One Year Well Baby Checkup

Lauren was scheduled for her one year check up a few weeks ago but it fell on a day when we had much more important things to do. So I had to schedule it for today. Thankfully her ears look great (green tubes! My favorite color.) and she's growing and learning right on track. She even said "bye bye" to the doctor, which is the first time she's said it correctly, and "thank you."

Here are her one year stats:

Weight - 21.2 lbs (50th percentile)

Length - 30 1/2 in (89th percentile)

Head - 18 1/2 in (90th percentile)

So since birth she's gained 14.1 lbs and grown 10 1/2 inches. She almost exactly tripled her weight and doubled her length. Babies are such amazing little things!

I wasn't surprised that she hasn't gained much in the last few months. She's moving around a bunch and eating a ton so I know she's just burning it off. I thought she'd be taller but I didn't expect her to be over 30 inches. Her head...we knew it wasn't tiny. :) Although yay for not being over the 100th percentile!

She's walking more every day, talking up a storm (just today she said "hot" correctly and last night she called her dad "stinky") and is really enjoying life. I couldn't ask for much more.

Pretending to talk to daddy on mommy's phone.

She has no fear.

First sucker!

10 Months Old!

Somehow, in the middle of the snowpocolypse and the month of kleenex, we missed Lauren's 9 month check up. (Thanks again, Susan for the reminder!) Today we went in to make sure that she's still on track, plus I was hoping to hear she had gained some weight back. Her stats today were:

Length - 28 3/4 inches (75th percentile)

Weight - 19 lbs 9 oz (50th percentile)

Head - 18 inches (90th percentile)

She still has the extra brains in her head and has gained some weight back after being so sick. 18 lbs was just too small for her! She did surprise me by having another ear infection since she's been sleeping just fine and not running a fever. Her doctor is getting concerned, and it sounds like she might start pushing me to put a tube in her ear, but I'm hesitant. I think we'll take Tim's mom's advice and check with an ENT specialist first.

Other than her ear, she's absolutely perfect. If she's not eating or sleeping she's all over the house. She's gotten really quick! If you look away for any amount of time she'll be in the kitchen, playing in the dogs' water or trying to eat their food. She's absolutely amazed by singing and music and loves to clap and dance. Her favorite person is still Brenden, who is having moments when he really enjoys her, but she's also a big fan of her grandparents.

I got this spoon thing!

She spends most days trying to play with Brenden's toys, pushing every button

she can get to, and rearranging the letters on our fridge. Her favorite thing to say is "da da, da da, da DAHHHH!"...all day long. Every once in awhile she'll throw in a "ya ya" or "na na", but I'll only get "maaaa maaaa" if she's unhappy about something, like going to sleep for a nap.

I want to go to there!

She's definitely going to be independent and social, just not nearly as smiley as Brenden. Yesterday, we went out to eat with Mike and Connie for Valentine's Day and she spent half of lunch waving at people. The other day she used a spoon for the first time by herself and succeeded in getting at least half of it in her mouth. Today, to celebrate her 10 month birthday, she used a sippy cup twice without complaining. Before we know it, she'll be eating every meal on her own and running around the house after her brother.

I can do it!

Happy 10 month birthday, Lauren! We love you!

10 months old!

6 Month Well Baby Check Up

I completely forgot to post Lauren's stats from her latest check up. I didn't expect to be surprised by anything, but I was!

Stats as of October 25th, 2010:

Length: 27 inches (90th percentile)

Weight: 17 lbs 6.5 oz (80th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18 inches (105th percentile!!!!)

Yes, her head size was so large that it went off the top of the chart and the nurse had to guess. Crazy! I swear, at least half an inch of it is hair. I'm not sure what to do with it now! She's a big girl, with lots of brains, but she's right on track.

That day she also said her first word..."dada". Since then she's been chatting up a storm. We love it!

She's growing up so fast!

3 Year Well Check - Brenden

Today I took Brenden to the doctor Lauren has seen since she was born, Dr. Koul. It was his 3 year well check and it went better than I had hoped.

He is now 39 inches tall (80%) and 37 lbs (90%). She asked me how tall Tim is, which is a common question, and told me she thinks Brenden will be taller. We'll see! She was happy with his growth and development but not so happy with his ears. Double ear infection! We had no idea. He's been swimming, jumped around on his trampoline all day Saturday, and had never once complained. He must have never gotten over it from his last one which was about a month ago. She called him a "tough cookie".

Other than some antibiotics he's doing great. She did ask if he goes in time out, which of course I said he did. She seems to think he doesn't mind well, even asked me if I babied him. I laughed! I told her I think I'm pretty evil, sometimes. She said that was good! HA! I think the problem today was that he was excited to be at the doctor's office (crazy kid!) and also, he has a double ear infection! He may not be able to hear me.

