theo at two

he's no longer a baby...

but he is still my baby! :(

oh, the bittersweet feeling of seeing your kids growing up so fast. i am more sentimental with theo because who knows, he might be the last baby i cuddled and smooched. that's why as long as he is still round and filled with baby fats he will remain to be my baby. hope jude won't smack me for doing this... hehehe.

adorable-terrible is the apt term to describe theo at his age

theo is officially toddler now that he is two years old. and just like a normal toddler, he is curious, assertive, and feisty. thank God that my problem with his verbal communication skills already ended as he can already talk... and he talks a lot which is sometimes a major concern in our household especially when we need silence. lol. he started to talk when he was about 21 months old as his vocabulary expanded, learning new words aside from the "b"- beginning words he can already say since he was around one year old. before he turned two he can already speak in short sentences. but it's in early 2012 when he was around 28 months when he turned into a chatterbox and he started to be a source of entertainment in the house. i can not forget the evening when i thought his tales will never end as it ran for about an hour and he just talked about going to office someday and working for me and jude. :)

while his communication skills improved a lot, his gross motor skills lag behind. he's lazy when it comes to jumping and hopping which toddlers often love to do. our only consolation is he likes to join in in his kuya inigo's football class and runs and kicks ball in the sideline. at least we know that his eye-hand and foot coordination is okay.

but he is still one smart kiddo. we even assume that his very advanced for his age cognitive-wise. he thinks like a five or six year old sometimes. he never fails us to impress us with his reasoning skills which made him earn the monicker "attorney" from our kins. he thinks deeply and observes keenly and they manifests in his pretend plays - something he likes to do even when he's less than two years old.

few of his many pretend plays

just like his kuya inigo, he also loves to play with blocks and he builds whatever he fancies at that moment. he has loyalty to some of his toys. when he was a little younger, he's so loyal to his mickey mouse plushy that he can never sleep without it by his side. but when he got to know of thomas the tank engine character, his old thomas train toy (a christmas gift for him when he was 3 months old) soon replaced mickey and until now he brings it anywhere we go.

we have already enrolled him in the same school where his kuya inigo went for nursery and kinder. but prior to schooling, he's already versed with basic concepts like the alphabet, numerals, shapes, and colors. speaking of colors... color orange is his favorite and the orange crayon is the only thing he knows to use for coloring. hehe.

what else should i say about theo.... oh, he's a very affectionate or malambing kid! he loves to give me a kiss and sits on my lap. he never fails to thank me for almost anything i do for him... "thank you mommy for my otmeal (oatmeal).... thank you mommy for my food... thank you mommy for my new shoes."  this gesture compensates for the tantrums and feisty attitude he's throwing around which can really test my patience. but i just remind myself... he is at terrible two. :)

theo at adorable-terrible two

theo is adorable. he'd me in the cheek, nose, forehead, and lips. unwarranted, he'd throw his arms around and gives me a tight hug especially when

he knows all the colors with orange and purple as his favorites. we're learning the shapes as of now

he talks a lot and can string words already, sometimes in sentences.

how is theo? (theo at 16 months)

the last time i wrote about updates on theo was when he's 10 months old. shame on the mommy because the little tot is already at his 17th month and a lot of stories and updates have to be told about him! :)

since he already turned one last october 2010, theo is now officially a toddler.  and with a personality stronger than his kuya inigo, he is quite a handful at times. i sometimes refer to him as 'maton' since he seems to look like a toughie.

but toughies have all also their soft sides and it's being a mama's boy which makes theo endearing... he can already hug and kiss me! hihi. not to mention his boisterous laughs and charming smiles or grins which never fail to smitten us.

