Theo at Six: And a Cheetah Party

To usher in being six years old, Theodore decided to wake up at 5:00 with me and is currently working on his 249 piece Lego set he received yesterday for his birthday.  Neither of us could get back to sleep, so we may as well get some work done.  Being an early riser is a trait Theo and I share.  We have a lot of weekend mornings together while Eli and daddy sleep in.  Unfortunately, Theo also seems to be taking after me in the temper department (without the redhead excuse), in his running abilities (or lack of), and in his dedication to his "shows".  But, at least he's also taking after me in his quick math abilities, which should be helpful since he still professes the want to be a builder when he grows up (hence the two hundred and forty nine piece Lego set he needs almost no assistance with).  It made my heart sing a little when he got his first report card and his highest "grade" is in mathematics.

 And here are some fun numbers while we're talking math.  Theodore is twice as old as Eli, and twelve times as old as Thomas.  He is 1/3 of the way to college (!!).  He's now been with me more than 1/5 of my life.  Since he is in a mixed age class of 5 to 7 year olds, he isn't the largest always but is a sturdy 48 inches and 60+lbs.  He is still in size 1 shoes, so at least his feet took a break from growing.  He isn't the most athletic kid (like his parents), so he dreams of having the speed of a cheetah, (65 mph).

Theo is officially a big boy now.  All the softness to his chubby baby face is gone, as is the softness to his personality. I can describe it best by saying he has sharp edges now.  It's not so much that he is headstrong as much as it is that he is always in his own little world. And being told to alter his world (turn off a favorite show, asked to slow down, and being told he can't do things) causes immediate little fits of anger.  And add a little brother who has his own ideas and contributions while they are playing and there is a lot of bickering between the the two.  I say that it is easier to have the 6 month old and 3 year old both, than to have Theodore.  It's like the temperature of the house raises several degrees every time when he comes home from school and my blood pressure increases.  He is just a bit of a fireball to have around.

But when it's just him (and electronics aren't around), he's still a pretty great kid.  He seems to be navigating school well, and doesn't consider himself one of the "bad kids".  Most days he says are "pretty good".  Packing or buying lunch is a pretty important part of his day.  He gets very excited to pick out new library books, and likes art as well.  He would rather learn science and nature info all day, rather than learning to read and write (though he is excited for first grade, when they only have to use one finger space when writing instead of two), so most of his favorite shows and Kindle apps help with this.  He was recently assigned to study an animal and make a diorama for school, so he's been researching the cheetah.  We ended up designing his birthday party around cheetahs, giving him a cheetah cake and visiting the zoo for the day with both his grandmas, Aunt Nae Nae and grandpa.  Luckily, they were out, and he even got to watch a cheetah gnaw on a carcass as the zoo has began feeding the lions and cheetahs carcasses.  Watching the lionesses really go after theirs was pretty neat.  And Theodore was kind not to mention that that napkins and plates I found were actually leopard spots, and not cheetah.  The things I've had to learn since having all boys...

*Sorry so late... took a while to get the photos on here.*

Teeth Update:  2 gone (Feb. 17)

Theo's First Chapter Book, Charlotte's Web Spoiler Alert

Theo has hit a new milestone- hearing his first complete chapter book.  He received the movie Charlotte's Web, but of course just like I always want to read the book before the movie I wanted him to as well, so we got out Charlotte's Web again.  We had tried it last year, but he just wasn't quite ready for a book without picture yet (unless, it was this book, which he loves to giggle at). 

He was ready this time.  And the few small illustrations in the book helped.  I was afraid he would be extremely upset when the spider died, as he is typically very emotional about such things, but he just said, "I'm not sad.  Spider's have to die.  There's a time to live, and a time to fade.  All animals have to die and some will have children to live on."

And he says he learned that on Dinosaur Train.  FYI.

Mini Theo Update: Did You Know? Stage

My son is past the asking, "Why?" stage, and is now in the, "Did you know?" stage.  He's starting to get really into specific facts, mostly animal related.  He has switched off of Sesame Street and his other favorite shows to now watching Wild Kratts each morning.  At 7am.  He pretty much gets up as early as he can so he doesn't miss it.   Not sure how he ever saw it to begin with when it was on so early, but he is hooked now.  (In related news, he has started napping again in the afternoon.) So most of our conversations now start with him telling me a fact he learned that day.  It's a pretty adorable stage.  He is absorbing his nature magazines every month, and when he got to spend the week at Junior Ranger camp at Leesylvania State Park, he became even more of an expert on everything (His words.)

Mom, did you know, dolphins eat flying fish?  And the flying fish ZIP out of the water!!!"

