Back on the Growth Chart!

Judith hasn't been on the weight growth chart since March, but she's now squeaking in between the 5th and 10th percentile at 20 pounds, 5 ounces. Yeah! She's at 31 1/4 inches in height, which puts her between the 25th and 50th percentile. So growth wise, she is doing quite well. In terms of immunizations, it was a very light day with shots only for Hepatitis A and Influenza. So now all three of us are immunized against the flu.

In the development area Judith is doing great. Her block stacking skills are normal for a 2 1/2 year old child. Her imaginative play is on par with a two year old. Her sleeping and eating are great. Her social development skills seem to be right on target. Robert and I worry that she doesn't wave and doesn't give hugs and kisses, but the doctor said that she is doing so well socially in every other way, that these are simply small activities she hasn't taken an interest in. Robert was also concerned about the intensity and suddenness of Judith's tantrums at times. After discussing that as well, the doctor was also quite reassuring that Judith is quite a normal toddler and there is nothing out of order there.

Other than that, after nearly 500 pictures, we finally have a picture that we can use for Christmas cards (we got it this afternoon!). We know that Aunt Karen and Grandma were rooting for the Snoopy picture, but I was really hoping for a picture with Judith standing (she was sitting in a chair last year, and I don't want the same shot each year). So we'll get the picture cards ordered this weekend and hopefully get most of them out before the New Year. So far I've resisted the temptation to do a Christmas newsletter. I figure most folks who like more regular updates from us get them through this blog.

And we know what most of you like are the pictures, of course! Today I've included a picture from the Bishop's party last Sunday. It was quite fun. We went late to the open house. We were there for the last twenty minutes. There was still lots of food available. Most people had left, and we were actually able to talk with the Bishop. He was telling me about this little nativity on one of his living room tables. The pieces are all two to three inches high, and it looks like a nice traditional nativity. It's been in his family 127 years and was brought over here from Germany. Each of the pieces cost less than the equivalent of a penny at the time. It really is a treasure to him. Judith enjoyed picking up and fingering and playing with the pieces. That went well until she decided she was bored and simply threw the piece in her hand across the room. It was quickly picked up and we moved her away from nativities after that! And we got another picture with the Bishop by Santa Claus. It was quite fun. And then we had some Dave Wong's carry out for dinner. Our only real snafu was forgetting Judith's shoes.

We put her shoes by the door and got her food and blanket and then we headed out the door. Robert thought I had the shoes and I thought he had them. We realized when we arrived at the Bishop's that we did not have them. When we got home, we went looking for Judith's shoes, and they were no where near where we left them. They were sitting on top of Robert's and my bed, right on the edge. We figured that Judith had decided to move them for us.

And the other picture this week is from earlier this week. After shopping at Costco, the Cheerios were next to the pantry in the kitchen, waiting to be put away. The garbage can from the kitchen was in the hallway, waiting to be taken out side and sprayed out. Judith had gotten dressed for bed already, and then I was putting the groceries away. I heard some pounding in the hall and went back there. And standing on top of a box of Cheerios, pounding on the garbage can, was Judith. Of course I could have moved her, but I had to get the camera first. After snapping the picture, then I moved her off of the Cheerios - it's hard for her to eat them if she's crushed them! Anyway, she's having lots of fun moving whatever she can to climb everywhere she wants to get to.

And she was very good this week with two days of day care to put up with. She'll have two days to deal with next week as well. This coming week will also be hectic - I'll be working four days. So Judith will be at Busy Bees on Monday, come with me to work on Tuesday, be back at day care on Wednesday, and we'll both be home on Thursday. I'll be at work on Friday and Robert will be home with Judith. Then we'll need to finish getting ready for Christmas. We're looking forward to the week we'll both have off between Christmas Eve and New Years Day. Right now it's a bit of a mystery as to whether or not we'll be able to pull it all off or not. We'll just have to see. We trust you all know we love you, even if the gifts and cards are a little late.

Good luck with all of your Christmas preparations and stay warm!