Theo figures out about pedals

Theo is learning how to ride his bicycle that he got from Uncle Casper for his 2nd birthday. For the first couple of months of owning it, all he could really do was honk the horn. Now he can do a couple of consecutive cycles of pedaling before getting stuck. Dad got on his bicycle and rode around with Theo in the concrete slab behind our house (our "patio") and everytime Theo got stuck, Dad would give him a gentle push. I can't wait until summertime, when Theo can practice every day. Then, when he gets really good, Ruby can ride in the baby bikeseat and we can all go for a nice bike ride.

We take a surprise trip to Massachusetts

In the middle of January, I had an interview in New England, and the plan was for me to drive there in the evening, interview the next day and drive right back. When it came time to drive, I realized that I really didn't want to go there by myself, so 30 minutes before I had to leave, we all decided to take the trip north and spend some time with Dad's folks. We had a really nice time, especially since nobody got sick. It even snowed for us, a very cold dry snow that was no good for making igloos or snowballs. However, Ralph 4 made some mini snowmen for Theo and Ralphie.

Also below are pictures of 1.) Ralph 5, Theo, Ralph 4, Ted, Ralph 3, and 2.) Grandma reading a book to her 4 captivated grandchildren (Ralph 5, Theo, Joshua, and Ruby.)

Theo clips Mama's toenails

Theo ran into the kitchen saying, "Mama, I'm going to clip your toenails, all right? I'm going to clip your toenails." I heard him fussing around in one of the drawers, pull something out, and then close the drawer. He ran back into the living room and announced, "Mama, I got the nail clippers!"

Theo chooses a career

"Mama," he says, "when I grow up, I want to be a lion. And a monkey."

Also, in the car, Theo was singing "The Wheels on the Bus" and had this conversation with his dad:

Theo (singing): The wheels on the bus go swish swish swish, all through the town.
Dad (singing): All through the dish.
Theo: No, not the dish! Through the town!
Dad: All through the clown.
Theo: Not the clown! Through the town!
Dad: All through the gown.
Theo: Now the gown! The town!
Dad: All POO the town!
Theo (thinks a minute, and can't figure out how to explain): Dad, you are messing it up.
Dad: Well, you are messing it up too. The wheels go round and round, and the wipers go swish swish swish.
Theo sings: The wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town. The wipers on the bus go swish swish swish, all through the town. And the dish!


Finally, we are still working on getting Theo to sleep in his car bed through the night. Yesterday we borrowed a library book, "My Own Big Bed" by Anna Grossnickle Hines, one of our favorite children's authors. Who knows if it is helping. In the past few days, we have been able to get Theo to read books and fall asleep in the car bed, but he wakes up crying very loudly, and within a few minutes comes into our room still crying, and finds a space in the middle. Last night, he fell asleep in his car bed, then later started crying loudly. We heard him get up, open his door, open our door, then he closed our door, went back to his room, and shnuffled off to sleep! When I woke up this morning, he was still in his bed. What a big boy.

Theo has happy holidays

Actually, he got pretty sick at Christmas time. We all did. Mom got so sick that she cancelled two interviews, and now she is trying to figure out how to make them up.



Theo loved the Christmas tree, and he didn't even notice that there was hardly anything under it. I wonder how long it'll be that way. We got a lot of bell ornaments that made nice sounds, so we put them low on the tree so Theo could ring them.

We went to Florida to visit Pap and Nan, Uncle Tim and Aunt Joyce, Grandma and Grampy, Geoff and Steph, and Aunt Sheila and Uncle Jon. Theo was sick pretty much the whole time. We didn't get any pictures because 1.) we forgot our camera and 2.) Theo was so grumpy that we probably wouldn't have been able to get any pleasant pictures anyway. I feel like everytime we've had a chance to travel to see Grandma and Grampy, Theo has acted totally weird the entire time. I wonder if they even believe me anymore when I explain that Theo is not normally a whiny, clingy kid!

After we got back, we had to remove the Christmas tree right away because it went for a long while without getting watered. Thankfully, it retained its needles pretty well. After we cleaned it up and Dad vacuumed, Theo said, "Dad, did you clean up the Christmas dirt?"