Mom, did you know, octopuses can grow back their arms when a predator bites off their arm?  (Follow-up:  Mom:  How many arms does an octopus have?  T:  Eight, or sometimes nine.)

Mom, did you know, bees sting people?

Mom, did you know, ticks can camouflage in my hair?

Dad, did you know, Hippos can run as fast as humans?

Mom, did you know, pollen is sticky?

Mom, did you know, spiders eat insects?  And they catch them in their web!

Dad, did you know, zebras can't camouflage so they have to run very fast?  They don't have camouflage power!

Mom, did you know, Monarch butterflies are poisonous?  And butterflies have to die after they lay their eggs.  But it's okay, because their sons and daughters make the flight home. 

Mom, did you know, antelopes legs are light and thin so they can run faster and faster?

Mom, did you know, giant squids have sharp, cutty things around their sunction cups.

Mom, did you know, on beaches, there are lots of sea shells?

And... this list could go on forever.  I love watching his excitement for learning, and hope he stays a little sponge like this forever.

To Theo @ 4

About 37 months old.

 Yesterday was the big 0-4.  We had a great day taking you to church and sharing cupcakes during fellowship time, riding the train into the city and exploring the gardens and museums, and having pizza, cake, and gifts for super.  You were very excited your grandparents were here to spend the day with you.  Next year we may try and have your first friend party, but I'd hate to have to share you with lots of other kids on your special day.  

About 38 months old.

 This past year you have really come into your own.  Your world is expanding so rapidly. For your first three years on earth, your days were spent primarily within our house with either mama, dada, or a sitter (other than a few months in three-days-a-week day care back when you were just two).  That has all changed in the last year.

About 39 months old.

About 40 months old.

Just a few days after your birthday, we packed up your first home in Delaware and headed to Indiana for a few months before moving officially to Virginia.  You loved all the time in Indiana with cousins, grandparents, and new friends.  You started attending Sunday School, and loved all the new museums, zoos, and places we explored.  You did well during this transition period that was filled with activity but also uncertainty.

About 41 months old.

When we got to our new house in Virginia, you started a soccer league, joined a new church with lots of kids, and started pre-school three afternoons a week.  You have your own little world now, and I love peeking in on it and seeing how you interact with all these other kids.  You are very sweet, playful, and friendly.  You have lots to chatter about, and are always good for a laugh.  For a while your favorite thing to do was being one of the three little pigs, while dada/mama/your teachers would be the big bad wolf.  This has been played at many different playgrounds.

About 42 months old.

I love taking you places to learn and explore, as your personality really comes out when you enjoy yourself learning.  You thrive in structured environments where you listen to science demonstrations, interact with zoologists giving animal talks, participating in story time, or watch a live puppet show.  At home you still can spend hours with train tracks, duplos, or building forts in the living room.  You also love arts and crafts and projects.  And of course your shows-which are current the PBS morning line up.  You'd watch Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger, Sid the Science Kid, Super Why, and Thomas and Friends every day if we let you. 

About 43 months old.

 Also at this age, I will remember that you don't always nap now, but when you do it will be for hours and it is almost impossible to wake you.  You hate baths, until your hair is finished being washed then you want to stay in and play forever.  You would wear pajamas everyday if we let you.  And you are sometimes picky with food.  You love riding in car carts at the grocery stores, and have started riding your little scooter on our walks to school.  You are mostly a great big brother, and you also take care of Cori by feeding her everyday.

About 44 months old.

And even though you are all boy in your interests and favorites, you have a gentleness about you.  You give hugs to your classmates when you leave school, you sometimes think your brother is in an "enchanted sleep" so you give him kisses to wake him, and you are convinced that Humpty-Dumpty can indeed be put back together with enough band-aids and some help from the hospital.  You love your family and friends and love making people happy.

About 45 months old.

You're starting to learn your abilities, and are sad that you haven't been able to score a soccer goal or run as fast as other kids, but you believe if you practice you will get better.  You are smart.  You're just like your dada, struggling with speech, but you're able to tell me all the letter sounds (even multiple sounds, like for letter c) and are on the brink of sounding out words (we don't push it, but I'm watching you closely to see when you are ready).  And you absolutely cannot go to sleep without a story.  Sometimes you will fall asleep on the couch, but when we move you to your bed you will wake right up and ask for a story. 

About 46 months old.

I think I could write a million more sentences starting with "you", but hopefully this is enough to help me remember this special year of childhood and for you to get a glimpse of yourself as a child when you read this years down the road.  Last year I said 2-3 was all about gaining language for you, it looks like 3-4 was all about becoming social.  I suspect I might know what 4-5 is going to be all about, but I'm excited to find out with you.

About 47 month old.

