Theo is officially a year and a half old and it definitely feels like we’ve got a full on toddler now! There are moments when he still seems like a little baby to me, but for the most part he seems like a little boy. He gets more and more fun every single day and I love hanging out with him.
Lately he’s been chatting up a storm. It’s a lot of babbling still but he says it with such intention. I think he really knows what he’s trying to say. He’s got a lot of words now and is putting two words together. He says “don’t touch” and points to Matix’s water bowl. He still plays in it every chance he gets though, so obviously he doesn’t care to acknowledge what the phrase means. I took him to a petting zoo a few weeks ago and he walked up to each goat and said “hi dad” before brushing them. 
Theo has also officially entered the “mine” phase. He thinks everything is his and we’ve had a few struggles over the concept of sharing. My favorite is when Matix is laying on the couch with his head on a cushion and Theo tries to take the cushion. He will yell “MINE” and try his hardest to pull the cushion away and Matix just blatantly ignores him. It’s not so fun when he’s trying to steal toys from other kids and yelling “mine”. He’s an assertive kid for sure, and doesn’t shy away from anything. Plenty of times the other kid will just give the toy up to him because he won’t back down. When this happens I try and redirect his attention or distract him with another toy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I think this is still too young to really understand the concept of sharing, and I know it’s something that he will understand with time.
I’m a pretty introverted person and was a very shy kid and Theo is my polar opposite. He’s a social butterfly and wants to say hi to everyone. He will walk up to a total stranger and just start chatting to them. We went to the Wildlife World Zoo a few weeks ago and he was so thrilled to watch the seals swimming. He kept tapping on the leg of the lady next to him and pointing as if he wanted to make sure she wasn’t missing anything. It’s pretty cool having such an outgoing kid, and I’m really interested to see what role that personality trait plays as he gets older.
Theo is also really strong-willed. He can be feisty and loves to test our limits. This trait is coming out more and more as he gets older, and I think it can be a tough one to deal with. He thinks he’s the boss and I have to be careful not to let him run the show in a sense. I also think it’s important not to engage in power struggles with strong-willed kids, as that can exacerbate the situation. I think that being strong-willed can be a fantastic trait as you get older, so I do want to be careful that we’re not pushing that trait away or making it feel like something negative. I’d love to hear any advice you have for me on parenting a strong willed child.
Theo is still overall the absolute happiest kid I’ve ever seen. He’s just got such a sweet temperament and although he’s strong-willed, he’s also very go-with-the-flow. We’ve yet to really experience the world of tantrums. He’s just a happy little boy. He loves to snuggle and give kisses which makes me so happy, because I’m such a cuddler. He will just randomly walk over and climb into my lap for a hug and my heart feels like it’s going to explode every time! He had his first dentist appointment this past month and the dentist said he’s never seen such an outgoing kid at that age haha.
I’m cherishing these moments with him still being little because he’s growing up so fast!
