15 Months Old

Erica turned 15 months on December 10th. I can't believe she is already this old. Time seems to go much more quickly once you pass the one year mark. She is at such a fun age and I'm enjoying her more and more. How could you not with a face like that?!!

She is turning out to be quite the jokester. She loves to be silly and make us laugh. She loves to play peek-a-boo, hide and seek and she makes all sorts of funny faces and sounds. She also loves to have her dad throw her in the air or make her fly. On the flip side, she can also be very fussy. It is still better than when she was a baby, but that fuss wears on my nerves!! She is currently suffering from separation anxiety with her mom, which is not fun for me. Thank goodness the happy days outweigh the fussy ones. Here are some updates about her:

Height - 30.5 in (51%)
Weight - 20 lb 13 0z (20%)
Head - 47.5 cm (88%)

• Teeth - 11
• Hours sleeping at night - 12
• Naps during the day - 1 nap (1 1/2 hours)
• Surgeries - one (tubes)
• Airplane trips - 7 (Utah, Washington, Utah, Hawaii, California, Washington, Idaho)
• Music she likes - Dashboard "Vindicated", Amy Adams "How Do You Know" from Enchanted, "Old McDonald", Laurie Berkner "Moon, Moon, Moon", Bingo (she likes to clap along)
• Books she likes - Loves all books, but especially those with pictures of balls, toothbrushes, bears and shoes (I think this encompasses all children's books)
• Movies she likes - Baby Signing Time, Baby Einstein, Laurie Berkner, Brainy Baby
• Words she can say - ball, bear, bone, bra (I know, but she likes "b" words), dada, bye bye, mama, duck
• Words she can kind of say - shoes ("sh"), shapes ("sha"), star ("ta"), banana ("nana"), water ("wa-wa"), ladybug ("lulu")
• Words she can sign - we counted about 50+, so I won't list them all here, but generally they include foods, animals, clothing, people and objects. Some favorites are milk, cookie, cracker, dada, grandpa, dog, banana, cell phone, outside and shoes.
• Body parts she can identify - 11. Showing off her belly is her favorite. She might also try to lift your shirt to check out your belly. Consider yourself warned.
• Food she likes - All foods, except for coleslaw (just found out). She is generally willing to try anything and has been a fantastic eater. We feel very lucky.
• Sleep habits - She has to have a knitted blanket. She likes to stick her fingers through the holes. Somehow that is comforting for her. She also uses a pacifier to fall asleep, but she never needs it when she is awake. She goes down easy, most of the time, as long as she is in her own crib.
• Favorite You Tube Videos - "kitty cat dance", "A Christmas Train", "cat moving closer", "grand canyon train"
• Favorite Toys - stuffed animals (she loves to cuddle and kiss them), shape sorter, play stroller (she loves to drag it around), any kind of ball (especially if she can throw it for Kayla), the trampoline, magnets (she likes to take them off the fridge and throw them), cell phones, ipod, laptop, toy train, stoller shaped like a car with a steering wheel (I want to get her one for Christmas)

Typical Day - Wake up between 7am-7:30am. Eat cereal and a banana. Play with toys. Go on a run with mom and Kayla in my stroller. Walk around outside in the yard. Possibly jump on the trampoline. Watch a movie for a 1/2 hour. Have more food (yogurt or raisins). Read books. Take a nap from 11:30am-1pm. Have lunch - usually a PB&J sandwich. Go on errands with mom or go to a play group. Come home and have an afternoon snack. Watch a 1/2 hour of another movie. Walk around outside. Play with more toys. Skype with Grandpa. Dad comes home. Have dinner. Play with dad. Read books and sing songs. Go to bed about 7:30pm.

On Saturday I got to run in the annual 5K Jingle Run. The participants wear jingle bells on their shoes and they play Christmas music. It was pretty fun. I got 101st place, I think. My goal was to finish in under 40 minutes - I set my standards high :) I finished in under 33.