We're very proud of our big boy and I hope we can get his ears cleared up soon. Maybe then he'll listen better. Or maybe he's just three!

4 months old!

As I say every time I write about Lauren's well baby check ups, time is flying! Just the other day she was this tiny little thing that slept, ate and pooped. Now she's doing an amazing array of things!

First, her stats from her well baby check up:

Length: 25 inches (75th percentile)

Weight: 14 pounds 10 ounces (75th percentile)

Head: 16 1/2 inches (75th percentile)

You may notice that her head seems to have stayed the same size. The nurse that measured her today said she didn't trust the last measurement. She was probably a lot smaller, closer to something that would put her around the 75th percentile, which seems to be where she wants to stay. She's perfectly rounded! The doctor was very happy with how she is doing with her growth and the milestones she is hitting. She recommended starting her on solids since she is now a supported sitter and has great head control. So that's just what we did!

Yummy!

I started out with the really soupy rice cereal. She was not a big fan of that, so we moved on to some applesauce. Much better! She was already chewing and really enjoyed it! She did make some funny faces, but when you are used to formula I'm sure the texture and taste of apples will throw you for a loop.

She has started doing all sorts of new things, most of them within the last week or so. She is laughing out loud, which is one of my favorite sounds! To get a big old laugh all you have to do is talk back to her when she gets to babbling. She is also much happier about tummy time and will hang out on her tummy, smiling away, for at least a few minutes. She has rolled once or twice from both her tummy to her back and her back to her tummy, but she would rather just lay on her side. She'll lay there and push with her feet, turning herself in a complete circle, which is why we've started calling her Curly.

She has definitely turned into a "grabber" and of course, like all babies, anything within reach makes it to her mouth. Just today we went to Walmart and a plastic sack was right next to her carseat in the cart. She reached out and grabbed it before I even realized that it was close enough! Most of the things that make it into her fists are no where near as scary as plastic bags. It's usually a toy or blanket, sometimes one of our fingers, and once she got a good hold on my nose and pulled. She has quite a grip!

There are only a few things that she does that are no fun. One of them is screeching, which usually signifies she's hungry or tired, wants her diaper changed (very particular about that!), or her teeth are hurting her, Which leads me to the next unhappy thing...teething. Brenden was drooling at this point, but he wasn't screaming bloody murder. Poor Lauren will have moments where she is inconsolable. We've had to break out the Baby Orajel and the teething tablets, both of which have saved my sanity.

She's also started sucking her thumb in the middle of the night, which is both good and bad. It's bad because you can't really take her thumb away when you're ready for her to quit sucking it. It hasn't become an all day thing yet so I'm not super worried. The good thing about it is she can self soothe herself at night when she wakes up, which is how I found her a few nights ago.

Very content, sucking on her thumb.

The best part of my day is going to pick her up in the morning and seeing the huge smile spread across her face. She is the sweetest baby and an absolute joy. Happy 4 month birthday, Lauren! We love you!

4 months old!

2 Months Old!

Today Lauren is 2 months old! Where has the time gone? She has changed so much! Her hair is growing longer. She smiles, coos, and giggles sometimes. She hates tummy time, just like her brother. If she's not in bed by 8:15-8:30 pm she is a MESS. She's already wearing 3 month clothes and I'm having a blast dressing her up in summer skirts and shorts.

Her well baby check up was today which means we got to learn how much she's grown, which is fun, but it also means she got 3 shots, which is not fun.

Her stats today:

Weight - 11 lbs 9.6 ounces (75th percentile)

Length - 23 inches (75th percentile)

Head - 16 1/2 inches (97th percentile!!!)

She's just like her brother! At least in the head department. They have to have big craniums to hold all those brains. :) Her doctor was very happy with her strength and growth and amazed by her hair. (I've seen babies with more but I'm not complaining!) We are still having problems with congestion and I cannot get anything to come out of her nose so the doctor thinks she's having reflux. So we're trying another formula, just at night, to see if it will help. So far it's no different. We're also raising her head up when she sleeps to try to combat it but we've done that before, too. I think we'll be getting medicine for her soon. She will probably be a completely different baby, which is crazy to think about since she's already a pretty good baby as it is, even with her tummy problems.

Then came the shots. The horrible, awful shots. The nurse actually had to pause after the first one to make sure she would keep breathing. She's like me; when she's upset she holds her breath. Then...watch out! Loud scream is coming atcha! She screamed, and screamed, and screamed some more. I think it took her at least 10 minutes to actually calm down, which was much longer than it ever took Brenden. Poor little Lauren, I felt so bad for her. I gave her some Motrin when we got home and she calmed right down. At least until bedtime. 8 pm rolled around and she was ANGRY. Now she's snoozing happily on her inclined mattress.