Here you are at 4 years old!

First 12 month comparisons

When I was pregnant a year ago, I couldn't really imagine a son that was any different than the one I already had.  I only could picture the son I already knew.  But once I saw the almost bald little head of my second born, I could tell they were going to be quite different.  It's been pleasantly surprising to see how unique our two children are.

I love doing comparison photos, so I found each boy in a similar pose at all of their milestone months.  Newborn, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 1 year.

Though they both started to crawl at just about the same time, around 9 months (especially if dog food was near), most of their milestones have been quite different, as well as their looks.

Some Differences:

• Theo was walking by 11 months, while Eli is still not interested at almost 13 months.
• Theo has crazy, thick, dark hair with cowlicks, while Eli has fair, wispy, straight hair.
• Eli is a very light sleeper, while Theo has always been a very heavy one.
• Eli looks like mama, while Theo looked like dada.
• At one year old, Eli trailed Theo by 5.5 pounds at that age, and one full inch in height.  Theodore also had six teeth by the age that Eli had his first.

3 months old (or 3 1/2 years, actually)

So always hearing your brother's age described in months has led you to get a little confused.  Lately, you've been saying you are three months old instead of years.  But today, you are officially 3 and a half years old.  It was a pretty rainy, dreary day, but you still had fun running around the house, playing with your new mail truck, "training" Cori, and keeping your brother out of stuff.

You are at your cutest age for sure.  I thought I would try to come up with 42 things about you since you are 42 months old.  Let's see how this goes:

1.  You say the silliest things, like, "That is a mystery!"  "I probably need a little help."  And always, "Why?"  It is almost impossible to get through a book with you now (or a movie) because you ask a million questions about each picture you see.

2.  You "notice" many things now too.

3.  You've recently renewed your interested in your doll (Elizabeth) and stuffed animals.

4.  Napping is starting to happen much more infrequently.  You actually pretended to be asleep recently so you could go shopping with mama instead of to the park with daddy (it didn't work, but was still pretty cute).

5.  You want me to put James, Gordon, and Henry on the grocery list.  And probably Duck and Diesel too.

6.  You want to be a builder when you grow up.  You really would like to build Cori a dog house now.  The front should be blue, and the back green.

7.  You love a good hand stamp.  Or a sticker.  You'd cover yourself in them if we let you.

8.  One of your favorite times of the week is when the garbage man comes.  You can't believe they get to ride on the back of the truck like they do, and you sit outside on the step and watch as they collect our whole street.  At the grocery store you now like to ride on the cart like the garbage man.

9.  We are starting to get you to understand a little bit about money.  You normally hand the money to the sellers at the farmer's market, and you understand that daddy goes to work to get money.

10.  You get very excited for children's sermons or children's churches at the new churches we've been trying.  You run back to us and tell us what you learned (even if we could hear it).  We cross our fingers that you're not going to start talking or ask a million questions right in the middle of the message.

11.  You love Lucky Charms.  You eat all the marshmallows first, and save the cereal pieces for last.  Sometimes you put them in the fridge to eat later.

12.  You LOVE to be "the winner".  You're not a good listener, but it you get the chance to be the winner you will do anything we ask.  You have won:  getting in the car first, getting dressed first, going to the bathroom first, getting in the bathtub first, getting in bed at night, and picking up toys. Pretty much anything we need you to do.

13.  You still can't really make S, J, R, Th, Ch, or Sh sounds.  Which can makes it hard for people to understand when you say your name is Theo.

14.  You think "Boom" is a verb.  For example, "I am going to boom with this hammer!"

15.  You love to help daddy with his tools.  Putting up all the pictures in the new house is very exciting for you.

16.  Whenever Eli is asleep in the car, you hiss "SSSSHHHHH, you must be quiet" in as loud a whisper as possible.

17.  You are always careful.  Our recent trip to the ER for a concussion would prove that statement wrong, but every time we remind you to be careful you automatically respond with, "I'm always careful!"

18.  You sometimes want to be a grown up.

19.  Cracking eggs scares you.  You will crack them, but never will break them into the bowl for me.

20.  You are starting to get a little picky with your food.  For breakfast you like cereal, toast, or eggs.  For lunch you prefer a peanut butter and jam sandwich, but will take pasta.  For dinner you get whatever we are having, but a lot of time you won't eat much of it.  You do like helping blend up smoothies for your brother, so now you're getting a lot of fruit smoothies (fruit you otherwise won't bother with).  

21.  You are pretty good at puzzles.  You have done several 24 piece puzzles on your own.  We probably need to get bigger ones to see how far you can go.

22.  You are very excited to start nursery school soon.  It is just a quick walk across the street (and past the construction site).