Erica had more fun playing in the leaves.

This is just a random shot of Erica at our neighbor's birthday party a few weeks ago.

Tubes in Her Ears

Today was Erica's surgery. We have been talking about putting tubes in for awhile now, but we just kept putting it off. Neither of us wanted to have Erica be put out for a surgery, she just seemed too young. We did A LOT of praying and finally decided it was the right thing to do. The surgery was scheduled for 12:15 p.m.

Here's a summary of our day:

7 am - Erica wakes up. As instructed by the doctor, she is only allowed to have clear juices until 8:15am. She drinks a bottle of juice.

8:15 am - I keep waiting for Erica to sign "eat" or "milk" and dread the thought of having to tell her "No." Thankfully, she doesn't indicate she wants food.

10:00 am - She is acting mad and tired and hungry. I attempt to put her down for a nap early because she is going to miss her regular nap time today.

10:15 am - She is still awake, so I cuddle her in the rocking chair and sing Christmas carols. That seems to soothe her for a few minutes.

10:30 am - Troy gives Erica a blessing. We leave for the doctor. I bring a whole arsenal of items to make the 45 minute drive more bearable.

10:45 am - The arsenal is exhausted. I succomb to my strict rule of no cell phone playing and hand mine over. Amazingly, it occupies her the rest of the drive.

11:15am - We arrive at the doctor's and it is also nap time. Troy signs 1000+ papers while I try to occupy Erica. She is not happy.

12:00 pm - I give up on trying to occupy her and let her run around the surgery room in socks and a diaper. She is much happier.

12:15 pm - The doctor is not here yet and I'm trying to suppress my anger about starving my child and making her miserable to be ready at this exact time.

12:25 pm - The doctor finally shows up and answers all our questions. We still feel this is the right thing to do.

12:30 pm - I hand my child over to a complete stranger to take her off for her first surgery. Thank goodness the man has a big gray beard. For some reason, Erica loves men with beards. I don't hear her screaming as they take her away, so I am comforted a little.

12:35 pm - I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for how strong I am being about this whole situation.

12:40 pm - The doctor comes out and says she is ready. As we are walking back to the recovery room I hear Erica shrieking. As we come around the corner, I see her thrashing and screaming.

12:41 pm - I lose it. I start crying and rush to comfort Erica. She is not comforted.

12:42 pm - The annoying nurses assure me that this is a normal reaction to anesthesia. I am not comforted.

12:50 pm - We leave the doctor's office and make the 45 minute drive home. Erica is screaming and whimpering the whole way. She doesn't even want her juice. She eventually falls asleep about 20 minutes before home.

Afternoon - Erica slowly calms and regains her appetite. Otter pops were her favorite today. She clings to me for hours and fusses if I set her down.

6pm - We put drops in her ears. A little blood trickles out. I get nervous, but then I remember that they told us this could happen.

6:30pm - She is out cold.

What a day. And this was only for tubes. I can't even begin to imagine what other parents have gone through for way more serious procedures on their children. My heart goes out to you. Please share any experiences if you want.

And, I can't ever do a post without putting up pictures of Erica, so here is a comparison of how she has changed over 15 months. It doesn't even look like the same baby.

Thanksgiving in Boise

Every other year, the Tegeder side of the family gets together in Boise at Thanksgiving time for a family reunion. Because of marriages, babies and pets added in the last two years, it made for a very full, but fun house. We do nothing but eat, relax, play games and hang out. It was a wonderful vacation and I already can't wait to do it again in two years.


Erica's first Thanksgiving dinner. She loved it.


Erica cuddling with O-ma.


Erica loved to play with her cousins Lovi and Noah.

A Clever Title

I have a million other things I should be doing, but here I am blogging. Isn't that usually the case? I actually have been doing other things for the last few weeks, which is why you haven't seen any new posts. I'll just give a random update of our life right now.

