Month: November 2012

He has also begun asking for “one more story… one more song… one more time” before his nap and bedtime. He’s usually pretty silly and sweet about it. He gets smiley and will say, “AAA-gain!”. He is often obliging when I say, “ok, one more time” or “last time”, and then really stick to my guns. He just likes to ask and chuckle and be happy to prolong the routine.

Today he was looking at the picture of Jay and his mom on our refrigerator that he often likes to see. He said, “Dada AND Yia Yia” and then the wheels continued to spin… “Dada and Yia Yia are wearing glasses on their face!”. I think this is the longest, most complete sentence he has said to date. Go Theo!!

I don’t know if anyone was looking yesterday but I was having issues with the slideshow I created and attempted to publish. I need to get to the bottom of that situation. Until then, I whipped up a little slideshow in iPhoto. We didn’t get very many photos, but here are some of our trip. Some of my nieces, my sister and one of my four stepbrothers, as well as Grandpa Joe and photos from our evening at the Bottlehouse Brewery. And, of course, Theo. Apologies to all the other family who was left out!

Click here for photos

As Theo approaches 27 months, we have been undergoing some serious developmental changes. The past few weeks have been pretty challenging. Theo’s sleep has been a little off and he has been more defiant and demanding. Often times it’s stuff that he just wants to do in a certain way or he’ll say, “self”, which means he wants to do it. In a way it’s good, I guess, because he seems to be right on with anything I read for his age. It’s just a matter of us trying to figure out how best to approach the situation with discipline and limit-setting. I want to model for him how best to handle frustrations and that is not always easy. It’s a lot of getting him to take a deep breath and ask us in a different way instead of whining and demanding things of us. All of the sudden it’s, “I want it! I want eggies! Theo wants it!”. Asserting that independence all over the place.

The sleep issues started with the time change week. And he had a fever that week, too. And then I was sick the next week, which was tough because I basically just felt very tired and icky for days with no other major symptoms. As most people know, it is very tough to spend all day every day with a toddler when you aren’t feeling your best. It can be hard enough when you are! Anyhow, Theo was waking up earlier in the morning and his naps have been much shorter than normal most days, too. I couldn’t quite get it right to get sleep back on track. I chalked it all up to the time change and sickness, paired with, most likely, major developmental changes. After all, his cognitive development is exploding so he is obviously hitting some milestones. In Cleveland he was actually sleeping until 7-7:30am, which was great. Napping was pretty tough, though. Being in a different environment, with a lot of stimulation going on around him, and being in a bed rather than a pack n’ play, all contributed I’m sure. Since we have been back home in Brooklyn, he has been waking up again at 6-6:30am and his naps haven’t been great. Today I may have gotten it just right and he took a glorious 3 hour nap! Here’s to hoping his sleep catches up and gets back on track.

His appetite has been booming lately. This morning he was begging Jay for another “eggie” after already eating two. And he had cheesy pita toast after that. And tonight he really wanted a bowl of cereal after finishing his half an avocado and black bean enchilada I made for dinner. Big boy! Speaking of which, he is awesome with his spoon use now! I’m super happy because it just gives us another breakfast option (not to mention soup and less messy yogurt eating!) besides oatmeal and eggs, which are his two regulars. Here he is the other morning enjoying his bowl…

He likes to say, “cereal with nilky!”. And, a lefty perhaps??

Some more of my favorite Theo quotes lately have been, “Theo gonna do it… Theo gonna hold it… Theo gonna touch it…” He has started using articles and prepositions much more, too, so his sentences are sounding much more complete. This Mama is super proud.

While we were in Cleveland we went to a new Cleveland Heights establishment, Bottlehouse Brewery. We went after watching the Browns game and realized that it’s actually quite the family friendly place, not just a bar. It’s set up with picnic tables inside, pinball machines, free popcorn, and lots of board games at the ready. All ages are welcome and you basically just bring your own food, utensils, etc. and have at it. It was approaching Sunday evening and everyone was trying to figure out what the dinner plan was going to be. There was talk of going out to eat, which kind of makes me cringe at this point because Theo is not great in restaurants. So I’m glad we found this place because Jay and I went and picked up Theo from Yia Yia’s, we ordered Geraci’s pizza, and everyone met back up at the Bottlehouse for a quick and easy dinner. The kids were able to run around and enjoy the fun and games (as were the adults). There is also a stage set up for musicians to play so, of course, Theo took the chance to play some instruments. Seriously, is this guy a natural or what?

The next Stevie Wonder? (hopefully not the blind part)

We got home last night from our Thanksgiving trip to CLE. It was a whirlwind, as usual. Theo was so very happy to see everyone and, for the most part, he didn’t seem to notice the craziness of the back-to-back visits and activities. I felt especially bummed this time that all of our visits to Cleveland are always so quick. It’s tough to spend quality time with both of our families. The important part is that we were there and Theo just loved being with everyone.