 

 

the little einstein

if there's one thing that i am very proud of about theo is that his cognitive skill is quite advanced for his age. he's already a keen observer and easily picks up what he sees around the house. i undermined this skill before and was shocked one afternoon to see him unplugging my laptop from the power outlet and  plugging instead the television as he wanted to watch playhouse disney. i think he was only 10 months old then. he also knew how to use most of the items inside our house like the comb, phone, keys, laptop even before he turned one year old.

he started early too with some antics compared to inigo. he loves me to sing nursery rhymes for him like "twinkle, twinkle..." and at 10 months he can already demonstrate some of its actions, something that inigo only started to do when he's already a toddler.

the littlest bookworm

i'm glad that i have instilled the book-reading habit to inigo as i think this has been passed now to theo since he always sees me and his older brother reading books especially before bedtime. at his age, the youngest member of our family has favorites already; probably because he likes to hear the rhymes, or probably because he likes to do the actions which i made up for every page. our reading style now is i read the book while he does the actions which he has already memorized by heart--cute! :)

the signing baby

i made sure that theo will also learn how to sign as it really served useful for us during his older brother's time. the first word he learned to sign is "milk" since it's also the first word i thought. hehe. it's followed by "eat" and "drink". now theo has more words up his sleeve such as "more", "thank you", "chicken", and "fish".

i hope he will learn more in the coming weeks... err, i hope i can teach him more words to sign. hehe.

the little headstrong

when it comes to behaviour theo is... ugh!... more terrible than his kuya inigo! theo is quite a brat. he throws tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. and oh yes, this baby of ours hits, and he hits a lot! :S he hits when we say "no", when we say something which offends him, or when we don't give in to his whims. i hope this hitting will pass quickly as resolving this issue is not my cup of tea as it's not really much of my concern with inigo before.

the baby bull

what i love about theo is he rarely gets sick. the last time i got worried about his health is when he caught a cold virus when he's six months old. there were occasions after that when he had fever, two i think, but it quickly resolved on its own and he's well again.

i also find him sometimes in a wrestling bout with his big brother but thank God he never had bruises nor sprains. :D

the happy baby

theo remains to be a happy baby. he loves to play with his and his kuya inigo's toy, which caused the little fights sometimes, hehe. and mind you, he knows how to play with some of these toys. one time i saw him playing with inigo's toy helicopter. i asked him for it and let the tiny chopper run on our floor. the baby shook his head in disapproval and took the toy from me. he stood up and let it hover up on the air using his hand while he's making these little sounds "weez, burrrrr, shoo-shoo"--the sounds of the plane, car, and train all mixed up. hehehe. anything from a little babe is really adorable, right?

he also loves to play with his ride-on-car, which he got as a gift for his 1st birthday. but sometimes he wants to show that he can do something better and rides the twist car. it's amusing to see him driving this as he knows how to increase his speed using his feet. he's baby-no-more sometimes! :)

the tv-addict in the making

i know it isn't good for him but i can't help but let him watch the tv sometimes especially when it's his kuya inigo's viewing time since we usually stay in one room. he's an avid viewer now of playhouse disney and his current favorite is mickey mouse clubhouse. he never fails to stand up and dance when it's already the "hotdog dance" part.

he's a tv-addict in the making that's why i limit his viewing to one show a day. he tends to become so absorbed by what he's watching that he sometimes ignores my call.

do i need to say more... :D

 

development and milestones

- we went to his pediatrician for his routine check-up two weeks ago and theo was weighing 10.8 kilos. he's quite heavy i know but still far from the border of being obese. his appetite increased remarkably these past few months, which explains why he's heavy. i have already introduced formula milk for him, since i want to slowly wean him from my breastmilk, but theo, no matter what brand i offer, likes only breastmilk. hay, good luck to me!

- he's still not walking! :( my boys are late-walkers. inigo started to walk when he's already 14 1/2 months. i already expected theo to walk later than him because comparing their milestones, inigo learned to sit and stand earlier than theo. but i didn't expect that it would be this late. but we're not worried, just impatient, hehe, since we see progress on his motor skills every week. now he can already make a few steps, it's only his fear of falling that hinders him to walk further.

- his language skill also lags. i know i shouldn't compare my two boys but i can't help but always use inigo as my benchmark for milestones. inigo at theo's age now can already speak a lot of words, which are not only limited to monosyllabic. but theo's words are still limited to "bo" for ball, "boo" for book or other toys. and "eee" for jollibee or mickey. hehe. he has other words which i often hear but he uses them interchangeably so even me, his mom, can't understand him. i have already asked his pediatrician about these concerns but he was quick to reassure me that theo is fine and he just probably needs more stimulation.

i remember during inigo's time, my issue about my eldest was he isn't yet pointing with his index finger at age two, and since it's mentioned in baby books that pointing is a good sign that the kid isn't autistic i was really worried of what could have been inigo's condition. now it's my time to worry about theo. though he started to point with his index finger at nine months, my concern now is possible speech delay.