These past 2 months have been full of super happy moments and some not so happy moments, but I wouldn't change a thing. Lauren, you complete our family and we are so very lucky to have you!

Happy 2 Month Birthday!

2 months old!

Lauren's One Month Well Baby Check

Today was Lauren's one month check up. Let me just go knock my head against the wall for a second. One month!?! Where in the world did this last month go? It seemed like Karen had just flown in and then suddenly we were taking her back to the airport. (Boy we were spoiled. Who will cook now???)

Her stats today:

Weight - 9 lbs 5 oz. (50th percentile)

Length - 21 1/4 inches (75th percentile)

Head - they didn't tell me, although the doctor mentioned she had gained (Lauren is no where near what Brenden's head size was by now)

She's gained over a pound but stayed the same length, although she sure seems longer. We think it might be because she's stretching out more now instead of pulling her legs up all the time. She's staying awake for longer stretches and eating more. (Hence her crazy weight gain...which is good!) Her tear duct in her right eye is still too small so it causes lots of goopy eye gunk, but we're dealing with it. She's graduated from newborn sized diapers to size ones and has grown out of a lot of the little, tiny clothes. (That works out well for our friends Susan and Craig. Their daughter, Ottillie, is super tiny and we've already taken some clothes over.) She coos, focuses on faces or my fingers if I wiggle them, and kinda sorta smiles at us occasionally. She can hold her head up, which she's been doing for awhile, and she loves looking at the ceiling fan. What did she get the most comments about at this appointment? Her hair, of course. Even the doctor noticed it had grown. :)

She's doing fabulous and we're all very happy with how she is growing. I wish I could freeze her just like this...at least for a little while. It's hard to accept that she's no longer a newborn. She's an infant! I'm trying to enjoy every moment, every tiny finger and toe, every small milestone she reaches. However, I'd like to stop enjoying midnight and 5 am. Whenever she wants to sleep through the night, we're ready. The doctor even said so! :)

Lauren, One Month Old

Lauren's Two Week Well Baby Check

Today Lauren and I headed to see Dr. Koul over at Utica Park Clinic for her 2 week well baby check up. Dr. Koul was the pediatrician who visited us in the hospital and, because she was so nice, we decided to have Lauren continue to see her. She has 3 month old twins so she really knows what we're going through with an infant and she really listens when we ask questions. I'm not sure if anyone else has ever dealt with a doctor that you felt completely blew off everything you said, but we have and it really sucked. We learned to appreciate a doctor that took the time to listen and answer us.

Her stats when she was born:

Weight - 7 lbs. 1 oz. (went down to 6 lbs 11 oz before we left the hospital)

Length - 20 inches

Head - unknown (Tim can't remember)

Her stats at her 5 day appointment:

Weight - 6 lbs. 15 oz.

Length - didn't check

Head - didn't check

And her stats today were:

Weight - 8.01 lbs. (50th percentile)

Length - 21 1/4 inches (75th percentile)

Head - 14 1/2 inches (50th percentile)

She was very happy with how she is growing, especially her weight gain. We talked about her goopy eye (her tear duct is too small so we have to do a certain massage next to her nose to help clear it, as well as use some eye drops) and her tummy problems. She told me it was okay to use the gas drops and that she wasn't concerned with her diaper schedule. She thinks we've found the right type of diapers for her (she was allergic to the regular diapers so we're on to Huggies Natural) and the tiny bumps Lauren has on her face are totally normal. She did recommend using only receiving blankets to cover her since that can make the rash worse.

I'm so happy that she's doing so well and that the doctor told me "she's perfect...so keep her that way!" I'm glad she's gaining weight, but I sure hope she doesn't follow in her brother's footsteps. By 2 months he weighed 14 1/2 lbs! I guess we'll just have to see.

Our little girl - 2 weeks old

18 Month Check Up

We were back at the doctor's office AGAIN today for Brenden's well baby check up. After trying to play with a not-so-nice little girl in the waiting room (I swear I wanted to tell her off every time she tried to slap his hands away. Where the heck were her parents??) we headed back to see Dr. Mickle Monster. (it's her nickname, but she's totally awesome) First I had to explain to the nurse about his visit to the Urgent Care center last week for croup. He still has a cough and a runny nose but his fever is gone and he seems to feel OK. I also told them about his tongue biting incident, which I really didn't need to do since it's almost healed. For something that looked so awful it really healed quickly.