23.  When walking on the sidewalk, you are probably better than most adults at listening to the pedestrian crosswalk signals.  You love to push the button to get the white crossing symbol to appear.

24.  You still think you can change a stop light if you blow on it.

25.  You recently learned that your pets will eventually die, and are very sad about that.  You LOVE Cori.  (I'm not sure you'd notice though if Kiki was gone.)

26.  You are very proud of your little brother.  You tell everyone you meet about him.

27.  We've been making plenty of boats from boxes recently.  You will push Eli around in his.

28.  You are good at watering the plants, though sometimes you get a little overdone and the whole yard gets sprayed.

29.  You typically eat breakfast out on the patio.

30.  One of your favorite new activities is playing with your tiny construction vehicles in a small box I filled with rocks.  It keeps you entertained for a long time.

31.  You still need help getting dressed.  We really need to work on this with you.

32.  You often call dada "Daddy-O".

33.  I just asked you to tell me something about you.  You said:  "Well, I'm pretty crazy.  And pretty bad too.  I'm bad whenever I hit my baby.  I do hit my baby sometimes."  (Baby=Eli)

34.  Then I asked you for something nice about yourself, and you said:  "Well, I, I can make a hammock."

35.  You seem very random at times, but everything you say or do has a connection to something else (a book, what you saw on Sesame Street, something that happened at the museum the day before).

36.  Your favorite shows are Sesame Street (Grover 2.0), Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and Word World.  Mainly because these are the only ones I really let you watch right now.  We don't have cable again, so PBS is about all you see.

37.  Almost anything can be solved by a cowboy band-aide.

And the easy ones.

38.  You have dark brown hair (never has lightened in the summer).

39.  You have beautiful dark brown eyes.

40.  You are 46 pounds.

41.  You are 40 inches tall.

42.  And you are loved, greatly. 

Three and a quarter years old phrases

Despite a later start in talking, Theo is quite the chatterbox now.  I  crack up at all the phrases he uses nowadays (and have to be careful with the ones I use).  These are some of the more common ones:

Affectionate Phrases:
"Mama you are my mama!  I love you so much."
"Oh, I will never ever see Eli again!"  (when separated for a few hours)
"I'm never going to get rid of Eli/you/whatever-he-loves-at-the-moment"
"I love grandma's big green van/b.s.v."
 "He/She is so sweet!"
"You're my best friend ever!"

Miscellaneous:
"Good morning, the sun is up!"
"Oh, I don't want to take a rest."
"Dada is getting our new house ready."
"Did you say...?"
"Oh...."
"Never, ever, ever, ever..."
"Don't worry..."
"Remember?"
"... by my own."
"Hot air do go inside."

And the frustrating phrase:
"I'm always careful/[Insert direct object of request here]!"

Milestones: Almost 3!

Somehow, our first little baby has become a "bigger boy" as he claims.  He's quickly leaving behind toddler-hood and entering pre-school age.  While he did revert to a few babyish traits when Eli was born, he has mostly put on his big brother hat and progressed greatly.  Here are a few milestones:

Talking:  Theo is now quite the little chatter box.  He will and does have a conversation with anyone he meets.  He still has trouble with the typical letters "L, S, and Th" but otherwise he is doing great.  The progression of language this year has been amazing, and I thought these clips were interesting in showing it:

Just Before Age 2:  Pretty much just saying simple words.  (and using baby signs)

A couple months past 2:  Starting to repeat any word you ask.

At Two and a Half:  Babbling away during play time

At about 2 and three-quarters:  His (im)famous Happy Birthday rendition

At almost 3:  ABCs and full sentences

Potty Training:  Just when I had about given up on potty training before he was three, Theo decided he was ready.  Since last April, there have been a few occasions when Theodore went to the bathroom on a toilet, but they were few and far between.  Over the last few months there were times when I would try to train him by forcing him to sit on his potty for a while (normally while watching Sesame Street or Word World) and he would always use it, but it was always at my request.  A couple weeks ago, something switched in him where he decided to use it on his own.  I'm not sure if it was a special praise he received or just because he knew he could get some sort of reward after, but he has been fully trained for the last couple weeks with very few accidents.  We love to do the "potty dance" and celebrate every time.  He has even learned to stand up now, has no problem going #2, and can take all his clothes off my himself.  He will even ask for privacy now, which is a huge change!  We just have to help him get re-dressed and force him to wash his hands.  I do think the "Thomas the Tank" underwear helped, and what they say about waiting until your kid is ready.