- i've already mentioned about his cognitive skill and probably because this one is quite advanced that's why the other skills lag. i also enjoy seeing theo catching up on my instructions. he knows my rules for him: don't touch the electric fan (rotor part), don't plug the electrical devices, and don't go beyond our improvised safety gate for the room. he attempts sometimes to break the rule but when he sees me glaring at him it's he who gives me the "no" sign. hehe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

fish be with him

inigo told me one day that he wanted to have a pet fish. i told this to jude as soon as he got home from work. it was more of sharing to him our eldest son's latest fancy rather than pleading since i knew that having a pet in the house spells another responsibility for me... as if two little boys are not enough! but little did i know that it was the daddy who was more excited to have a pet for his boys that's why the following saturday found us in cartimar looking for a small fish bowl ('fish bowl of elmo' was how jude described it to the store owners, haha) and the fishes which we will put inside it.

inigo was so happy. we bought two goldfishes since jude said it's the easiest to maintain. it should only be one but it's me who pushed him to buy two because i felt that even fish needs a company. hehe. we 'christened them inigo fish and theo fish - how orig! hahaha!

well, even theo seemed to love the fishes. just look at his grin...

inigo was very good in taking care and/or feeding the fishes on the first few days. but now... he doesn't even bother to look at them! :-/ sometimes i call his attention and tell him that the fishes are hungry. he tells me in return, "feed them mommy, they might die..." hmpf!

 

kodak moments: the drawing and the wrestling

inigo loves to draw our family. the first ever family picture he had drawn is still in my keeping until now.

but it's just the other day that he drew a picture which made my heart leaped. this was done spontaneously and i knew somehow that it was prompted by his brotherly love...

it's inigo and theo in this picture

i had to get a camera and take photos since it was only drawn in a magnetic board and will be gone in just one swiping.

later that day i again saw him wrestling with his baby brother...

it's only then that i realized the purpose of inigo's drawing. i probably need to have it framed and hanged in all the walls of our house... nice idea, eh?

theo at 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 months :)

it was five months ago since i posted an update here in multiply about baby theo - jude and I's little bundle of joy who's making our lives now happily crazy as we often find ourselves shrieking at one moment and laughing at his antics or naughty smiles afterwhich.

from a squirming infant which he was theo is now near toddler stage and mind you, he's already quite terrible. hihi.

 theo at 6th month:  sniffle for the first time

blame it on the scorching heat last summer and the dusts which polluted our air when we moved into this apartment whil the other units were being renovated; the little boys and i all had upper respiratory problems (it's only now i learned that this means the infection is only viral) during and after holy week. if kuya inigo and i had coughs, poor little theo had cold and runny nose which made him quite miserable for more than a week. it was only after a consultation with their pediatrician and  taking  the  prescribed medicine that he got better. it wasn't really about the cold that i was really concerned of since i knew it was only viral  and will go away eventually, but it was the breastfeeding strike that he did for two days! he had a hard time sucking because of his clogged nostrils and the only way he could suck, but only for a brief moment, is to cradle-carry him before i give him his milk-source. because of this my milk supply also dwindled and the more i  became worried because i knew that it's breastmilk or any fluid that can help him recover from his malady. it was really a test of faith but eventually things went back to normalcy and my baby bilog was well again, :)

 

theo at 7th month:  his first taste of solid food

i followed our pediatrician's advice to introduce solid foods only after theo turned six months. it's also the recommendation of baby experts worldwide especially if allergies run in the family's health history, which is really the case in our family.

am also extra careful with what my boys eat during their infancy; no processed foods and all natural, as much as possible. so for his first meals, theo had fresh fruits, veggies, and root crops. among his favorites are sweet potato, papaya, and banana. when i say 'favorites' it means he eats them with gusto, with mouth wide-opened and eyes sparkling with delight whenever i feed him. while there are foods which are just 'okay' for him; he eats but he's not very fond of like broccoli, chayote, squash, and carrot.  he also has his own share of 'hate foods' like apple, avocado, and oats. the harder i shove a spoonful of these to his mouth the tighter he purses his lips. :D

 

okay... okay... i drafted this blog two months ago and things have changed now. theo now likes almost everything that i put in his bowl even my combo meals of rice cereal and broccoli, rice cereal and malunggay leaves, oatmeal and avocado, mango and applesauce, etc.