We got to spend a night at my Dad and Sherry’s with my sister and two nieces and that was extra special for Theo to get to know them more now that he is older and we haven’t seen them since March. We spent the next few nights at Jay’s mom’s house with his both of Jay’s brothers and Theo’s little cousin, Rowan. Theo was a bit territorial with Rowan and didn’t play super well with him, unfortunately. He is great with his friends now. He has gotten so much better with sharing and listening and with not hitting and being aggressive. With Rowan, he really didn’t get too comfortable. I figured it was a territorial thing. Anyway, he also had a tough time napping in Cleveland. I suppose the new environment and being in a bed rather than a pack n’ play made it easier for him to fight it. The day of the big party for Zander and Ali he never napped. I left him upstairs for two hours and I don’t think he ever slept. He was talking and I could hear a bit here and there but there was zero crying so I just left him to have quiet time while I helped cook for the party. He had ransacked my suitcase and spent a lot of time looking out of the window, I think. Anyhow, by the time the party started he was a complete wreck and I carted him around to see people for a little while and then gave up and put him to bed early. I was sad to have missed out on fun time for him with other kids and family who were there. It was also a packed house, too, so again with the crowds that I don’t think he is a huge fan of. Instead he got a delightful 11 1/2 hours of sleep.

The photo above is from our departure on Thursday morning. We made remarkable time, considering we have a toddler. Less than 8 hours! Zero traffic on the road and it was a beautiful sunny day. Theo did great in the car. Lots of music, books, snacking, sleeping, and iPhone playing. He definitely had his moments. He wanted to “sit Mama lap” and “sit front seat”. We each took turns going in the back with him, which helped. Anyone being strapped to a seat would get irritable! The way home was a bit tougher. He was kinda cranky and the same sort of issues with wanting to get up were present. We made it just fine, though. All in all I will take it over flying. The airport and stress of flying drives me bonkers. We love getting to pack whatever we want (we came back with a trunk full of Costco goods!), having the open road with good music, and the ability to stop whenever you want and move around without other people in your face.

I will post more photos from our trip soon.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family! We are thankful for the support everyone gives us and for the love that is shared with our little boy. We are always thankful for our health and for the joy that is so simply handed to us every single day with Theo by our sides. How can you not smile with this little guy who can’t bear to let Mama pick out a dress without getting to try it on, as well?

The Lieber-Tekus crew is hitting the road to Cleveland bright and early tomorrow morning. Jay is picking up our rental car later today and hopefully we can be out the door by 7:30am tomorrow. Is that possible??

Theo is thrilled for our upcoming trip. “Cleveland!” and “car seat!” has been thrown around a lot these past few days. I hope he enjoys the length with which he will be subjected to riding in the car seat. How long before the novelty wears out? Road trips with Theo have typically gone pretty well. We are bringing lots of books and Jay put together a playlist with all of his favorite tunes. He’s excited to bring monkey and hop along for the journey in his car seat. He has been talking about napping in the car seat, too, so hopefully that will be a long one. He will probably get a few other surprise treats, which may or may not include Mama’s iPhone, and such characters as Winnie the Pooh and Abby Cadabby.

Tuesday was our second week attending of new music class, Music for Aardvarks. Theo loves it. He loves, Cassie, the teacher. Every chance he gets to run over to her and smile and snuggle, he takes it. Ever since she gave him a few tickles during the first class, he has been smitten. Whenever I mention music class, he says, “tickles”, and blushes. He loves the opportunity to play with the different musical instruments offered and he has become quite a fan of the bongos.

And here he is with Cassie as she teaches him to use an instrument of which I have no idea what it is called.

I love having this weekly activity for him to enjoy. It’s definitely getting more and more noticeably important for him to be exposed to these different engaging and educational environments. He was running around dancing and helping the teacher clean up the instruments each time and yelling out animal names and fun words like, “awesome!”.

His favorite song, not surprisingly, is “Taxi”.

There are some phrases that Theo is saying right now that I want to remember. I think I’ve mentioned in the past that he is always certain to tell you something that is true while also making sure you are aware of what is then also not true. For instance, he says, “not this way… thiiisss way!” A strong emphasis on this. And also “walk, don’t run!” he tells me each night as he hops out of the tub before I can wrangle my baby burrito up in his bath towel.

He loves, “what happened?”. Also, “where are yooou?”. At the park the other day we were waiting for our friends and Theo kept saying, “Sam, where ARE yooouuu?”.

He can get frustrated when playing with his Mega Bloks because he will put them together loosely so they fall over more easily as the tower gets bigger. I taught him to make sure they are in “nice and tight”. Now every time he looks at me and says, “nice and tight!”.

Today he just came over to me and said, “Mama has brown hair, Theo has blondie”.

And my personal favorite, when I put in his favorite CSNY CD he gets so happy and as the first song begins he says, “not this one”. As I continue advancing to each next song he says “not this one” each time. As soon as we get to #7 (Woodstock), he says, “Thiiisss one!”. He always wants to help put the CD on, too. I lift him up and he points to the buttons… “first this one (to close the CD drawer), then press play!”.

I can’t even begin to document this because every day the language development is amazing and I don’t even remember everything by the time I sit down to type. He is just doing so wonderfully and is such a happy, sweet guy I can’t get over it. We should be really proud. And we are.

I forgot to add the sweetest, new thing Theo has been doing lately. If he hurts himself, or is tired or sad and needs a snuggle, he takes his lovey and says, “monkey shoulder”. He simply lays little monkey on my shoulder and lays his head on there too. The sweetest.