The Small Family   

First of all, happy Independence Day to everyone (a day late)! And second, happy 15-month birthday to Theo, who turned 15 months old today. This is a really fun age, in my opinion (Chris would half agree and half sigh in exasperation at Theo’s determination to dismantle everything he comes in contact with). Theo is walking all the time now and always eager to explore, which is a lot of fun. It has meant we’ve done a bit more baby-proofing in the last couple weeks, though, as he is into absolutely everything!

The early part of our week was fairly uneventful—a few walks to the park and trips to the mall play area and such—but the later part was full of activities. On Friday morning, Theo and I went over to my friend Janeane’s house for a play date with Emma (age 2 1/2—Janeane’s daughter and Theo’s frequent playmate) and John (age 2 1/2) and Mary (age ~7 months), my friend Katherine’s children.  Katherine and her kids and husband were in town for a week or so, so it was nice to see her and get the kiddos together. Mary crawled and rolled around happily while John and Emma played, and Theo mainly played on his own. He was very interested in Emma’s toys, which he hadn’t seen in quite some time, as well as Janeane and Jason’s kitchen (don’t ask me why!). We only stayed a little over an hour due to Theo’s morning naptime, but it was nice to get to visit for a bit.

Chris and I had an appointment Friday afternoon, so Grandma Diane came over to babysit Theo for a couple hours. They had great fun, although Theo was a wee bit crabby around the edges. (My guesses? Either cutting teeth or soy milk—more on soy milk later.) And that evening, Chris, Theo, and I went over to Grandma Diane’s to visit with Auntie Lynnie, Uncle Charles, cousins Tyler, Noelle, and Stevie, and Tyler’s girlfriend Kaley. They were all going to the fireworks show in Sun City (where my Mom lives), but Chris, Theo, and I didn’t stay for that—it’s really neat, but it’s past Theo’s bedtime, and he’s probably a bit too young for it anyway.

Saturday morning, bright and early, we headed for San Jose to go visit Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Tom. Their neighborhood has an annual July 4^th parade, so we wanted Theo to be able to see that. We set up shop in Tom and Kathy’s front yard to watch the parade, which was fantastic! Policemen on horseback kicked it off, along with a bunch of classic cars, floats, and tons of neighborhood folks and their families marching along. It ended with a fire truck, which Theo looked at with interest as it passed (though I think the dogs in the parade were his favorite part).

Afterward, I got to meet Chris’s oldest friend (Tyler) and his wife (Jennifer) and daughter (Sparrow). We had a really nice talk before we headed down to the park to see the festivities there, which were winding down. Then Theo had some lunch and a nap before the family descended on Tom and Kathy’s for their family 4^th of July party. It was a small gathering by their standards (maybe 20 people or so), but still enough to be lively! Theo was in a good mood and didn’t get at all nervous among the crowds all day, so Chris and I were happy and relieved. I think Theo’s favorite part of the day was probably playing in Grandpa Tom and Grandma Kathy’s pool with cousin Nik. I wish I had pictures of it, but Chris and I were both in the pool with the boys, so we didn’t get any pictures.

We spent the night in Campbell (nearby) rather than driving home with drunk people on the roads, and Sunday morning we got up and walked to a farmers’ market in downtown Campbell before heading back over to Tom and Kathy’s house for breakfast and a short visit. Theo wore himself out playing with Grandma, Grandpa, and cousin Nik, so he slept for the majority of the 2 1/2-hour drive home. Bliss!

In other, less eventful, news, I don’t think soy milk is our friend. Well, it’s Chris’s and my friend, but not Theo’s. Theo’s at the age where he should technically be going off formula and onto cow’s milk. But obviously, since he can’t tolerate dairy, cow’s milk isn’t an option (yet—he may eventually outgrow the dairy sensitivities, as a lot of children do). He’s on soy formula, so soy milk is a logical substitute for that. But when we tried it a few months ago, he was really, really grumpy. So we figured it was probably upsetting his tummy, and we went back to the formula. This past week, we started putting 2 oz of soy milk into each of his bottles (he usually gets three a day) to start transitioning him over. And while he wasn’t overly grumpy during the week (except for part of Friday), his diapers were, well, rather awful. We decided to give him a little time and see whether that would clear up, but no...after more than a week, they were still wretched. So, it seems perhaps his tummy still doesn’t like soy milk. And I can’t say WE really enjoyed the diaper cleanup!! We have some other alternatives we can try (goat’s milk, rice milk, almond milk, etc.), but I think we may take him into the pediatrician and see what he recommends. Our old pediatrician has cut back her practice, so we’ve been switched to a new pediatrician who I’d like to meet anyway. At first I was rather bummed about losing Dr. G., but upon looking up the new pediatrician’s bio on the Internet, I see that he’s a rather cute fellow, so I guess I’ll give him a chance! ;-)

Aside from the soy milk grossness, Theo’s eating has been great lately. He has developed into such a good eater! He’s not very fond of being spoon-fed pureed foods anymore, so we’re giving him more and more finger foods to try, and he seems to like all of them. The choices are somewhat limited because he doesn’t have many teeth (so obviously they need to be soft foods!), he can’t have any dairy (so no cheese), and we try to keep him on as many fresh foods as we can (avoiding preservatives and chemical additives wherever possible), but we still are finding many things he likes. He loves all fruits, especially strawberries and peaches. He’ll eat small, soft chunks of carrots and zucchini without complaining, although not quite with the enthusiasm that he attacks fruits. I made him a turkey/applesauce/carrot/oat bran meatloaf recipe, and he loves that. (It sounds disgusting, but believe it or not, it isn’t bad. And I normally detest meatloaf, so if I say it’s not bad, it must be decent.) He loves any kind of bread or muffin, and he’s pretty good about eating small pieces of meat or beans. It’s actually kind of fun to plan out balanced meals of things Theo can eat, especially since he seems to really like most everything. Let’s hope this non-picky stage lasts!

Last but not least, we reserved our hotels for our Buffalo/Philadelphia trip this September. I was surprised by how pricey hotels in both regions were...until I realized that we’re traveling around Labor Day, which probably has something to do with the high prices. But, luckily, I found great deals in both places, so we’re happy with what we ended up with. (Buffalo folks: We’re staying at a new hotel in Amherst—I think it’s called Candlewood Suites. Looked to be close to Williamsville/Clarence area, so I figured that put us very close to several of you!)

Anyway, hope you all had a great holiday weekend!