 

 

 

it's also at 7th month (theo was 6 months and 2 weeks to be exact) when he first crawled. i saw him one night on our bed pushing his body forward using his knees with his bottom stuck out on air, something i find so funny!

 

theo at 8th month:  great moves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

since theo already knew how to maneuver his body, it was already easy for him to shift from one position to another, including sitting position. he also became comfortable with his crawling that he can now roam around our room using his arms and legs. this was even made possible when jude decided to put our mattress flat on the floor to avoid more--as theo already had--falls.

 

theo at 9th month:  those two front teeth...

 

it really took its sweet time before it erupted. his kuya inigo had his first tooth when he was seven months and one week old so i guessed that theo will have his first pearl around that age too. but theo turned seven... eight... and nine months and there's still no sign of teething except for excessive drooling and fussiness at night which i was no longer sure if it's indeed related to teething or just normal behaviour for babies. but it was our last visit to his pediatrician (3rd saturday of june) when we felt his lower gums were swollen and two teeth were ready to come out. finally our long wait is over and it only took a few more days when two teeth sprouted!  we were so happy for theo. gone now are his toothless smiles. :)

 

 

 

theo at 10th month:  he's all naughty and nice

 

he's now practicing to stand up with the help of anything he can hold onto - a skill which he discovered since the past month. but theo lately is making our hands full with his spirited personality. we sometimes see him being tossed by his big brother and he doesn't seem to mind as he knows how to fight back with his now fully-sprouted two front teeth. yep... we sometimes see him biting inigo when he gets pissed off. :D

 

 

but it's also those teeth i admit which make theo sooo adorable every time he giggles now or smiles...

 

 

 

other developments

- theo's weight gain wasn't as significant as before. he was weighing 8.4 kilos (from 7.9 kilos last february) during the time we brought him for his baby-wellness check-up last march. but it went down to 8.1 lbs after he had a cold and declared a nursing strike. though he regained the pounds he shed off but it took a while. theo was weighing 8.8 lbs when we went back again to his pediatrician last june. i wasn't happy about it but the doctor assured me that he's still on the heavy side since 9 kilos is already the average weight for one-year olds and theo was only turning nine months then.

 

- he's not afraid of the water! theo loves the pool and the sea. his first swim... err, dip in the pool happened last summer and lo and behold, he enjoyed the experience! :)

 

- his hair has now grown... do i need to say more? :D

 

 

 

theo at 5 months

theo or "baby bilog", as i fondly call him nowadays, turned five months last march 4th. he's still the happy and bubbly baby that we all love but i have observed that he's becoming clingy lately. though not as clingy as his kuya iñigo was but theo is now  demanding for our attention and wants to be carried always. ugh! he reacts whenever i put him down in his crib and it takes a while for him to be pacified. but it doesn't take long and he demands to be carried again.

he also prefers me laying down beside him during his slumber time. worse, he wants me to put one of my arms around him when he's sleeping instead of him lying down on his tummy. hello backpains!

but i realized that theo is just telling us that he, too, has emotional needs which we need to fill. he now cries when we disappear from his sight without any warning, especially if that happens in the middle of our bonding activities. he likes to be carried always as he likes to see us moving inside the house. so the daddy now wears him (yeah, i admit, he's better than me when it comes to babywearing) and it's amusing to see theo quiet inside the sling; his eyes busy with whatever his daddy is doing. this tells us that the baby just wants to get involved in our daily ritual... amazing isn't it? :)

party boy theo attending the first birthday party of his cousin zandy in pixie forest, festival mall, alabang; with him in this picture is lola babes (jude's aunt).

development and milestones

- his weight gain for the past four weeks tapered as he only gained additional 600 grams. but i think theo who's 4 1/2 months during the time he was weighed is still very heavy at 7.8 kilos. he's still exclusively breastfed until now and when i say "exclusive" it means he takes no other milk or liquid, including water and vitamins. breastfeeding not only gives us a healthy baby but saves us thousands of pesos as well.