Pre-Literacy Skills:  The big milestone that actually prompted this post, was that Theodore wrote his name recently!  Obviously, not his actual name, but he was writing on the whiteboard and came over and told me that it said "Theo."  It was the first time he's ever "written" a word, and it was very exciting.
On the pre-k checklist he has almost already hit all the pre-reading skills.  I'm hoping he continues to have his love for books, because I know it just makes school so much easier if you don't have to be forced to read, but enjoy it.  Since this he has signed several cards, and sometimes he gets close to writing letters, but it is still mostly scribbles.

As fast as I could get, yet he'd already erased some of it.

It's still crazy how quickly he will memorize stories.  Reading with him is more fun now since he can help read, and even read (recite) some entire books on his own.  We checked this book out at the library 2 days before this video was taken.  This is the first paragraph in the book... it's crazy that he can pretty much keep reciting phrases like this the whole book through.  After only two days.  His recitations are underlined:

It was a beautiful summer day on the Island of Sodor.  The fields were full of flowers, and the birds sang sweetly in the trees.  Thomas felt very happy as he quietly filled up with water.  Suddenly there was a whoosh and a clickity-clack as a silver blur roared past him. 

The day after this, I decided to start slipping in different words while reading, and out of about 12 "mistakes" I made, Theodore corrected 10 of them.  "No mama, not fast-slow."  It was pretty cute and amazing at the same time.

 I realized that from 1-2 it is all about getting mobile, but from 2-3 it is all about developing language.  I'm sure 3-4 is going to be pretty exciting. 

2.5 Years, Alright

Theo recently had his 2 and a half year wellness visit.  He has been going with me to the doctor lately, so he's getting to understand how the medical world works.  He's even been asking to go to the doctor when his tummy hurt (I'm pretty sure he just bumped into something).  So, I thought he'd be excited when he finally got to go see his doctor, but I was wrong.  He was cranky and a little hesitant, but he did say "hi doctor" and got through the appointment.

Height and Weight:  He is still off the charts for his age, 39 inches and 41 pounds.  Literally off the charts.  But he is active (kicking/throwing a ball around the house as I write this), strong, and healthy.  She had no concerns about his speech or language.  He has really taken off in the last six months and became such a talker. 

Eating:  Not as well as he used to.  If it is meat, cheese, eggs, beans, pasta, potatoes, or bread we normally have no problems.  But he is in a picky stage and will pick out onions and vegetables from dishes.  He still actually will eat pureed food much better than actual veggies, and I don't seem to be able to get him past this.  Fruit has about a 50-50 chance of getting eaten, depending on his mood.  He likes to put lemon and lime juice in his water, and will drink any kind of watered down juice that he can get.  I don't really push it with most food, but I would like him to eat some green things...

Early Literacy:  He loves the shows Word World (yay) and Super Reader (boo).  WW has definitely upstaged Elmo.  For that matter, so has Grover, which they unfortunately don't play much on Sesame Street so we have just been skipping that all together lately.  Last time, when the Super Grover segment was over and they did the advertisement for Elmo coming next, he actually said "No Elmo, More Grover!" and pouted.  He really is learning his letters thanks to these two shows, and when we work on his Pre-K book together he gets very excited to point out the letters and sing "LMNOP" and "Z".  He is into a couple longer Dr. Seuss books lately, unfortunately, and amazes me at just home many books he has committed partially to memory.  When reading his favorites I always pause and let him say words at the end of the sentences.  When we are out walking he likes to stop at signs and point out letters.

 Early Numeracy:  Theo is a good little counter now.  He can't make "S" sounds well, so six and seven are rough but we know what he is trying to say.  He is getting into shapes, asking to watch "Elmo's Shapes" quite often and again pointing out the shapes of signs on our walks.  He's starting to name numbers, however, he is quite adamant that the number "8" is "number B".

Potty Training:  We have not kicked this in full gear yet.  He has went on the potty precisely Three times, and each time was a bit of a fluke and was not to be repeated.  He takes off his diaper lately though, when it needs changed, which is somewhat helpful but makes more of a mess sometimes.  I think this is starting to point toward him being more ready to start training though.

Sibling Training:  Theo does seem very excited about the baby coming.  He will "knock" on my belly and tell the baby to wake up, and always blesses him in his nightly prayers (Mama, Dada, then little brother).

Behavior:  I think he is typical in his occasional defiance (for a two year old).  He will be naughty on occasion, and sit through his resulting time out.  Recently, he cracked us up with his reluctance to comply with a request (to eat something, or go to a time out), when he said "ALRIGHT" and started doing what had been asked.  It was so unexpected.  I'm not sure where/when he learned that phrase, but now he has been saying it all the time.  It is too cute.

