Time flies when you're a growing boy. That's Theo eating a popsicle. We spent Theo's eleventh month birthday in Tennessee with family, and we all had a great trip. (More about that once we get the photos uploaded.) In the meantime, Theo has grown into his personality quite a bit. His favorite toys, by far, are his Baby Einstein music box, where he can push the button to get classical music, and his pinwheel. They are the first two things he must find in the morning and the last two things he is willing to part with. Generally he plays the music and leaves it sitting until the song goes off. He seems to know the repertoire well enough, too, that near the end of the song, he will drop whatever he is doing and scoot back in a hurry to hit the button for more music. Given the choice between a bin of toys, a bin of stuffed animals, and a bin of books, he goes for the books every single time. He can read a book over and over and over again and not grow tired of it, and then yank another one out or off the shelf and thrust it at you with a "uhhh." Which clearly means read. And he's a speed reader at flipping pages. He loves the Priddy books most consistently, it seems. The images are real and on bright backgrounds. He also loves "Swing" which has cool moving images, and he enjoys just about any touch and feel book.
His favorite thing to do is point at something and see who will get it or let him touch it. It's usually accompanied by a grunt, and sounds of satisfaction when he gets what he wants. He's learning that not everything goes his way, and is definitely throwing a few more fits. When he is really sad, he bends over so far he lays his forehead on the floor. He hates being changed or restrained in any way save for meals.
He's eating us out of house and home and growing like a weed. Anything with feet in it is of course already too small. But I haven't managed to get any 18 months sized pajamas yet. Instead his are getting a little extra stretch and he's busy wearing the bottoms thin from scooting - which is a problem we have with all pants, even if they do fit. He's hard on shoes these days, too. He likes walking around holding onto hands almost as much - if not more - than scooting, especially outside where he can destroy a pair of pants on rough surfaces in a matter of minutes. Indoors, he will happily stumble back and forth on his feet with no assistance - as long as someone is sitting on the floor. He often closes his eyes and falls forward since he knows someone will catch him. It's great to watch but nerve-wracking as well. And he's cruising like a champ, too, from furniture to people and back again. Nothing compares to the fun of walking in circles.
He loves to take things in and out of containers. That's a popular activity, and we managed to entertain him on the airplane for at least an hour with that. He enjoys trying to feed himself with his spoon, dipping it in and out of the dish and pushing things around. He will often put finger food on the spoon, then take it off and put it in his mouth. I am determined to capture this on video.
He's eating about 6-8 ounces four times a day still. Eventually I am sure we will add another snack, but for now it's all we can do to keep him fed four times a day. His favorite seems to be beans of any kind, and avocado has finally fallen from the favored food. He likes complex combinations like banana oatmeal or papaya mango better than single items like plain yogurt or oatmeal or a single fruit or veggie. And anything that comes through a straw is highly prized. He still loves to drink from a cup with no lid, and that's good for a last resort when he gets tired of being fed and wants to do it himself. He still requires lots of entertainment while eating, mostly something to keep his hands occupied. And he's great at finger foods. His favorite seems to be any flavor of Babybel cheeses. Those top even goldfish, which are our go-to item for just about any problem.
Theo loves fish. He spends a lot of his time watching the three fish in our aquarium and has trouble dragging himself away. He loves dogs and cats and buses and airplanes, too, but I imagine it all pales compared to fish.
Theo is sleeping well still. He goes to bed around 7:30 and gets up between 7 and 8 most mornings. He generally has one feeding in the "middle" of the night, around 5 or 5:30 and goes back to sleep afterwards. For naps, they can still range from 30 minutes to about 1 hour 15 minutes, but the hour naps are much more common. He's exhausted by 9:30 most mornings and ready for nap number two at 1:30 or 2:00. He cuddles up with his flat hedgehog and has outgrown both sleep sacks - they have extra room at the corners where his feet have stretched them out. He still loves to sleep on his side or any position where he can get his legs at a ninety degree angle.
Theo makes lots of sounds and signs for "more" almost non-stop: more food, more toys, more music, more. He can say dada and mama and nana and almost anything else, but has yet to apply these sounds to one specific item. Instead he babbles happily away. His excited inhales are less frequent, but occasionally something still excites him. He also still shakes his head "no" when he's super excited. But now he does it so hard he has to grab onto something to while he's doing it.
We've got a month to go until his big day, which is hard to believe. Theo lacks for nothing, of course, but if you know someone who can't resist, he has a wish list at Amazon. It's just an updated baby registry which can be found under our last name.
In the meantime, we plan to continue watching our boy grow and learn and light up the world.
