to fulfill Theo’s obsession. This week we discovered a sweet little back patio to the coffee shop down the street, Sit & Wonder.

I also learned that Theo loves to carry a little bag, obviously modeling his Mama! He found this gift bag and insisted on carrying it around on our walk.

We also got another haircut for Theo. I’m always a little torn about the haircuts because I love his gorgeous blond mop of curls. But, it grows quickly and he was in need of a trim. I tried a new spot. A quaint and true Brooklyn barber shop, opting for a $13 cut instead of the $25 from the fancy little kid’s boutique shop down the street. I guess I was tired of being ripped off! These guys were great and Theo was given several lollipops in exchange for being pretty well behaved. Their smocks were leopard print, which I thought was hilarious and adorable.

And here is Theo with his buddy, Sam… and Sam’s daddy, Ian, from this morning. My friend Jennifer recently had a new baby boy (which she named Andreas!) so we brought bagels over and helped distract Sam from the throws of newborn jealousy land.

I feel like such an inadequate mother. Theo has had peanut butter toast, and he has dipped apples in peanut butter, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually made him a proper peanut butter and jelly sandwich?! Well, I did for lunch today. Peanut butter and peach jam. He was saying, “yummy!”, when I snapped this picture. I cut it into quarters and it’s great to see him chomp away at the sections. He seems like such a big boy.

He is now kind of saying his name. It sounds like, “Ve-oh”. He’s getting there. Has no problem saying pretty much everyone else’s name. He also really likes fans. He wakes up and sees ours and says, “fan… on… spin, spin!” Very cute.

It’s hard to keep track of milestones and developmental stuff now that the well visits to the pediatrician are becoming less and less frequent. We don’t go again until Theo turns two. It’s hard to believe that is right around the corner.

Theo has been eating like a champ. We struggled a while back with variety, I think… and eating fruit, but his appetite and his interest in trying new things has most definitely improved exponentially. Especially after his illness a few weeks back, he has been eating A LOT of food. He was so skinny that week 🙁 Maybe he’s catching back up, or a growth spurt, perhaps. When he wakes up in the morning, he almost always eats an entire banana first thing. He usually eats either oatmeal with blueberries, or two scrambled eggs with (often) spinach. Sometimes we throw in some cheesy bread, as we call it. He snacks on anything from granola bars to yogurt (with help!) to cheddar bunnies to apples to rice cakes to oranges. He loves whole wheat noodles, with and without sauce, and this is usually another way we sneak in spinach, or mushroom. We make pita pizzas to get in some cauliflower, red pepper, or broccoli, usually. He loves broccoli and eats that every day, one way or another. Also favs are avocado (ah-cav!), black beans & black bean burgers, veg chicken tenders, lentil soup, and he will usually eat most dishes I make (like veggie chili with lots of beans, corn, and carrots) or some kind of medley garbanzo bean/veggie thing and he loves rice. He wouldn’t try watermelon I tried to feed him today. There are definitely some things I try to offer him and he looks at me like I’m nuts but I’m very happy with his diet and his interest in food. He mostly drinks water and diluted juice (much more now than ever before) and he still has his milk bottle before bed every night.

Recently he learned about the word, “fast.” He runs through our apartment and says, “FAST!” He now knows, “I’m sorry”, which will be useful for teaching him to apologize when he does something wrong. He likes to point out when you can sit somewhere and then he will go ahead and sit there. He still loves playing in water (fountains, sprinklers, whatever) and climbing around the playground, pushing toys/strollers, and, of course, his beloved guitar. Likes his books and will dance a little on command. He is doing better and better with the alphabet and counting to ten. We play a little game as we up the stairs to our apt holding hands and counting to ten over and over. This has been one tactic in making this process less exhausting and frustrating for me.

Overall, his behavior is really great. Meltdowns happen if he is hungry and/or tired and he listens pretty well to “no” and when we ask him to do something. He loves helping, so that makes it easier. He gives many hugs and kisses and that usually makes all of the tough stuff melt away anyhow. I don’t know what else. I know I’m always documenting the amazing things my perfect child does so I’m sure I will chime in if I forgot anything soon!

I finally feel like summer has arrived. The weather has been warm, the days longer, and I’m exhausted every night from all of the outdoor action. We try to make the most of our weekends since it’s out only family time so there is so much to do and so little time. It’s tough when you have to squeeze in some of that good ol’ productivity along with lots of fun (and naps!).

The summer concert series, Celebrate Brooklyn!, has gotten under way at the Prospect Park bandshell so we decided to keep the boy out late on Saturday night and have some Afrocuban fun. We saw some friends there and heard some nice music. We had to leave, of course, not too long after the main band went on because Theo just couldn’t possibly take anymore. It was a beautiful night.

We ate out for dinner and frolicked in the park beforehand and it was just so, so, so nice. Theo tried applying some lip gloss. They always love all of your “stuff”, huh?

Sunday I had a little stoop sale. I made $60, which was not bad considering it was all stuff I’d just as soon donate. I still had plenty of books I just left out for free and other clothes I plan to donate tomorrow. The $60 was perfect because I wanted to buy a decent umbrella stroller to make our life a bit easier. I found a secondhand one on the listserv and we picked it up later today and then stopped in for a family dinner at Roma Pizza on the way home and our weekend was complete. It turns out Theo loves San Pellegrino Blood Orange. When we got home he was a sticky mess. Straight to the bath!

Jay and Theo joined me outside on the stoop for lunch during the sale.

And this is just so funny. His hair can be pretty insane when he wakes up in the morning.

Theo and I often meet up with our friend, Kevin, during the day since he is unemployed and Theo enjoys hanging out with him. This was a gloomy day a couple of weeks ago. Days like that I sometimes like to go over to Grand Army Plaza and just let Theo run around and splash in the puddles. This was also the week Theo was sick off and on so we kept things pretty tame. Kevin got some nice shots that he sent me yesterday so here is a little slideshow.

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Theo absolutely demanded going to the Thursday morning singalong with Lloyd today. I asked him what he wanted to do today, and he kept saying, “aye ye!”, which is his favorite song Lloyd sings. When I tried to stop by the playground to kill a little time beforehand, he said, “no!”, and kept pointing in the direction of Dean Street (cafe where the singalong happens). Well, my fate was sealed. Very impressed with the little lad and how much he knows where things are around our neighborhood. I know I’ve talked about, or posted pictures, from the fountains we play in sometimes in front of the BK Library. We have been talking about them a lot and today I mentioned the fountain and he said, “library!” He is seriously saying everything now. It’s remarkable. In other news, I just baked strawberries and cream biscuits and I can’t wait to go taste one!

My Dad took this last month when he was visiting. I don’t get many pictures of me and Theo together. I like this one.

My friend Jennifer moved into a ridiculously nice building on Grand Army Plaza. We had a playdate over there today with her son, Sam.