Bucktown Record: May 2006

Not a Baby

So, a year ago I had a tiny boy (only 7 pounds) who wanted to spend all his time curled up on my lap sleeping and eating, often simultaneously. Now SA is a toddler, a 23 pound, 5 ounce guy. Developments:

- He wanders around the house, chases the cats, opens and shuts cupboards. Today he opened the spice cupboard and tossed the contents onto the floor. If we're missing anything, I'll have to look under the refrigerator.

- He's eating little bits of pretty much everything now. Today at lunch, he tried some whole wheat baguette, some turkey and cheese panini, and some lettuce. He spit out the lettuce with the easy-to-interpret "this must not touch my tongue ever again" look.

- He has moved to sippy cups. He didn't like bottles much anyhow. He can still do his favorite maneuver: fill mouth with liquid, then let it dribble out onto clothes/furniture/floor/parent.

- Right after SA's first birthday, he had a day where he walked a little further each time he tried. We counted 3 steps, then 6, then 8, then 9 before he fell or reached something to grab. After 10 steps, it was like he suddenly figured it all out. Now, a week later, he walks more than he crawls.

- Lots of babble, but I haven't noticed recognizable words yet. No time! Too busy! Those spices aren't going to throw themselves on the floor, you know.

One year old

So, by some definitions we no longer have a baby. SA turned 1 this morning at 8:42am, and he is toddling around these days, however clumsily - 2 or 3 steps at a time before he notices that he's nowhere near the support of a chair or a firetruck or a mother and falls to his knees.

The park continues to be a big favorite - he pushes his firetruck around, and he climbs the stairs and goes down the slide. He spends lots of time driving the train too, and sometimes he just sits and collects all the balls that go by.

And today was a birthday party! Just some family, and some friends who happened to be in town. To my little guy, balloons are even more exciting than balls, but we figured out that eventually his enthusiasm would lead to a loud pop, right in his face (and, I suppose, a bit of a choking hazard.)

Finally, any good party needs a cake. Before and after:

New Favorite Activity

There's a new favorite toy in the house:

The picture above is a rarity because SA is standing still - he's usually tearing around the the house pushing his Mickey Mouse firetruck as fast as it will go. Initially, he just pushed it straight, and when he got stuck he backed up a few inches and tried to push harder (slam! into the wall. And slam!!! again. The strategy worked with the cats, and with the dining room chairs, but not much else.) This week he learned to navigate - he goes around the sofa, quick stop at the TV to play with the buttons on the stereo, back into the kitchen, with a quick stop at the cat's dish to see if I'm watching, and then out to try to shove his way through the maze of chairs under the dining room table.

The truck is a hit at the playground, too - this afternoon, SA wandered off to play with a big green ball for a while, and a couple 3-year-olds spent a quarter of an hour racing the firetruck around, and ended up in a fight over it (I think their moms were relieved when I asked for it back.)

In other news:

- One of SA's recent favorite foods include chicken nuggets (shaped like dinosaurs! Not that SA cares, since I cut them up for him.)

- He absolutely hated the whole wheat bread I bought from Costco, so I got another brand today, and it was ok. I couldn't figure out what flavor was there that he disliked so much - they seemed pretty similar to me.

- He was waving and saying "bye-bye" the other day, but I haven't been able to get him to repeat it. I can't honestly say that he says Mama or Dada or anything else intentionally yet.

- His throwing skills are better every day - he loves balls, and tosses them all over the house.