welcome to spiceland.

Mike ran a triathlon last weekend! He ran 3 miles, biked 6 miles and swam 400 meters to finish his first sprint triathlon. Heidi, Tru and I watched him from a distance and managed to snap a few pictures. We are so proud of our Daddy! The pictures are here.

There are also some new Heidi 2 months pictures here and some 3 months pictures coming soon!

I’m going to start posting regularly about Tru’s developmental stages.

Physical

She does the following things that 12-24 month olds should do:

* They walk, run, climb, walk up and down stairs alone, and dig.

* They throw balls and kick them forward.

* They stand on tip toes.

* They take things apart and put them back together. They like to screw and unscrew lids.

* They feel discomfort with wet or soiled diapers.

* They start to show an interest in toilet training.

* Carries large toy or several toys while walking

* Climbs onto and down from furniture unassisted

* Walks up and down stairs holding on to support

* Scribbles spontaneously

* Turns over container to pour out contents

* Might use one hand more frequently than the other

She does not yet do the following things that 12-24 month olds should do:

* They jump with two feet together.

* Builds tower of four blocks or more

Social and Emotional

She does the following things that 12-24 month olds should do:

* They begin to play simple pretend games. Their fantasy play is very short and simple. It does not involve others.

* They are generally very self-centered and sharing is still difficult. They enjoy playing near other children.

* They try to assert themselves by saying “no.”

* They sometimes do the opposite of what is asked.

* They like to imitate the behavior of adults and others. They want to help with household tasks.

* They become frustrated easily.

* They still need security.

* They are more sure of themselves than one-year-old children.

* Increasingly enthusiastic about company of other children

She does not yet do the following things that 12-24 month olds should do:

* They refuse help.

Intellectual

She does the following things that 12-24 month olds should do:

* They follow simple directions.

* They use three or more words in combination.

* They express their feelings and wishes.

* They still have a very limited attention span.

* They can memorize short rhymes.

* They join in simple songs.

* They begin to think about doing something before doing it.

* Finds objects even when hidden under two or three covers

* Begins to sort by shapes and colors

She does not yet do the following things that 12-24 month olds should do:

* They use objects to represent other objects.

* They have trouble making choices, but they want to make choices.

Verbal

She does the following things that 12-24 month olds should do:

* They begin combining 2 or more words

* They begin pointing to named body parts at 18 to 24 months

* They begin naming pictures of items and animals at 18 to 24 months

* Repeats words overheard in conversation

She does not yet do the following things that 12-24 month olds should do:

* They begin beginning to state their own name

Words she can say: Toy, rock, bird, stick, cat, dog, kitty, flower, moon, plane, car, truck, bike, look, see, poop, tinkle, diaper, food, eat, banana, apple, bread, noodles, fruit, more, bottle (we switched her to a sippy at age 1 but she had already started calling it a bottle, so it stuck), milk, water, splash, bath, please, thank you, me, mama, daddy, seiko (our dog), mike, dana, kerri, allison (kindof), papa, jessica (family friends), tv, elmo, nemo, bear, read, book, hello, hi, bye, ok, cool, sit, up, get down, play, tickle, night night, teeth, ear, eye, mouth, head, belly, toes, fingers, feet, hands, nose, hair, blue (the only color so far!), ball, ow/ouch, hurt, outside, inside, uh oh, sorry, yay, hop up, cracker, cookie, cheese, yes, no, meat, hot, goats, yummy, ducks, shoes, help.

Sentences she can say:

I want a …

I have a …

It’s a …

Look! A …

I love you.

She can also say one, two, three, but she can’t count. She recognizes the letters B, X, and T and knows the sounds they make, but no other letters.

Today is my first milestone towards living more healthy (notice that I didn’t say “diet”). I lost 5 pounds over the past 2.5 weeks. To illustrate, here is a five pound bag of flour. That is how much less weight I have to carry around all day long every day!

I’m using our calorie/fat/protein/whatever log site and you should too!

www.caloriefreak.com

Michael

Tru had some shots today (one flu and her 1 yr’s). As usual, she has a temperature though only 100.1.

Tru went to the doctor today and had her first shots. The main appointment went great. She is 12 lbs 4 1/2 oz which puts her in the 85-percentile. She’s a fatso! She’s 22.5 inches long which is the 50-percentile. She’s probably taking after her mom and dad in the height department.

Right before she got her shots she was almost asleep in our arms. She was kind of awake and was almost smilier (is that word?) than ever. When she got her shots she screamed like she never had before (other than being born). I think her mom cried more than she did! She calmed down pretty fast after we could hold her again. 1 down; many more to go!

Anyone have a treadmill that they never use and want to get rid of? We cannot pay much, but would love to have one!

Well I had a doctors appointment today, and my doctor decided that because of my gestational diabetes, my small stature, and the fact that Tru is a little bigger than average, she is going to induce my labor on December 21st, a week ahead of schedule. So now we have a hard deadline! We know she will be here for Christmas, so everyone plan accordingly! We are excited and waiting on her arrival!

Well, I had to wait 5 hours this morning, but I got my flu shot! I went to Kroger near us about two weeks ago to get the shot. They had plenty of it, and there were about 20 people in line ahead of me when I went. When I got to the front, they said that they had to have a prescription from my doctor, despite the fact that I am obviously 7 months pregnant and showing it, and because of that, I’m considered high risk for the flu. I called my doc, requested the prescription, and went home. By the time my doc called the prescription in, about 6 hours later, they were out.

This morning another Kroger was having a flu clinic from 10-2. I called ahead and made sure I didn’t need a prescription. I decided to hit this one early, so I got up at 8 and left the house at 8:45 to get there in time. When I arrived just after 9, there were about 200 people in line in front of me. The technicians counted back in line, and told the guy behind me he’d be the last person to receive the flu shot. They told everyone behind him to sign up on a waiting list in case another shipment came in in a couple of weeks. This was about 9:45. When it actually came down to it, while we were registering, they decided he was more important than me and let him go before me. After we registered, I waited another 3 and a half hours before actually receiving my shot. I was the very last person to receive a flu shot. Just think — if I’d been stopped by one more red light, I would be on a waiting list right now!

We went to the doctor for an ultrasound and the doc says that we are having a girl! The woman giving the ultrasound hasn’t been wrong in the three years that she has worked there. Hopefully that means that we won’t have to repaint the room after we get it ready!

She was pretty active during the ultrasound. We are going to name her Tru Katherine Spiceland. The spelling of her middle name may still change.

Pictures Here!