On Sunday a cactus fell on my foot. I had to pull about 20 needles out of my foot. If you can't tell, there are a bunch of red dots on my foot. I guess I am a true Arizonan now. At least it didn't fall on Erica, although I hear that happens to every kid here. I'm not looking forward to that experience. It didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would, but it was not fun.

My friend Stephanie was nice enough to come over and teach me how to make pie. Yes mom, I actually made this pie. It was yummy.

Erica's Grandpa Tutu (Phillips) has been travelling all over the world. Most recently, he was in China and before that he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. He got Erica this cute shirt on his trip to Africa. Emptying my wallet (literally) is one of her favorite activities. I fear this will translate into a figurative problem later.

Every Wednesday morning we get to watch Kelsey. She is three and the perfect friend to Erica. Her mother teaches 1/2 days, so we only get her for four hours. She really has been a joy to have at our house. In exchange, Kelsey's mom watches Erica one afternoon a week. Right now I am using this time to study for the Arizona bar. I've decided to take the test and work part-time as an estate planning attorney. This will take at least a year to get going and there is so much more to say about this that I will save it for another post.

And for the grandparents and aunties, here is just a cute picture of Erica.

How Did You Celebrate November 1st?

I just wanted to remember (and brag) that we got to swim February through November this year. I feel like this makes up for the months of 100+ degree weather during the summer.

Oh yeah, and we also celebrated Halloween the day before. This was not as exciting for Erica.

This next costume was a little warm for the 85 degree weather Halloween night, but we thought we should take a photo of it anyway. Thanks Aunt Jane.

After trick-or-treating to about five houses, Erica was done for the night, to the disappointment of her parents. We let her try her first real piece of candy - a Tootsie Pop. She did not let this thing go for about 30 minutes. Then, when it was time to put her to bed, she went CRAZY!! Running and screaming...I'm sure every parent has experienced the sugar high, but this was our first. We actually found it pretty amusing. Then we had a quick crash and she went right to sleep. Would it be wrong to give her a sucker every night about a 1/2 hour before bedtime?!

Also, a few weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch. I just didn't get a chance to put pictures up yet.

Time to Spray for Bugs

I absolutely HATE to kill bugs and spiders. I always have to call Troy to come get them. He knows that when I walk into a room and gasp, it means there is a bug to be killed. I don't think it is that I am afraid of them. I just hate to squish them and usually they move too fast for me. Troy has very quick reflexes.

Well, today was Troy's long day - working, class, Young Men's - which meant I was on my own. Of course, the two most poisonous spiders in Arizona (I think) decided to make their appearance. Normally, I would have put a cup over them and waited for Troy to come home. However, having a baby around changes everything. I was forced to kill the following in one day. Can I get some kind of reward?

A Brown Recluse. I'm pretty sure this is what it was. We have examined its dead body on a paper towel and compared images on Google to confirm.

A Black Widow.

Troy is spraying our house for bugs tomorrow.

Ramblings

I am sick of opening my blog and seeing that picture of Erica, so I am writing something, anything to move that down from my view. It's interesting though, I didn't write one sentence on that post and I think I got more comments than ever. For those who asked, I was on my way home and the car seat washed up as good as new. This is good news because I actually bought the car seat the day before.

In other news, a little over a week ago, our ward had a "Super Saturday" activity. For some reason, I am the Enrichment counselor right now. Generally, this calling requires a lot of creativity, craftiness, etc., but those are definitely NOT my talents. I'm okay with this. I am good at other things - logical reasoning, organization, puzzles and other boring things that I love.

Well, one of the activities at the Super Saturday event was a cupcake decorating event. I have this secret desire to be a pastry chef or candy maker. I realize this desire stems more from the increased opportunity to eat sweets, especially in light of the necessary creative/artistic requirements for this occupation (see above). Anyway, I was excited to try the class out and was happily pleased with how easy it was to make the cupcakes look good. Even Troy was surprised that I did these myself.


