What's so funny? - Week 39 (Video 2)

When Theo's in a bad mood, he's really in a bad mood. What's good, however, with his bad moods is that they're so predictable. There are four situations that can quickly ruin Theo's day: he's hungry, he's thirsty, he's wet or he's sleepy. As long as these four needs are satisfied, Theo can quickly revert to his usual jolly and funny self.

Mommy D took the photo above, so I don't know what actually caused Theo's laughing fit. But as you can see, when he laughs, he laughs as if there's no tomorrow. And as always, there's his rubber ducky with him, the same rubber ducky that has been the perennial victim of his sharp teeth. By the way, two more upper teeth have begun to erupt, and quite soon, he'll have six in total. If I were the rubber ducky, I'd shudder with the mere thought.

Speaking about giggling and laughing, I have uploaded a 1-minute video clip of Theo in one of his jolly moods. This time, I have uploaded three versions. The uncompressed large version is 24 megabytes, and this is for those with broadband or cable connections. For those with dialup connections, the medium (1.7 megabytes) and small (0.7 kb) versions are for you, with download times of 4 and 2 minutes, respectively, using a 56 kbps modem. While the large version is a streaming video in .mpg format, the medium and small verions are in .wmv format, so they should first be downloaded into your hard drive and then viewed using Windows Media Player.

Check out the videos and see for yourself how cutely and adorably our little Theo can giggle and laugh. Enjoy!

The Mama’s Boy – Week 38

By this time, Theo has developed an increased awareness of himself and others and has learned to differentiate between himself, his primary caretaker (mother), and his father. Recently, his strong attachment to Mommy D has been shown by his incessant cries and tantrums if left alone by himself or with me for a long time. This is normal, though, for his age.

One very amusing event that happened this week was when Theo showed us that he is now capable of feeding himself with a cracker. It was both cute and funny how he first fumbled with the cracker and how he had to use both hands to put the cracker inside his mouth when it already became too small. This usually ended with 8 to 9 fingers also in his mouth but with the cracker slipping to the table or floor.

In terms of motor skills, Theo can now stand up by himself if he holds on to furniture, and when he does, he can stand for a relatively long time. If guided, he can also sidestep and further explore his surroundings.

We also purchased a baby chair for him with a small table in front. This is where Mommy D feeds him with his favorite yogurt dishes and fruits. On this chair, he can sit well and steadily almost indefinitely, although he eventually becomes restless if his favorite food is almost finished.

In accordance with his age of 38 weeks, Theo is on the right, if not, perfect track of development. Much credit certainly goes to Mommy D!

The Perennial Biter - Week 37

Now that Theo's teeth have become much bigger, he appears to have found a new pastime: biting. Anything that he could get his hands on he examines very closely - at first - and then, if nobody's watching, he puts it in his mouth for the ultimate ISO-certified bite and taste test.

There are no exceptions to this ongoing, almost nonstop analysis; paper, plastic, toys, cellphones, clothes, keys, you name it and it can all pass through Theo's mouth for assembly-line-like scrutiny.

As you can see from the photo above, these biting experiments are accompanied by "sinister grins", as if a mad scientist is happily on the loose and concocting his next scheme. Only this time, the scientist is so cute, what with all the folds of fat crisscrossing his belly. That rubber ducky behind him, by the way, has already been examined "orally" at the molecular level.

Not only has Theo become much more mobile, he has also become much more curious. If he is awake, somebody has to always keep an eye on him; otherwise, who knows where he'll crawl to or what he'll put betwen those pearly whites. It goes without saying that taking care of Theo has become a full-time job, with only his smiles, giggles, and adorable antics as compensation.

For us, that is good enough.

Funny Faces (slide show) - Week 36

One advantage of having a large bandwidth and storage space on the Internet is that I can upload not only high-resolution photos but also animations and video. For this week's post, I have uploaded a 718-kb gif file which is a "slide show" of Theo's funny faces this week. Theo's full-force yawn as well as his dazed look just after waking up are the obvious highlights. If you get to see him up close and observe his antics, you'll find that he's really one very funny and adorable kid.

This week, though, has been quite eventful for him. Early this week, while he was playing, he hit his gums on the back of the chair. Some bleeding (his first!) and lots of crying occurred but we quickly remedied it by letting him suck on a cloth-wrapped ice cube. The ice cube quickly relieved the pain, and after a few minutes, he was back to his smiling and rumbly-tumbly self. (We proved at the same time that his blood clotting rate is very normal.)

Without a doubt, he has become much more mobile, and it is quite a risk to keep him out of your sight for even just a few seconds, esp. if he's on the (high) bed. He's much safer in his playpen but he gets bored quite easily, given the same toys that have been surrounding him all the time. We might drop by the 100 yen shop again sometime this week to get him new (but inexpensive) playthings.

More and more, he is starting to manifest his innate personality, and at first glance, we feel that he's one sweet and loving person, probably because we are always sweet and loving towards him.