- he can see farther now, up to three meters i think. i realized this when jude was carrying him from the door of our bedroom while i was in the kitchen cooking lunch... our eyes met and he gave me a big smile and gestured that he wanted me to get him from his daddy. he also now pays attention to colorful objects, aside from those with red-black-white patterns. and most of all, theo loves to look at the mirror and is fascinated with his own image. :)

- one of the milestones he achieved lately is using of his hand to reach out. now he knows what else he can do with his hand aside from putting it inside his mouth. :) theo has entered the age of discoveries as i sometimes see him gazing at his fingers, toes or any object that he can grab within his reach with so much fascination, only to shove it inside his mouth, probably to also know how it tastes like. hehehe.

- he now turns and rolls faster than he did a month ago. he's also trying to do some push ups but with his heavy load, he could only lift his body an inch. hahaha.

..less than a month from now and theo can already eat solid foods. he is already showing interests to eat but i think he has to wait for many more months before he could get a share of his cake, a monthly treat for his month-birthday but it's he--the celebrator--who cannot eat. hehehe.

kodak moment: iñigo and theo bonding together

i left the boys on the bed for a quick trip to the restroom and this is what i found when i came back to the room... something which made me grab my celfone for its camera...

...babaw but i think every parent will really be overjoyed upon seeing her kids bonding together and it made me wish that i can do magic and freeze time so i don't have to be concerned with sibling rivalry, jealousy, fight over the same toy... or girl? 'wag naman po... hehe.

the joys which parenthood can bring... :)

 

"wearing theo"

i don't know how i look like but i always attract a lot of attention whenever i use the sling for theo. does it look so primitive, or it is just really an uncommon sight for them--a mother using a stretch of cloth to carry her baby? i just wish that i don't give an impression that we can't afford a baby carrier or stroller. hehehe.

well, i find the baby sling more convenient to use in carrying my theo especially when we're out. it frees my hands and gives support to my back, making it easier for me to bring him around even when am doing other things. i always use it when there's no choice but to fetch iñigo from school with him in tow as jude is not home. you should see the faces of the people we meet along; most of them can't help but give a second-look and smile.

the crade hold, which i found so useful; theo was only a month old here and we're in iñigo's school to fetch him

oh by the way... it's jude who taught me how to use it. yep, no manuals no video... just hands-on tutorial from someone who is quite an expert in rings, carabiners, and the likes. according to him: parang sa rapelling lang yan... anovah??? hahaha.

... and it tickled me pink when some mommies remarked that they find it nice of seeing jude with the sling. :) the daddy loves to use it instead of the stroller when we're inside the mall.

jude doing the snuggle hold

i am happy that we do babywearing (the use of sling or wrap in carrying the baby) now. i am an avid fan of dr. sear's attachment parenting and i applied some of the tools that it advocates such as breastfeeding and co-sleeping for iñigo, but not babywearing. when we got pregnant with theo i promised that i will give it a try since am sure i will be multitasking... thanks to mareng lui for lending me her sling. i just hope that we can already buy our own so we can give it back to her soon. ;D

 

 

 

theo at 4 months

theo is one of the reasons why jude and i love our roles as parents nowadays. he never fails to cheer us up even if we are doing the most tedious chore or we're caught in one of those stressful moments. it's because he loves to put a smile on his face especially when he sees familiar faces like mine, his daddy's or kuya iñigo's. though he can also instantly shift to a bad mood when his big brother gets near him; it depends on how many times iñigo pestered him within that day. ;D

even jude's fondness on him grew as it's so easy for theo to smile and giggle, and laugh when we do something which he finds funny.

he also loves to play, even with his kuya iñigo, but he becomes fussy though when gets overstimulated. or the play gets rough by you-already-know-who... one more thing i like about him is he loves to take a bath unlike iñigo who, during his baby days, throws a fit and whose cry can be heard by neighbors because bath time for him was worse than getting a shot. oh my... i really can't help but compare them sometimes. i hope am not being a bad mom when i compare them.

 

 

he turned four months last february 4th and again we celebrated it with a traditional round cake.

