Theo at 8 months

Theo turns 8 months old today and boy, what a difference a month makes!

Our little monkey

He can sit up really well now, but only if we put him in a sitting position.  He hasn't quite figured that out yet.  He can roll from his tummy to his back and from his back to his tummy.  And he's starting to arch his back and push up on his arm when he's on his tummy, so I suspect sitting isn't too far away.  He will also move his legs a bit like he wants to crawl but he's not coordinated enough yet to figure out the legs and arms moving together stuff.  In just the past couple of days, I have witnessed a little rocking back and forth when he's on his tummy, too.  By his next monthly update, I bet he's off to the races!

Who is that crazy lady??

What is this??

The poor little guy still has no teeth!  Everyone thinks he's getting them because of the way he tries to chew/gnaw on things but I haven't seen anything poking through his gums yet...  He is still a big fan of breastfeeding, so I'm not going to bemoan the lack of teeth!

caught in the act

He's also started babbling in earnest at us.  He still makes cooing noises quite a bit, but occasionally, he will start "talking" and get excited because we get excited.  He kinda sounds like he's ordering dim sum because his vocalizations sound like "bao bao bao" or "blao blao."  I've been pointing to myself and saying "Mama" and I think he's starting to weave in mmm sounds a little.



He's 26 inches long and weighs 19 pounds 13 ounces now, in comparison to his sister who was ~28 inches and ~19 pounds at 8 months.  He can definitely fit in size 12 months clothes pretty easily but I have noticed that the sleeves tend to be too long.  No question about his eye color--it's definitely blue!  And his hair is still pale blonde as you can see in the photos.



He gets the occasional spoonful of yogurt when I'm eating it, but otherwise, it's all milk, all the time for now.  He was awfully interested in lettuce earlier this week though!

Videos of Theo

Look what Theo learned to do this past weekend!  We were so excited, we clapped, smiled and did it back to him and now he won't stop....



And in the interest of full disclosure, he's not happy all the time....

Beer drinking and Babysitting.

typical Nevada City

This past weekend, we drove up to Grass Valley to visit our friends, Todd and Delia and their son, Max.  We met at an open house for BluHomes and then visited the Brewery/Bakehouse in downtown Nevada City for a late lunch.  

Afterwards, we went around the corner and enjoyed some ice cream (no photos!) before heading to Todd and Delia's house.  Lulu and Max played with all his toys.  They kept wanting to put Todd in "prison," and I kept busting him out with "parole" for good behavior.  During his furloughs from prison, Todd, Walter, and Delia enjoyed tasting some beer that Delia brought home from the store.

While they were drinking beer, I was stuffing my face with sourdough bread and cheese.  And we kept ourselves busy preventing Theo from whacking his head on the floor.

Bubbles Playdate

Lulu had a playdate with her friend Scotland today.  Scotland attends a private school, so her spring break was a week after Lulu's.  Her mother works during the day, so Scotland is spending the entire day at her grandparents house and they were hoping Lulu would enjoy a playdate so that they had a bit of a break!

The girls tried out the super bubble wand out on the driveway and had a great time.  Lulu was wearing her rain boots because we had a big system of thunderstorms (complete with thunder, lightening, and small hail!) come through Sacramento today.







Once Walter and Summer (Scotland's mother) came home from work, we all went out and enjoyed pizza at RoundTable for dinner.  It was a really nice afternoon!

Gibbons Park Swings

Walter and I put Theo in the stroller and all four of us walked over to Gibbons Park for some afternoon exercise today.  It was a beautiful day and beautiful weather so it felt nice to get out and stretch our legs a bit.  While Walter pushed Lulu around in the tire swing, Theo had an opportunity to enjoy the baby swing for the first time!





And I captured a little video of the event, too.

Theo's first taste of yogurt

Let's just say that he was not enjoying his first taste of yogurt.  This is plain, whole milk yogurt with very, very little sugar.

Trip to Texas Recap.

Lulu, Theo and I flew to Texas to see my family over Lulu's spring break from school which happened to coincide with my father's birthday.  We had a great time visiting with Umpapa and MauMau, Nanny, and seeing the cousins over dinner.

We surprised Umpapa at school on his birthday with a red velvet cupcake and a candle in the teachers' lounge.  He was surprised!

MauMau, Lulu, Theo and I saw two movies at the local movie theater, including one of them in 3D.  We saw the "Cinderella" movie which was really very good (directed by Kenneth Branaugh) and the movie "Home."  I liked that the movie showed an African-American heroine with a strong, loving bond with her mother who showed the alien, "Oh," how to be brave.  And Lulu and I were both excited that the movie was based on a book so we will have to look for it when we get home and see if we can find it in the library.

We also went shopping.  Nanny wanted Lulu to bring her doll Samantha with her so that they could go clothes shopping together.

And Theo ended up with a little something from Nanny, too!

We also ate ice cream at Braum's, a local institution (which isn't to say that it doesn't exist everywhere in Texas because it does, but mostly that it's a local gathering place).

Lulu also got to ride in the critter with Umpapa out to the tank to feed the fish and Clyde, the beagle, came along for the ride.

Lulu and MauMau also visited the zoo, but I don't have any photos of that visit because Nanny and I were running her errands and letting Theo sleep in the back seat during that time.

And Theo had lots of cuddle time with Nanny and Umpapa.  This was Nanny's first time getting to see Theo and I think they got along great, don't you?













Umpapa and Theo had some man-on-man time on the floor just being silly.





Clyde wasn't entirely sure how to handle a new baby in the house and was pretty anxious when either Umpapa or MauMau gave Theo any attention.  Luckily, he wasn't able to notice that much because Lulu keep running him ragged with her demands to play with him.



Nanny babysat for me once.



And we shared plenty of meals together, including one at Taco Casa, a fast food Mexican joint.









Perhaps the most important meal was on Sunday evening when we drove down to Weatherford and met my brother and his family for dinner to celebrate Dad's 66th birthday.  I haven't seen my brother in three years, since the last time I was in Texas.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get together long enough for the kids to play together because they had an engagement earlier and it was a school night.  Lulu was finally starting to warm up to Rachel when it was time to go.

I am kicking myself that I didn't make Mom jump into this photo, too.  :(

And we also went into town and visited my Great Aunt Margaret Ann at her store.  She is my Grandma Chalmers's only surviving (and the youngest!) sibling, but she is getting on up there in age and starting to slow down quite a bit.



Slowing down seemed to be a theme this visit--there was lots of sleeping and none of it by me.  Theo kept me up most nights from about 3am until 6-6:30am.  Not fun.  (go back and look at that photo of me in Braums)





And, I finally got to see/meet my parents' cat, Smokey, who joined their household after my last visit to Texas.  They think he was dumped or abandoned by someone and started feeding him and he has made himself right at home.  He's a very sweet, friendly cat who drools on you when you pet him.  Not at all like Dido in other words.





All in all, we had a good visit and I think Theo definitely enjoyed his first visit to Texas!