So, here is a random question for anyone who still might be reading this post. I was speaking with my dad today and he suggested I write a book. I enjoy writing, but I've never been ambitious about writing or even looked into publishing anything. I know it is a huge and difficult process, but, if (this is a big if) I were to write something, what would people be interested in reading about? I should put up one of those voting things, but I'm too tired to figure out how to do it right now. Here are some ideas: 360 activities to do with a one year old in one day...because that is how many you need; my mission adventures in Ukraine; why it is important to eat chocolate every day; going from lawyer to stay-at-home mom; tips for unqualified Enrichment counselors; anything else.

Now it's Troy writing - I just thought I'd put a plug in for Nancee's cooking. I'm eating the BEST apple crisp I've ever had that Nancee just finished.

I'm Troy Tegeder and I approve this blog post.

Bad Day

Mission President

For those of you who don't know, Troy and I served in the same mission - Donetsk, Ukraine. Yes, we are one of those couples. We always like to tell people we were companions or something sarcastic like that. The truth is, we only knew of each other and never even served in the same place at the same time. I even found a picture where some of the mission went out to lunch and he was sitting four places away from me. Neither of us remembered this. I just think it is funny that someone could have pointed to him and said he would be my future husband. I would never have believed it. How lucky I am, though.

Anyway, I digress. So, we absolutely LOVED our mission parents. The McQueens were the best thing about being in Ukraine. They were definitely like our second parents and still are today. They took great care of the missionaries. We are lucky enough to live less than an hour from his daughter. When they visited her last week, they stopped by our house for a little bit to visit. It was great to see them and we are so glad they took the time. We miss them!!!

Erica-isms

You might be a redneck if...

...you like to sit in your "Nascar" (Lightning McQueen) chair to watch the "game" (Baby Einstein), while sipping on a "cold one" (prune juice).


...your dad fixes a hole in your diaper with duct tape.

This one is not another redneck joke, but here is what I get to see all day long. It is usually accompanied with her saying, "ehhhh", which is baby talk for "pick me up."

Warning: Below is more of a journal entry for me and may be boring to anyone except grandparents.:

Actually, there are no significant milestones to post about, I've just really been enjoying my time with Erica these last few weeks. It's like she is this new person. She loves to laugh, walk around outside, play with me, etc. She absolutely loves looking at airplanes, birds, the moon, cars and motorcycles, which is why we spend so much time outside. When we are inside, she is always asking to watch YouTube videos of trains, Baby Einstein videos of trains or Baby Signing Time (thank you Melissa). She also LOVES all kinds of animals and is getting really good at making animal noises.

I kept track of little things about Erica on a calendar for the first year of her life, but now I don't have that calendar and I want to remember certain things about her. So, I will write some here.

She can sign train, airplane, car, movie, milk, juice, water, cereal (kind of), bread, dog, elephant, da-da, bath, bird, duck (sometimes), ball, shoes and diaper. She understands even more and really pays attention to trying to learn signs. She absolutely loves when I sign the ABC's. She also can say ball, duck, da-da, bye bye and shoes.

She is constantly bringing me her shoes so we can go outside. She doesn't like sitting in the car for very long. She loves to be around other kids. She laughs at animals. She gets really excited when her dad comes home from work. She loves to Skype with her grandparents. She just started getting really interested in her shape-sorter toy.

She is a little jokester that likes to play peek-a-boo and hide-n-seek. She likes me to chase after her too. She gives her stuffed animals hugs and buries her face into them. She LOVES to read and is always bringing me books. Her favorite books are about animals. She can point to her toes, knees, belly, tongue, teeth and sometimes her ears.

She is a fantastic eater. She tries everything, including rocks. She eats whatever we are having, just in smaller pieces. She is down to one nap a day. Typically she sleeps 11-12 hours at night and takes a 1 1/2 hour nap in the late morning. If she is in her crib, she goes down no problem. If we are on vacation, she has a very, very hard time falling asleep in a pack-n-play.