New Book Favorites: Little Critter Books, Fox in Socks, One Fish, Two Fish

Favorite Toys:  Toy cars and ramps, Duplos, Barn and animal set, Firetruck.  He also loves his stuffed animals.  I was always confused why my mother kept giving him random stuffed animals, (a lion at Christmas, a random Iguana) but now I'm thankfully.  He loves to play with his animals, and they get to partake in a lot of the activities that we do.  He will set them up all over the house.  Often times they are fighting and eating each other, but it is still fun to play with him with them.

I haven't done a great job documenting his growth with his blue bear, but I think this tells the story pretty well:

Newborn!

 6 Months!

12 Months

 30 months                          



Toddler Momments

I haven't posted in a while, so I just wanted to record some moments that have made me smile.

#1  Theo is pretty good about naps.  We go in, read a few stories, and he settles right down.  A few days ago though, he wasn't settling, but I left him in his room to get to sleep on his own.  He started jamming out to some of his CDs (I should NOT have shown him the volume knob) and I kept checking on him.  I heard him yelling after a while, and didn't know what was going on.  I go in, and he's reading "Duckling has a Cookie" to himself.  In this story, pigeon is very upset that duckling got a cookie just by asking.  It is a lot of fun to play/act out, and we normally do so with mama and dada taking a roll.  Hearing Theodore read/yell through the book was adorable.  He just looked up at me and kept reading, like it was totally normal that he should be yelling in his room during nap time.
#1b  He also really likes the "Meatball Book" right now, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  He is way too silly reading it.  It combines some heavy machinery (they have to "clean-up" the food) with all sorts of food, so he likes it.  Similarly, he liked the silly story "Sheep in a Jeep" that we found at the library recently.  We must have read it at least three times and I'm glad we did not check it out b/c I'm really not a big fan of repeating the same story over and over, though Theo loves it. 

#2  I'm afraid he is going to have a hard time with the baby having his own things.  Theo loves his little sleeper that has trucks on it, and carries it around all the time.  He even put it on his baby doll and practices with that.  We picked out some fabric the other day for a blanket.  A red print with gold owls, and a gold fleece for the back layer.  Since Theo helped pick it out, he things its for him.  He keeps stealing the fabric and using it like a blanket. 

#3  Lately when he gets hurt, he asks for a kiss every time.  This was started by day care I believe.  Recently, he has started asking for an ice pack.  I have no idea where he got that idea. 

And the whole time I've been typing this, Theodore has been walking in circles around the "boat" (laundry basket) which I think is a signal he's ready for nap time.  Despite throwing him self on the ground when he doesn't want to leave places, the biting, and using his chair/stool to get anything he wants at anytime, this is really a cute age.  He is still circling...

Easy Activities to Keep a Two Year Old Busy

Pentominoes:  He likes to just play with the pieces right now.  I have pattern cards he can use with them when he gets older.

Painting:  They painted  A LOT at day care.  I finally let T. break out some paint at home.  I asked if he wanted to use his fingers (it was finger paint) or a brush, and thankfully he chose a brush.  I hate when his hands are dirty.  When dada came home, the painting was dry, so we showed it to him and T. promptly put it on the fridge.  He understands that's where all his artwork goes.

Blocks:  T.'s grandparents have gotten him a couple sets of duplos over the holidays.  One is a zoo set-he absolutely loves the giraffe, tiger, and elephant in the set and is constantly playing with them.  Today he made some different designs, that did not include any animals (though that is the zoo keeper on top).  His second set is one with the numbers 1-10.  He works on these on a daily basis.

Play-doh:  We finally picked some up recently, and Theo has been having a lot of fun with it.  I pulled down some small cookie cutters to use with them, and he is getting pretty good at them.



Connectors:  These were the best kids meal toy ever.  I think we got them from Wendy's a while back.  They simply connect to one another, and T. makes all sorts of shapes out of them. 

Counting Bears:  T. uses these in a lot of different ways.  Obviously, he can sort them by color, and practicing counting to ten with each color.  When he pulled them out today he lined the cups up, and then started lining up all the bears.

Puzzles:  These wooden puzzles are great.  There are five boards in the set, with double sides.  T. likes to go through and do the firetruck, train, and car ones first.  



Copy Cat

                Theo has been very slow to talk.  He picked up a few words and signs, but just wasn’t developing much of a vocabulary.  He’s getting past that now-

                He pretty much tries to repeat most things we say now.  Sometimes it feels like he’s playing the bother-your-sibling copy cat game.  When shopping the other day I told him his stroller was rolling away, and he copied, “Roll Away”.   He yells “Green-Daddy Go” at stop lights (regardless of the color), points out everything for us (“Fork and Spoon” that we just sat out for him, “A Bean” on his plate), and has learned to say “Please” when he needs things, and “Help” when he wants me to come assist him (rather than just screaming and pulling on me).  When we are driving down hilly roads, he also says “up” and “down” the whole time.

