Perhaps the most important event during the past two weeks was Judith's 18 month checkup with a new doctor (February 9). We had become increasingly uncomfortable with how "conventional" our previous pediatrician is, and I had asked my own doctor to recommend someone who might be open to more alternative medicine. She recommended Dr. Hepworth, who also happens to be within walking distance of our house (in case we ever need to walk). Right from the start I was more impressed with this office, because it's much more kid-oriented in decoration and toys. (There's a huge fish tank, and neat toys on the walls, and a train that runs near the ceiling around the whole office - even the examining rooms are decoration to make kids excited - the table in the room we had was a big dog.) We had to undress Judith and put her on the table for the weigh/measure part, but the doctor actually examined her (mostly) while we were holding her, which made her slightly more comfortable - and he took his time showing her what each tool was and explaining what he was going to do with it. Granted, she still screamed bloody murder as soon as he stuck the light in her ear, but at least he tried. In comparison the old office was much more "sterile" (as in atmosphere, not cleanliness). So, for her stats: She's 34.5 inches (90th percentile), and 23 lbs, 11 oz (40th percentile) - she's continuing on the tall and skinny trend (no surprise there!) Because she had been sick for almost a month with her two colds back-to-back, we said we didn't want her to have shots at this appointment, and the doctor was totally fine with that (yay!). That means that she'll have a "shot" appointment this coming Wednesday, and I'll be the only one going with her - a little nerve wracking! We'll see how that goes.
Here's a picture of Judith from Sunday, February 7. We went over to Nate and Amanda's to watch the Super Bowl (ok, really just to hang out), and Amanda put Judith's hair in these two ponytails. I've tried to replicate it since then, but Judith won't stay still enough for me. At any rate, I took one look at her with her hair like this and thought "oh no, my baby's totally turned into a toddler!" Very cute though.
Puzzles!
Here, Lance and Judith are putting together a floor puzzle of the world. Judith loves this puzzle, and she's constantly taking it out of the box and spreading it all over. She can't even begin to put it together...I think she just likes seeing all the pieces.
Judith got a puzzle from Grandma and Grandpa Sjoerdsma for Valentine's Day. She really enjoys this one too, because she knows the animals...especially the Zebra ("Zayba").
Grapes! Judith's newest favorite food appears to be grapes. Last FLG (see previous blog) Char had brought grapes along, and Judith was fascinated by them...she asked everyone for some, so I really have no idea how many she ate that night. Now she wakes up in the morning asking for "keeps," and she gets a huge smile on her face whenever I let her have some. She "chain-eats" them, holding the next one ready to pop in as soon as the previous one is gone.Valentine's Day
We had a Valentine's celebration on Saturday - when Lance came home from work, we took him to the park for the first time. He got to watch Judith go down the slide by herself, help her climb up the "spider web," play on the swings, and take a walk around the park. Here's a beautiful picture of the two of them crossing a
bridge. That evening our good friend Renee and her daughter Jessica babysat Judith for us at their house, so we got to eat dinner and watch a movie at our house without a little girl clamoring to get up or dancing in front of the TV hiding the movie from us. When we went back to pick her up, I was anticipating Judith being extremely glad to see us (it was the first time that she stayed at someone else's house without us), but instead she looked up, said "Mama!" and went right back to playing with Jessica. She didn't really want to go home, and once we got her home it took her more than an hour to fall asleep!
Monday, February 15, was Presidents' Day, and Lance had the day off. The weather was beautiful, and we all spent some time outside. I did a whole bunch of yard work, and Lance brought Judith out to play once I was done mowing - he didn't change her out of her PJs first, just put her tennis shoes on - but the grass stains came out ok, so it was alright :-). At lunch time, I got out a blanket and we had a picnic lunch. It was Judith's first time eating off a plate instead of just her high chair tray. The next day she kept reminding me that she had cheese outside :-).Also on Monday, Judith and I watched the Olympics together, especially the figure skating. She said "spin" constantly :-).
The final picture for this blog entry is from our playdate with Aiden Domecq this past Thursday. He and his mommy, Erin, came over for about an hour in the morning. It was fun to have him over, because (so far) he's the only one of Judith's "friends" who also talks. They didn't do much talking together, but they both talked to both Erin and me. They also didn't do too much playing together - apparently that's normal at their age - but I did catch them putting shapes into the box at relatively the same time.