She still loves to empty cupboards and pull all the magnets off the fridge. She is starting to figure out how to put things back, a little. She likes to terrorize Kayla - she will take her bone and bring it back to her. Erica also always tries to walk on Kayla. The dog does pretty well with her, but every now and then, Kayla will knock Erica over when she is walking by.

Erica will actually cuddle with me now and then. She never used to do that, but if she's tired enough, I can get her to lay her head against me. It is so sweet.

Seattle Sunshine

Last week we got to visit Troy's family in Seattle. We had a wonderful time and it was sad to leave. The weather was beautiful and Erica loved playing with her cousins and aunties.

I had the most perfect day. First, I got to do a tour of a chocolate factory. I never ate so much chocolate in one hour. Then, I went to a Weezer concert (no pics of that). How do you beat a day like that?

Erica with her O-pa. She likes to stick her tongue out at people.



We also stopped by the Science Center. I love this picture of Erica with her Daddy.

In exchange for me going on the chocolate tour, Troy got to stay up until 3 a.m. playing X-box with his brother. Since Troy only plays this about once a year, I thought it was a good trade. You gotta make these deals once a kid comes.


At the Space Needle

Erica LOVED her aunts - Molly and Sonja. They were great babysitters and we really wished they lived closer.

Erica had a good time playing around at the Science Center. She kept going back to the car.

The newest addition to the Tegeder family.

Checking out butterflies

Tagged

10 years ago I...
1. was 20 years old

2. a senior at BYU

3. studying sociology

4. thinking about going on a mission

5. probably freezing cold


5 things on my "to do" list today (or tomorrow)...
1. Fly back to Tucson from Seattle

2. Blog about my trip to Seattle (including the Weezer concert)

3. Run, run, run (I ate a lot on this trip)

4. Do some laundry

5. Take a nap


5 snacks that I enjoy...
1. chocolate covered cinnamon bears

2. chocolate orange sticks

3. mint chocolate truffles

4. chocolate covered marshmallow orange pumpkins

5. hot chocolate


5 things I would do if I were a millionaire...
1. Pay off school loans

2. Help out family

3. Go on some cool trips

4. Invest in Troy to start a business

5. Put some in savings


5 places I have lived...
1. Utah

2. California

3. Ukraine

4. Russia

5. Arizona



5 jobs I've had...
1. Lawyer

2. Bailiff

3. Law Clerk

4. Secretary

5. Company directory address updater


I tag...
1. Julie

2. Alexandra

3. Rachel

4. Christy

5. Kalli

El Political

I hate to express political opinions because the lawyer in me can usually see both sides of the argument. I can't passionately argue for one side when I know there is usually a valid opposing view. Whomever you support depends on your personal circumstances. When I do make a stand, it is based on my personal circumstance and thus, my political opinions are personal.

That being said, I found the VP debate very interesting tonight. Typical of politicians, there was a lot of lying going on on both sides. This was posted shortly after the debate on MSN (notice both sides had issues):

"WASHINGTON - Facts went adrift on taxes, deregulation and more Thursday when Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden clashed in the vice presidential debate.

Some examples:

PALIN: Said of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama: "94 times he voted to increase taxes or not support a tax reduction."

THE FACTS: The dubious count includes repetitive votes as well as votes to cut taxes for the
middle class while raising them on the rich. An analysis by factcheck.org found that 23 of the votes were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all, seven were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, 11 would have increased taxes on only those making more than $1 million a year.

BIDEN: Complained about "economic policies of the last eight years" that led to "excessive deregulation."