                He’s also started being more vocally active in reading books.  He loves “Go Dog Go” and will say a lot of the words when we pause and let him say the words before we read them.  He points out some of the letters in “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” (and the “Boom Boom” itself) and all of the colors in “A Color of His Own”.  He keeps picking longer books as well, from the big boy bookshelf.  Twice this week, he also fell asleep while listening to a longer book-  Rapunzel and Beauty and the Beast (“Beast”).  I now also know more about airplanes than I ever wanted to know because he found a Jerry Pallotta book we have, “The Jet Alphabet book” that I bought years ago at the Midway Carrier we visited in San Diego.  He loves planes.  And trains.  And cars.  And guns (water/bubble ones).  He is such a boy.

                Finally, he has also picked up the pronouns “My” and “Mine”.  He’s learning how to use them appropriately.

Two!

My little one is already two!  I'm going to go ahead and just give an update here, so I can record some of the details of this time in his life.

As I type I'm watching Theodore, pondering why we even buy him toys.  He is currently playing with the mini-ironing board and both irons (craft one and clothes one) and his wooden chair.  I had to scold him when he tried to plug them in, but otherwise he is enjoying himself racing the irons around the board and carpet.  He's really awesome at his job:  playing non-stop.  He does really enjoy a lot of his new Christmas toys too though:  his trains, drum, puzzles, and farm set.  He's still lining up all his little cars, trucks, and tractors.  And I'm about to record some of his books on tape because I cannot bare to read some of them for the millionth time.  I just hope he keeps up his love of books forever! 

Elmo is still extremely important in his life, and makes him inexplicably happy.  Brian tells me he also likes a "word" show that comes on after Sesame Street.

Our little guy is still not much of a talker, but he's getting more and more words in his vocabulary.  His favorite thing to do lately is poke all of our body parts as he says them-ears, eyes, mouth, hair-just like we did to him when we taught him.  It really seems like he is only really good at certain sounds... "M"-mama, milk, more, moon, mouth; "B"-book, ball, bye-bye; and "E"- Elmo, ear, eye.  He still signs for things like "please" and "cookie", though the "P" sound is almost coming out when he says "pat-pat-pat" (how we hug) or "pop-pop-pop (popcorn). 

He is getting quite adventurous at the playground.  We were blessed with an almost 70 degree day in January recently, and I got to take him after work.  I had so much fun with him on the tire swing, and he was learning how to start swinging his legs to drive himself on the swing. 

Theodore LOVES Kiki and Cori.  The former still hides from him and we have to hold her down to let him pet her, but Cori is not used to baring all of Theodore's hugs and kisses.  He lavishes then on her lately.  Theodore also now loves his stuffed pets as well.  He lines them up and plays with them while he's in his bed.  He is pretty good at making lots of animal sounds (lion, dog, cow, pig) and animal actions (hopping like a from, wrinkling his nose like a bunny, moving his "trunk" like an elephant).  I'm thinking we may need to move up to a larger zoo than Brandywine so that he can see some of these larger animals.

Theodore has also loved hot cocoa this season, and learned how to blow on hot food.  He doesn't want to eat in his booster seat anymore, and would rather eat at the table like a big boy.  He loves string cheese.  He doesn't mind a peanut butter and nutella sandwich either.

Finally, Theodore has finally entered the "no" stage, where his answer to almost everything is no... hopefully this will change by the next update.

18 months old

As Theo recently turned 18 months this month, I thought I would record 18 things about my little cutie. 

1. According to his pediatrician, he is 34 inches tall (90%-ile), 33 pounds (>97%-ile), and has a 50 cm head circumference (90%-ile). 
2. T has a mouth full of teeth!  He now has his lower canines, and the upper ones are in, as well as his first molars.  He has been extremely close to the "schedule" for all of his teeth.  Hopefully now he will get about a 6 month break until his second molars come in. 
3. T loves his baby doll.  I realized recently that I should get him a doll to take care of, and he immediately took to her.  He puts her down for a nap, pushes her around on his little cart, hugs, kisses, and plays patty-cake with her.

4. T gives lots of hugs, to people he knows, and kids he doesn't.  He's been giving them out left and right... mostly to his cousin Maci, but also to kids in the nursery at church, little girls at the creamery, anyone. 
5. T dances!  It is way too cute.  See attached video...

6.  T loves to wear bracelets.  And watches.  He has cleaned out my jewelry boxes taking all the bandy bracelets that I have.

