Hank's 3 year check up

Hank has his three year check up a couple of weeks ago and he passed with flying colors. He stood on an actual scale to get his weight (and stayed still!) and followed directions to get his height against the wall. And then he followed MORE directions when he had his vision test. Covered the correct eye, kept his feet on the line, told the nurse the names of the shapes he saw... I was a proud mama. He had a little trouble with the hearing exam, though. He had on headphones and was supposed to touch his nose when he heard a sound, but he just touched his nose the the whole time. Not bad for three! 

Height: 41 inches - 98th percentile

Weight: 41 pounds - 99th percentile 

He's basically enormous, as I expected. 

He even enjoyed his check up this time around. Dr. Zaguli commented on the game we were playing (Go Fish) and Hank told the doctor all about it. It was really fun to watch him interact with the doctor as he was getting checked out. He answered the doctor's questions, asked his own questions, and was just charming. When asked why he was still in diapers, and not using the potty, Hank replied, "I don't want to." Well. Okay then. Luckily, I've been here before and know that I can't push the toilet use thing. And the doc didn't press me to, either, as he also knows you can't force it. Plus, diapers are waaaaaaaay easier than having a somewhat-potty-using child. Cleaning diapers is way easier than cleaning underwear after an accident. And I'm not looking forward to having two children that can stop me in my tracks with a "Mommy, I have to poop!" I tell ya, it's stressful dealing with ONE boy who waits until the last possible second... I imagine two will be a challenge. Hopefully at least one of them wil be fully toilet-able by the time Amy gets around to it. ::crosses fingers::

Amy's four month check up

 Amy went to the doctor a week ago. And aced everything. Like I expected anything else.

Weight: 15 lb 8 oz (70th percentile)
Height: 26.25 inches (96th percentile)

So she's pretty tall/long. And skinny. Ish.

Everything else checked out. She's sleeping like a boss. Eating like a boss. Holding her head up like a boss. She's totally winning at life. :) She had to get five (FIVE!!) shots this time, but she handled it fine. "Fine" meaning she cried like crazy and her whole head turned red until she nursed for a few minutes and then she was okay. Then she slept for twelve hours straight that night. Apparently getting shots is exhausting.

In other Amy news, she's still the easiest baby ever. For serious. She's just... awesome. She's happy all day long, smiling at everyone and everything. She's now grabbing things and bringing them to her mouth and is SO thrilled at being able to hold rattles and shake them. I dug out some baby toys for her today and she had a blast reaching for the things I held out for her and grabbing them. Johnny really liked handing her things, too, but he tends to let them go too quickly so Amy dropped them every time. Oh well. Before he knows it, she'll be grabbing his hair and ears and whatever she can get her hands on that he doesn't want her to have. Not too soon, though Amy, mmmkay?

The time Hank broke his arm

Hank broke his arm. Most of you probably know this by now, but I figured I'd blog it for posterity... especially since I completely skipped his whole getting-stitches-in-his-chin experience last year. Oops.

Rewind five weeks. We're at one of the boys' favorite parks. We met up with a friend and her two boys and had a delightful time. Johnny was digging in the sand with his excavator, making sure other kids knew not to get too close to it because it was his. Hank was running around the park and then sprinting straight back when a kid got too close to his front end loader, exclaiming "No! Don't touch my earth-movers!" Even kids who were ten feet away and not even headed in that direction weren't safe from Johnny's and Hank's protective postures. Amy was snuggled in the wrap on my chest, sleeping, as per usual.

We did this for a couple of hours and then our friends went home. I, on the other hand, planned to stay for a while longer with the hope that a long car ride would induce a nap in one or both boys. The boys eventually abandoned their earth-movers, and decided to climb on the play structure there. Hank was hanging from a ring as he has done thousands of times before, but this time, Johnny pushed him pretty hard, and Hank landed right on his left arm.

Unfortunately, I didn't see it all happen. A very pregnant woman was packing up her sand toys and I bent over to pick up a few by my feet to help her out (I was just there and remember looking at sand toys on the ground and debating whether I should just leave them there...) and that's when Hank fell. I knew almost immediately that something was wrong. Hank is a tough kid. He's the kid that whacks his head on something, he says "ow", then shakes himself and gets back up to play. This time, he wouldn't stop crying. His wrist looked a little swollen, but not like you would expect a broken arm to look. However, he wouldn't grab my finger with his left hand and my mommy intuition was going off, so I made a command decision and we left for the ER.

I dropped Johnny off with John and Gail (my in-laws, thank goodness they were able to watch him!) and got John to meet me at Children's Hospital to help with Amy.

In the hospital exam room. He's so tough, this kid. Not crying about his broken arm, but definitely crying about the X-Ray that needs to taken.

