Happy Belated!

The week before Thanksgiving I had the pleasure of lunch with friends (and housemates) Lisa, Mindy and Julia from college. We met at Red Robin, which is a nice middle ground considering we've all moved since our days at George Fox. Pictured with Michaela is my roommate from my freshman year (11 years ago!!!). Michaela loved playing with Julia, and even loved her more after she received some bites of the birthday ice cream sundae. The cute blonde head you see is Lisa's 18-month old daughter, also loving the ice cream. 

Ah, Julia... the times we had watching boys' tennis practice from our window (maybe that was just me), staying up too late watching "chick flicks" and sleeping through alarms - speaking of alarms there was the late-night fire drill - and many other good times. I'm glad to say that we've grown and changed since then, though. Congratulations on being the first one from our group to hit the big 30! May the Lord bless this year for you!





Mindy and I posing for a "matchy-matchy" photo



Clinically speaking

This morning was Michaela's 15-month appointment with her pediatrician. It warms my heart to see that she does not yet hate the doctor's office, or remember what shots are. Both the nurse and the doctor told Michaela what a good little patient she was being, although who doesn't behave when they have two whole tongue depressors all to themselves? Our doctor is also the mother to young children and knows just how to distract them and get the job done all at the same time. My favorite part of the morning was when the doctor walked in and Michaela was sitting on Adam's lap, wearing nothing but her yellow Bum Genius diaper and her pink fleece-lined boots. They are supposed to stay undressed after being weighed to wait for the doctor, but it's difficult to keep a toddler entertained on a lap when there is ground to be explored. Hence the boots made for walking.

Now for the stats: Michaela has yet to break the 20-pound mark. She weighed in at 19 pounds, 6 ounces, still sitting at the fifth percentile for children her age. Her height has also remained the same at the 50th percentile, and she is 30.5 inches tall. Poor thing had to get three shots today, and she cried crocodile tears. Thankfully by the time we walked out of the office all that was left were traces of tears - the actual waterworks were over. A mama's heart can only take so much!

Another interesting thing is that we are going to purchase a potty chair and introduce the idea of potty training. It seems crazy to me that she is big enough for this already! For about two weeks now Michaela has been pointing to her diaper and saying diaper when she thinks it is wet or dirty and needs to be changed. She has only been wrong once, though there are plenty of times she doesn't catch. I'm sure this will prove to be an entertaining journey, to say the least.

Well, that's all for now folks. Our little Puckett has once again been officially declared healthy and on track. Sometimes it's good for me to hear that from someone with letters behind their name.

15 Months!

So, maybe I couldn't resist another month-a-versary post. 15 months seems like kind of a big deal, say, compared with 13 months. Part of me just likes to write it down so I don't forget it as time flies by. 15 months ago right now, I was engaged in something I would rather not describe in this public forum, however, suffice it to say that she was born 15 months ago, 10 minutes from now.



All ready for swim lessons!

We think Michaela is getting to be at a really fun stage right now. She is walking all over the place and carts her "baby" with her everywhere. I am struggling with whether "baby doll" really needs to be up in the high chair with Michaela, sharing her squash and cereal. Michaela firmly believes she does. She is showing an affinity for music and for words with a beat (anyone read Sandra Boynton's books?) - she dances front and back and side to side, and also likes to tap out a few notes on the piano when the mood strikes. Michaela's first participation certificate is currently posted on the refrigerator door, a neon green testament to Michaela's completion of parent/child swim lessons (which she loved!)
The last week or so I've also gotten brave enough to try the ponytail options for Michaela. The astute observer may notice that she is not the only one getting used to these hairdos. I hope to be a pro soon.


The 1st ponytail



Doubles

Michaela is a little gal who thrives on her schedule. She gets up between 7 and 7:30 usually (though on the weekends Adam and I try to get her to nap in bed a little with us) and is ready to hit the sack about 7 in the evening. Her afternoon nap lasts about 1.5 hours. She also loves to read; before-nap books, after-nap books, after-dinner reading and playing with Daddy, before-bedtime books. As I type she is handing me "Goodnight Moon" and requesting a reading. We just finished reading something of the "hello kitty" variety. I am pretty thrilled to discover our local library has a section of baby books to lend, seeing how I can nearly quote backwards and forward the books we currently own. We hope to start attending the book babies group this week, too.


Dressed up as Rudy Fernandez for Halloween. She's having fun - really.



We'll get a more "official" update out once we see the doctor on Friday this week. Until then - Cheers!