THE FACTS: Biden voted for 1999 deregulation that liberal groups are blaming for part of the financial crisis today. The law allowed Wall Street investment banks to create the kind of mortgage-related securities at the core of the problem now. The law was widely backed by Republicans as well as by Democratic President Clinton, who argues it has stopped the crisis today from being worse.
___
PALIN: "Two years ago, remember, it was John McCain who pushed so hard with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform measures. He sounded that warning bell."
THE FACTS: Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska led an effort in 2005 to tighten regulation on the mortgage underwriters — McCain joined as a co-sponsor a year later. The legislation was never taken up by the full Senate, then under Republican control.
___
BIDEN: Warned that Republican presidential candidate John McCain's $5,000 tax credit to help families buy health coverage "will go straight to the insurance company."
THE FACTS: Of course it would, because it's meant to pay for insurance. That's like saying money for a car loan will go straight to the car dealer.
___
PALIN: Claimed she has taken on the oil industry as Alaska governor.
THE FACTS: Palin pushed to impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies and distributed the proceeds to the state's citizens to offset rising energy costs. However, she has also sided with the industry on a number of issues. She sued the Interior Department over its designation of polar bears as an endangered species. That puts her on the same side as the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's chief trade association. She also supports the industry's desire to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — a position at odds with McCain.
___
BIDEN: Said McCain supports tax breaks for oil companies, and "wants to give them another $4 billion tax cut."
THE FACTS: Biden is repeating a favorite saw of the Obama campaign, and it's misleading. McCain supports a cut in income taxes for all corporations, and doesn't single out any one industry for that benefit.
___
PALIN: Said the United States has reduced its troop level in Iraq to a number below where it was when the troop increase began in early 2007.
THE FACTS: Not correct. The Pentagon says there are currently 152,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, about 17,000 more than there were before the 2007 military buildup began.
___
BIDEN: "As a matter of fact, John recently wrote an article in a major magazine saying that he wants to do for the health care industry — deregulate it and let the free market move — like he did for the banking industry."
THE FACTS: Biden and Obama have been perpetuating this distortion of what McCain wrote in an article for the American Academy of Actuaries. McCain, laying out his health plan, only referred to deregulation when saying people should be allowed to buy health insurance across state lines. In that context, he wrote: "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."
___
PALIN: Said Alaska is "building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline, which is North America's largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets."
THE FACTS: Not quite. Construction is at least six years away. So far the state has only awarded a license to Trans Canada Corp., that comes with $500 million in seed money in exchange for commitments toward a lengthy and costly process to getting a federal certificate. At an August news conference after the state Legislature approved the license, Palin said, "It's not a done deal."
___
PALIN: "Barack Obama even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year."
BIDEN: "The charge is absolutely not true. Barack Obama did not vote to raise taxes. The vote she's referring to, John McCain voted the exact same way."
THE FACTS: The vote was on a nonbinding budget resolution that assumed that President Bush's tax cuts would expire, as scheduled, in 2011. If that actually happened, it could mean higher taxes for people making as little as about $42,000. But Obama is proposing tax increases only on the wealthy, and would cut taxes for most others. In the March 14 budget resolution supported by Obama and Biden, McCain actually did not vote.

Super Hero Training

Hands down my favorite dreams are always flying dreams or snowboarding dreams, or some combination of the two. Nancee, being the greatest wife, got me some flying for my birthday. She took me to a vertical skydiving wind tunnel for some real life flying experience. There's a facility in Eloy called SkyVenture, and all I can say is that it… was… AWESOME!

Two minutes in the tunnel is roughly equivalent to a 13,000 ft freefall, and I did two sessions. Beginning skydivers have to jump tandem, but not so in the wind tunnel. I got to fly detached from the instructor, though I still thought he was a little bit too “hands on.” It really felt how I imagined flying would feel. The only problem is now I totally want to do it again, and the skydiving seed is now planted in my brain…

Erica's First Photo Shoot

Yesterday, my neighbor Kellie was so nice to do a photo shoot of Erica. There are so many great pictures and I had a really hard time narrowing it down, but here are a few of my favorites. Thank you Kellie!!!!