 

 

 

 

development and milestones

- i said a month ago that theo could already be weighing 7 kilos at 3 1/2 months. it was only a guess because we're yet to see his pediatrician the following weekend for his monthly baby wellness check-up... and indeed, our little theo weighed 7 kilos, but a little more than that as his exact weight was 7.4 kilos and he was only 14 weeks! now i know why my shoulders are aching whenever i carry him for more than 10 minutes. i have already kept away the clothes he first wore as most of them are already small for him. his diaper size is now at medium but i think it won't be long and we need to buy the next size.

he's scheduled again for his wellness check-up this coming saturday and let's see what the weighing scale will say... i just hope he isn't overweight yet. :S

who couldn't resist not to pinch those cheeks and limbs? not me! hahaha.

- he squirms, scoots, pedals his feet upwards, raises his head and move it from side to side... these were the skills of theo right after he turned 3 months.

theo learned to raise his head at 12 weeks (3 months)

now, theo can already rotate his head with ease. this made him prefer the upward position when he's being carried as he loves to gaze at the objects and people around the house, especially those that make noises like his kuya iñigo. :)

theo can also roll over his body. we can't put him now on our bed unguarded; otherwise, he has to be transfered inside the crib. i also realized that we purchased a small cot as he cannot rotate his body now without his feet getting stuck by the fences/railings and his bolster pillows.

- he babbles and squeals a lot especially when he needs something like when he's sleepy and he wants to be put to sleep (though he can soothe himself sometimes and sleep on his own) or when his kuya iñigo is playing with him and he needs me to remove his big brother from his side... hehe... but it's true. he speaks his own language and sometimes with more audible voice... that can sometimes be considered as noise. :D

noisy theo can also now make eye contact

- i really think theo is already on teething stage. he now loves to put everything in his mouth. he also tends to gnaw whatever his mouth catches like the sleeve of my shirt, his bolster pillow; and to my dismay one time, i saw him gnawing one of the railings of his crib! it's the paint of the crib that am worried about... am scared of the toxic lead, you know.

theo at 3 months

theo made his first travel on his third month. it's also during this time that he experienced his first christmas and new year celebration. he attended several parties and had been to many  places, which is unusual for babies his age. we know... :D

he's indeed a busy babe for the past month but theo, who's purely breastfed until, continuous to be healthy and happy.

 

 

development and milestones

- theo keeps on getting bigger and heavier every month. he was weighing 6.1 kilos at 10 weeks and if my guess will be right again, he'll be weighing 7 kilos already on our next visit to his pedia, which is scheduled on the 16th of this month.

- our little baby has now stronger neck muscles as he can already raise his head for a few minutes and rotate it side by side. with this and better vision, he can now look intently at anything that catches his attention. he also now swings his limbs and wiggles his body whenever he likes. it won't take long and soon we'll find him rolling. i can now hear jude saying it's time now to dismantle our bed frame again.

- i love it when he tries to engage me in a conversation with his goos and gurgles. there are even moments when he "talks" incessantly as long as he sees my face. oh my, we have another chatterbox in the house! :) his smiles and giggles are now more defined and he easily gives them away especially when i try to make him laugh.

he's talking to his daddy here

- is teething already starting for theo? it's because he drools a lot even when he's only nine weeks old. i'm sending three to four wet bibs to his hamper everyday, and that doesn't include the gauze diapers which i also use to wipe on his face. he alredy earned the monicker, "drool factory" among jude's friends because of his extraordinary salivation.

those fists are always his favorite...

- unfortunately, i think i have also passed on my allergic rhinitis to theo. december found the boys sneezing and with clogged noses. though theo's allergy to the cold weather is not as bad as his kuya's whose nose i constantly wiped with tissue for several days.  theo also had mild colds but it's more of the booger (sorry for being gross) that concerned me as it blocked his nostrils.

- theo really has a happier disposition. leave him in his crib or rocker with a toy and he's fine, for a few minutes at least. i sometimes catches him giggling over the sounds that his activity gym creates when he kicks it. the toys have more use now than during the time of iñigo who never showed any enthusiasm for this form of entertainment.

- he can now sleep 7 to 8 hours straight at night. :)