We stripped off his clothes and headed out to check his weight, where he stood on the scale all by himself. After his growth spurt he stopped eating so much, and combined with the fact that he's sick he's ended up back down at 27 lbs. I thought he felt a little lighter, but I was hoping I had gained some muscle in my arms. Oh well...

The next step was checking his length and measuring his head. He is now officially 33 1/4 inches tall (way too close to 3 feet, thanks) and his head is 19 1/2 inches around. GEEZ he's got a lot of brains! :) The doctor came in a few minutes later, checked his belly, nose, ears, and throat and asked me some questions about his development. Everything she asked me he has been doing for quite awhile, Tim told me I should have asked to move onto 2 year old developmental milestones, but since every parent likes to think their child is amazing and smart I think that would have been really over the top of me to do. :)

The one thing she discovered was that he has a double ear infection. WHAT?! I had no clue. He's been whining and grouchy but with a sore throat, a cough, and runny nose I expected that. We're back on antibiotics and have to check back to make sure it's cleared up in 10 days. Since he was sick and that is what caused it she wasn't concerned about the infections and thinks that he should be fine without tubes. (Thank goodness!)

Every check up brings a shot but luckily this time it was just a DTP and he was OK to get it as long as he had no fever. He tried to grab at the needle but that was the only problem we really had. He cried for just a little while and was totally fine by the time we got dressed and headed out the door.

Here are his percentages:

Weight - 27 lbs (60%) which is way down
Height - 33 1/4 inches (85%)
Head - 19 1/2 inches (97%)

He used to be fatter than he was tall, and now he's taller than he is fat. As long as he's healthy I really don't care. Now we just have to clear up this ear infection. Croup, a horribly bitten tongue, and an ear infection, all in one week. My goodness he's been busy.

And Update on Lanie Amaducci!

Lanie, my friend Leslie's baby, who was born 8 weeks early and SO small is doing wonderfully! She has officially started eating from a bottle and has dirtied her first diaper, which is amazing news since she has distended bowl. (Which seems to be healing very well.) She is 2 lbs 2 oz and the only hurdle she has left is to gain weight, then she can go home!

Leslie posted a video of her today and you can really see the changes just a little bit of weight has done for her. Such beautiful things happening to a beautiful family!

15 Month Check Up

We made it through another of the numerous check ups that happen in the first few years of a child's life. This is the one I was feeling the most nervous about, the one where Brenden got his dreaded MMR vaccine. I know that there are millions of people in the world that have had this shot. I know that both Tim and I had this shot before all the scares about autism and other horrible side effects were being shoved down my throat every time I turn around. That is not to say that there isn't a connection. I'm not a doctor and I have not done any personal research on the matter. I did read about it extensively, asked Brenden's doctor about it, and Tim and I came to the conclusion that we were definitely going to vaccinate him. It didn't take away my nerves, though.

We waddled up to the office, bundled up against the cold and snow. The last few days northeastern Oklahoma has been like an ice skating rink, so we've been stuck in the house driving each other crazy. Even if this wasn't a completely happy outing, it was still OUT. Brenden had a nice conversation with a lady in the elevator and continued chatting with everyone in the office until we were called back. He did a decent job of walking back to see the doctor, with only two detours into empty offices. The nurse we had is the same one we've seen every time. I think she is assigned to Dr. Mickle, Brenden's doctor, and we both really like her. She measured his length and head and then took us to weigh him. Brenden is 32 1/4 inches long, in the 75-90%, 28 lbs 3 oz, 90% (but I swear he weighs more), and his head is 49 cm, 90-97%. Both the nurse and the doctor commented that they were amazed he is so big when I'm on the smaller size and said he looked like good linebacker material. It's so funny that everyone says linebacker! Complete strangers wander up to him in grocery stores and say the same thing. They also asked about his head size when he was born, which I get all the time. People seem to be worried that his head has always been that size. No worries everyone, his ginormous cranium has grown at the same rate as his cheeks.

After a quick check to make sure that his egg allergy wouldn't be a problem with the vaccines, Brenden received the MMR and Hep A shots. The first shot he did OK, but the second one made him scream like a banshee. He even kicked the nurse in the stomach. OOPS! After a couple of minutes of soothing, lots of hugs, and a pacifier, he was doing OK. We walked into the waiting room and he found a couple of kids to play with, which he eventually ended up hugging like crazy. Thankfully they didn't mind at all and their moms found it amusing. One of these days he'll grab the wrong person and it won't be pretty. I really need to work on explaining personal space.

He is completely healthy and totally on track for his age, although if you ask me I think he's a little ahead of the curve, but there may be a bias. :) What parent doesn't think their child is the smartest and cutest baby ever? And I'll just have to see if there are any complications with his shots...but I'm praying that I'm being completely oversensitive. So far, so good!