It’s a beautiful day in Brooklyn. We visited Underhill Playground this morning with my mom friend, Maddy, and her daughter, Emma. I’m trying to make more of an effort to set up playdates for Theo. I want to encourage the growth of his socialization skills. He definitely hangs a lot more with adults. He sees kids at the weekly singalong we go to, and when we are at the playground, of course, but I want him to get used to playing more with other kids and being comfortable with me not around all the time. I am going to do some babysitting swapping with Maddy and Emma and I think it will be good for both of us. Not only so I can get a couple weekday hours to myself, but for Theo to start having friends and playing without Mama around. Theo seems to be very independent and social so I don’t think this will be tough after the initial, “where is my mommy going?”. We have another playdate tomorrow with Rich (the guy who used to babysit Theo) and his daughter, Mara.
Theo is doing really well. He is still happy as a clam, for the most part. He has his occasional tantrums when he doesn’t get what he wants or can’t figure out how else to express his frustration with something. He loves to point at airplanes in the sky, dance to music, climb on things, play with his musical toys, read books, and he has become very excited when he hears outside noises now (such as sirens, or voices in the hallway outside of our apartment). He makes this face and looks at me and sort of gasps, like he’s is shocked and surprised… there is that sound again! If it’s a kid, he says, “baby!”. He gets his shoes ready when it’s time to go outside and he helps me get them on much better than he used to (he used to fight and scream!). We are slowly mastering the use of the fork – mostly because I often forget to use it and often because it ends up on the floor anyhow. He can do it, he’s just not entirely skilled at it quite yet. He can identify many different animals either by name or sound and he likes to play with balls, cars/trucks, blocks. I think he’s a bonafide boy. I’ve never been one to encourage gender stereotypes and I always thought much less of nature then nurture but I have definitely been proven different. He gravitates towards wheels and trucks. I need to get him a doll. I don’t want to just bombard him with these things because they are “boyish”. He’s been eating more fruit lately, bananas, pears, and apples. I’m always trying to get more creative in that category and remember to try new things and try, try again. After this week, Jay has two weeks off. We are really looking forward to spending some quality time!