We’ll start out with some words Becca knows now (2 min, 11 sec):
[audio:LonglistBeccawords.mp3|titles=Becca’s Words|artists=Rebecca Grace Jensen]
Warning: this blog is LONG! It’s mainly on Becca’s development and might only interest grandmas and aunts! In a nutshell, Becca is doing great both physically and developmentally for her real age. She’s a lot of fun and fills our house with laughter and smiles. Children truly are a gift from God. (Now you can skip the text and just look at the pictures!)
WORDS:
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e have had an explosion of words in the Jensen household. It seems like overnight Becca is talking and adding new words each day. The above recording is a sample of 80 of the words/sounds Becca says. There’s more, but this is the best I could do. Here’s my challenge to you…listen to the recording and write down the words you think you hear. At the end of the blog I’ll give the answer key so you can check your work!
HEIGHT & WEIGHT: At Becca’s 15 month well check in February, her pediatrician told me that “her preemie days are over.” At Becca’s 19-month well-check (7/11) it was quite evident that she’s no longer at any disadvantage for being a preemie. This was Becca’s first doctor’s visit where I could answer yes to all the developmental questions. Becca weighs 21 lbs and 12 oz (in the 5-10th percentile for her age) and is 31 in (in the 10-25th percentile for her age). We can’t blame her small size on her early birth. While visiting my parents in PA, I got my childhood stats. At both my 1-year and 2-year check-ups, my weight was in the 5th percentile and my length was in the 10-15th percentile for my age. Becca is just following in her mommy’s footsteps.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: Becca is a very active little girl! She loves going outside – loves going to the park – loves swimming. We recently went to a new park and stayed for 2.5 hours. I think Becca would have stayed all day. She’s brave and goes down the slide by herself. She climbs up and down and down and up and never seems to wear out!
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he other day I asked Becca to get her shoes so we could go to the park. She walked into our living room, threw herself on the floor and started crawling on her hands and knees and then switched to an army crawl, all the while saying something that sounded like “shoes.” I had no idea what she was doing. It took a moment, and then I burst out in laughter….she was swimming (and saying “swim! swim!”) – it was hilarious!
PLAYING: Becca loves to play in her “room” — but only WITH Mommy or Daddy. She rarely plays in her room by herself, but will drag us in to “play” with her. She got a table and chairs from a family at church and loves to sit in the chairs. She points on the floor and tells me where to sit and what to do and how to play….even moves my hands to play with what she wants. She is always asking to “color” – though she likes playing with the crayons more than actually coloring on paper.
The other day we played “Queen Becca.” I dressed Becca up and set all her animals around her and taught her how to instruct them in obedience. After she addressed her subjects, she granted each one a kiss. Of course, Flopsie was her King. Flopsie has been becoming a bigger part of Becca’s life. He now gets a bib when she eats, is requested many times during the day, and recently he got to ride in the grocery cart with Becca. The other day we had to give Flopsie a bath….Becca wasn’t too sure about the process, but once I let her help she thought it was great. Well, she thought it was great until we had to hang Flopsie outside. That did not go over too well!
GOING POTTY: Yes, we’re working on potty-training Becca. It’s really no big deal right now…just a fun activity. Though, once Becca is potty trained it will save us some money on diapers and laundry. Becca knows what to do and knows when she is going potty. She isn’t always too keen on going potty in the potty, but she’s making process and she likes “chak-chak” = chocolate! The only time she wants to go potty is before naptime or bedtime. Then she desperately needs to go potty!!! The other night I was putting Becca to bed and she started crying, clutching her diaper, and saying “potty potty.” So we went potty and she had success…but that wasn’t enough. Becca insisted for the next 20 minutes that she had to go potty. I let her sit in the bathroom on her potty while I did other things. She was quite content to read, sing, and even cover herself with the bathmat as she waited to go potty. It was hilarious! Every time I’d walk back into the bathroom, she would insist that she had to go potty. Finally I put a timer on and said she had to be finished in 5 minutes…and then off to bed.
INTERACTION WITH OTHERS: Becca loves playing with other children. She loves the Countryman children from church. She often walks around holding Meaghan’s hand. We spend Thursday evening watching the Countryman kids and Becca loved playing with them. She also loves meeting new kids when we go to parks. Saturday night we had a get-together with some of Josh’s former Thai students to celebrate the completion of Lha’s Ph.D. Becca loved being with the ladies and showing them her room.