7.  T really loves copying us.  He tries to sweep the kitchen, walk the dog, and of course use our phones and computers.  Nowadays he's not content to just play on the phones, but actually wants us to call people so that he can babble at them.

8.  T continues to be in the "on/off" stage.  He loves climbing up on his toy box to turn the AC and lights on and off, open and close doors and the fridge, and buckling himself into his stroller and his car seat.

9.  T loves to go outside!  He has recently figured out how to open the door, and had a couple time-outs for going outside without us.  He still loves every chance he gets though.  He's very glad we have a dog that he gets to help walk, and have a playground in our complex so he can play easily everyday.

10.  T still loves bananas.  They may be his favorite food.  He is only a little picky now and then with vegetables, but if they are pureed he's still try anything. 

11.  T. doesn't have a comfort object.  No binky, no special blanket or stuffed animal... I'm wondering if he will eventually pick something or not.
12. T. still cries when we put him to sleep.  It's sad, but only lasts a couple minutes.  Last week I tried letting him listen to music, and it helped a little.  Johnny Cash "Hurt" worked one night.  And the last week we have been 7 for 7 for him not crying at nighttime!  Hopefully this keeps up.
13.  T. is an excellent helper!  He has started carrying in groceries (little bags), picking the peppers, putting his books away at night, and tries to help daddy with his tools. 
14.  T. is still a good little reader.  His nighttime routine is to bring us books in our bed that we read before putting him down.  Lately he has started "reading" back to us.  He also seems interested in "chapter books" as he likes to take our books out of the bookshelf and page through them.  Also, we have all decided that Leo Lionni books are a little strange.

15.  T. really loves daddy's bike!  He loves spinning the wheels.  We bought a bike seat for him recently, and he was super excited to get to ride in it.  He picked out a trike at the bike strore already that he would really love to have, if his legs were a little longer.
16.  T. also really likes plugging in and unplugging things-my phone, computer, etc.  It's a little annoying.
17.  T. likes to steer.  Any wheel he can get his hands on!
18.  T. has discovered the joys of "free" toys.  We have a huge pile of boxes for stacking, fort-building, and hiding in.  He also loves hiding under the sheets on the bed.

Theodore's Reading List: Great Books for One Year Olds

Theodore is finally interested in reading books!  He has always shown an interest in books, eating them, flipping through them, ripping them, writing in them, kind of listening when mama reads them, etc.; but now he is finally focused enough to bring me a book, sit on my lap, and help me read a book cover to cover.  It is pretty adorable.

We finally even have it in the bedtime routine now, that I will go sit on my bed and ask Theodore to go pick out a book.  I'm always excited to see what he brings.  Apparently, these are his top picks, because they continue to be repeat selections. 

1.  Kitten's first Full Moon by Kevin Henkes.  This seems to be the top pick, as it was the one Theodore immediately opened when I set him in the center of these books for this picture.  The black and white pictures, and subject matter must appeal to him. (milk and a kitten-two of his favorite things).

2.  Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems.  Theo grabbed this book next.  He absolutely loves going down to the laundry room (he gets to holler in a long echoing hallway), and apparently likes to hear about Trixie's own tale of a laundry mat visit.  This book has black and white backgrounds, with the characters in color.

3.  Rhymes and Reasons by James C. Christensen.  This over-sized book is another favorite of Theodore's, and illustrates many common children's rhymes.  There are full sized pages, and half pages inside.  Mama and dada find this one interesting because it gives some historical background on each of the rhymes.  It was a great yard sale buy at $0.50. 

4.  If you Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond.  This one may be my favorite more than Theo's.  I like the circular theme of these books, and never get tired of going through the "if... then" statements. 

5.  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.  This classic from my own kindergarten days is also a hit with Theodore.  He loves to hear about the letters going up the tree, and the catastrophe that happens.

6.  Corduroy's Party by Don Freeman and Lisa McCue.  Grandma E. has been giving Theodore a series of Corduroy books throughout the year, and these board book editions capture Theodore's attention.  He also has an actual bear who gets to read along sometimes too.

7.  Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?   The classic children's book authors/illustrators Bill Jr Martin and Eric Carle combine in this board book, that is enhanced by sliding flaps on each page previewing the next animal that will be "seen".  Very engaging, this was probably one of Theodore's first favorites.

8.  Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!  Another one by Mo Willems, this is part of mama's favorite series about "Just Saying No" to the tiresome bird.  Perhaps the cameo by Knuffle Bunny is what makes this particular book Theo's favorite.

Honorable Mention to this rainbow book.  I thought we were done, but Theodore wanted to add this book as well.  It is a nice story about the colors of the rainbow, and each turn of the page adds another color to the ribbony feature.