"Thomas? to watch???"

Theo's favorite video:

Theo and his trains

Theodore's new favorite hobby is playing with his toy trains. He has been interested in vehicles for a while' at first, everything was a car to him. Then he began differentiating between things. He looks up whenever he hears a plane overhead and points it out to us, and he loves trucks and boats, too--but he REALLY loves trains.

Theo received his train set as a very generous hand-me-down gift on Sunday evening. For much of this week, he didn't want to eat or sleep--he just wanted to play with his new Thomas trains. It's a train obsession!

Words, words, words!

Theo is a very vocal little boy. He is 16.5 months old at the moment, and he is always saying something--and we're understanding more and more of what he says!

Theo's words:

• Mama
• Dada
• Papa
• Uh-oh!
• Yeah
• No
  
• Hi
• Hello
• Up
  
• This
  
• Apple
  
• Yum
• Hot
• Cracker
• Cookie
• a-ma (for "more")
• All done!
  
• ba-pa (for "bunny")
• Hop
• Woof!
• Binky
• Pretty
• Ball
• Car
• Dance
• Shoe
  

Yes, we have a chatterbox on our hands. :)

Theo's first haircut

Theo had his first haircut on January 22. I sure miss those golden curls, but they were really getting in his eyes. He looks like a big boy now!

Smiles

I think some parents are overly sensitive about children "not behaving." Theo is really too young to "behave" - why should he sit still in church, when there are so many new things to look at? I try to do my best to keep him from being distracting, or from damaging anything (including himself), but other than that, there's not a whole lot I can do to reason with him if he is determined to go for a walk. However, in places like a restaurant, it's even ok to be a little distracting - as long as the people around don't mind.

We took him with us out to eat twice this weekend. He can't sit still for a whole restaurant meal. So, the only way we can take him out with us is if we take turns walking him around between courses. Of course, he walks himself around at this point. So, our job is mostly to make sure he doesn't get into trouble or become a nuisance. Fortunately, his curls and winning smile make it very hard for anyone to see him as a nuisance.

He will walk around for 5 or 10 minutes at a time (including falls, sits, and stands) "talking" to other patrons and admiring decorations. I figure as long as those around continue smiling, that not only is he not being a nuisance, but he is improving the experience. Smiles are contagious, and babies' are some of the most infectious.

Wherever he goes, Theo gets smiles nearly everywhere he looks. His perception of the world must be very skewed on the happy scale... Or maybe it's just that the world around him is a happier place.

One year old!

Happy first birthday, Theo!

Water babies

Theo and I visited the Madeira Triplets this summer and had a great time. On that visit, we learned about the delights of the water table. As our regular readers know, Theo adores playing in the bathtub, so it's no surprise that the water table was a hit:



When we got home, I got Theo a little water table. It's his new favorite toy! He loves to share it with his friend Bridger, whose mom Mira took these great photos:


Yay for water babies!