EATING: Becca is a good little eater. She is now feeding herself with a spoon. Her favorite foods, besides ice cream, chocolate, and cheese, are chicken, beans (she loves beans), and pizza. Except for raisins and bananas, Becca is not really excited about fruit. She does enjoy homemade fruit smoothies which we call “ice cream.” I believe her dislike of fruit has to do with texture, since she’ll taste bits of fruit but will spit them out after a while. She doesn’t seem to like how they feel on her tongue. So….we have “fruit therapy” and hopefully she’ll get used to them soon!
If you’ve actually read this far, congratulations! I’m not sure if I’d have done the same. There are so many cute stories about Becca…so many things I could share, but time — both yours and mine — limits how much I can tell. Becca is truly our little gift from God. We enjoy being her parents. God has blessed Becca is excellent health – hardly a runny nose, except with association to teething, a joyful and fun spirit, and physical protection as she plays. We thank God each day for our little girl!
ANSWER KEY: Here’s the key to Becca’s word list:
Becca, Pool, Naaman, Water, Swimsuit, Chair, Oatmeal, Dada, Mama, Eat, Color, Kiss Sound, Potty, Ball, Chips, Bucket, Up, Down, Bible, Bottle, Keys, Book, Cup, Coffee, Chocolate, Bath, Cheese, Raisin, Milk, Hippo, Truck, No Thank You, Yes, Pillow, Dolphin, Eyes, Ears, Teeth, Mama, Belly, Help Me, Amen, Beep, Baby, Stop, I LOVE YOU, Shoe, Ut-oh, Night – night, Please, Bed, All Done, Bye Bye, Hi, Oops, Lap, Clock, Doggie Panting, Meow, Mouse “eee – eee” , Bird Sound, Mooooo, Frog Sound, Froggie Went A Courtin, Apple, Ice Cream, Ice Pop, Bowl, Pipe, Hi, Jump, Puzzle, Lion growl, Bye Bye, Side (in or out), Bag, Cart, Hot, Bug, Bye Bye, Happy, Becca, Bye Bye.
How many did you get right?
One of my strong desires as a wife and mommy is to instill in the heart of Becca a deep love for her daddy. Parenting is not a competition for getting our children to like us better than our spouse . . . to be the favorite parent. We are to esteem others better than ourselves, and I feel it is important for our children to see this between their daddy and mommy. As a wife and mommy, my love for my husband and the way I treat him and talk of him to others has an impact on Becca. I want Becca to adore her daddy like I do. And Lord willing, I want Becca to someday honor her husband in the same way: I want to pass that legacy along to her.
So, how do I instill a heart of love for Daddy in Becca’s heart? Right now we do simple things. We cheer for Daddy when he’s coming home. We practice running to the door and giving him a hug and kiss when he comes home. We talk about how Daddy is great. And most importantly, even right now, I try to always speak positive words about Daddy to Becca. That means I must control my tongue and watch my words and tone. How easy it would be to share with my child (even a 20 month year old) irritations against my husband. And what does it matter right now — she doesn’t understand! But yet it does matter right now; I’m setting up patterns for my life. I desire that Becca will never hear me speak negatively about Josh. This is my prayer.
Speaking of honoring Daddy, my dear husband was extremely sweet to me for my birthday. Wednesday night after church, he made me a little plate of fruit and whipped cream and gave me some gifts. Thursday night he took me to my favorite restaurant — Josh’s restaurant — and made me a delicious meal, including a Brown Derby birthday cake. Josh also made me a watermelon fruit basket.
Friday we went shopping for my present, a nice chair. I’ve wanted one for Becca’s room for reading and cuddling. We found a great chair at the Salvation Army Store – for a great price. The chair is in great shape and is a perfect fit for Becca’s room. It was also issued (notice tag in picture) on July 20, 1994, so we decided that it must have been meant for me since it was issued on my birthday. Yes, I have the sweetest husband in the world!
Sunday afternoon we normally do something as a family. This week we played in the fountain and in the UTA fine arts building. Becca enjoyed sticking her head under the waterfall and loved playing in the lockers. We’re grateful for the family God has blessed us with and for the time we have to enjoy each other.