A few hours and a lot of tears later, it was determined that Hank had a small, green-stick fracture in his distal radius of his left arm... his dominant arm. He had a cast put on and only asked me to take it off ten or twenty times before realizing that I had promised him chicken strips, fries and a milkshake at Smashburger after we were done. Not bad for a two-year-old with an uncomfortable cast.

He just got it off a few days ago and is doing great. We're still avoiding parks since the bone won't be up to strength for another couple of months and I'm supposed to keep him from climbing too high. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Good one, doc. Hank is... a thrill-seeker, to put it mildly. Keeping him off a jungle gym would be like trying to keep me away from raspberry chocolate truffle cheescake: someone's head would come off in the struggle to get to the prize.

Anyway. That's the story. Not all that thrilling, but we made it through four weeks of a cast without getting it soaked/ruined/broken. I call that a win.

Amy's 1 month doctor visit

I know. The last few posts have been all about Amy. Amy, Amy, AMY! It's just that she's had a lot going on and I want to get it down before it's too late to blog about. I guess that doesn't really happen around here considering how awful I am about blogging these days, but whatever. I want to get it down. So here we are.

The 1 month check up was routine and everything is going well with Amy Rose. The doctor knows me by name and seems to have confidence in my parenting abilities (I know, right?), so he just asked a few questions, accepted my answers, and said everything was normal. The only thing I need to do different is give her vitamin D drops. Which I haven't done with any of my children, but maybe I'll do it with this one.

Stats:
Weight: 11 lb 6 oz - 90th percentile
Height: 22 inches - 80th percentile (<-- hasn't really changed since birth, which is why she still fits in some of the newborn clothes)
Head circumference: 15.5 inches - 99th percentile (gotta have room for that big brain!)

The doctor was impressed with her nursing blister and her weight gain. He joked that I must not be doing anything but nursing since she's gained so much weight. Funny, because he said the same thing Hank at the same age. Turns out I just have melted ice cream for breast milk. :)

Tandem doctor visits - 18 mo & 3 years

In December, the each of the boys went to the doctor for a well child visit. This time, I made separate appointments since I learned last year that making them for the same day is a terrible idea. Something else I've learned about doctor visits? NEVER make a well child visit for a Friday. All of the sick kids get seen before you and there are a lot of sick children on Fridays since parents are trying to get their kids seen before the weekend. I've been that parent, so I don't wish them any ill will, mind you, I just need to learn to skip the Friday appointments. Live and learn.

Anyway. Here are their stats:

Johnny
Weight: 36 lbs - 86th percentile
Height: 39 inches - 79th percentile

Hank
Weight: 29 lbs, 6 oz - 95th percentile
Height: 35 inches - 100th percentile (as the doctor said, "No one is taller than him." Silly statistics.)

Basically Hank is still a tank and is catching up to his brother faster than Johnny would like, I'm sure. What I found interesting about this visit is that the doctor calculated Johnny's BMI and compared it to national averages for the first time. I'm not sure how I feel about such a loaded statistic making its way into well child visits so early in life. I mean, Johnny is 3. He's been on this planet for a mere 3 years and we're already going to start telling him he's fat compared to other kids his age? (He's not, he's actually perfectly average.) I just.... I don't know. It seems like a silly thing to worry about at this stage. I already get grilled about his eating habits and the doctor gives me further nutritional information for this age, so why do we need to add yet another statistic to worry about? I already obsess over the fact that he will only eat vegetables if I have refused to give him food or water for three days and it's the only food available in the house (just kidding), so why tack on another piece of statistical data that is pretty open to speculation?

When I was in college, I did a BMI test with calipers and another one based on just height and weight information. According to the height and weight calculation, I was overweight. According to the more specific caliper calculation, I was totally normal, and maybe a tad underweight for my height. Which makes sense because in college I was pretty much all muscle; that's not something a simple BMI calc takes into consideration.

I guess what I'm saying is that I understand this total freak out over childhood obesity, but adding another statistic that can be totally skewed and therefore, meaningless, is not particularly helpful. It probably just freaks parents out even more and gives them yet another thing to try to "fix" about their child.

Anyway. Rant over.

The boys were awesome at the doctor, but I'm glad I don't have to go back until June. :)

Hank's 15 month Check Up

Hank's 15 month doctor's visit was pretty routine.

Weight? Good.
Height? Good.
Head circumference? Good.

Okay, everything looks awesome. Let's ruin this appointment and give him FOUR shots! Wheeeee!!! He's so strong that me AND the nurse were straining to keep his legs still so she could give him the shots. It's certainly not a lot of fun restraining your uber strong, kicking, screaming toddler.

But I digress. His stats were as follows:
Weight: 26 lbs 12 oz - 78th percentile
Height: 33 inches - 98th percentile (EVERY time the nurse does the height she says, "So I guess Daddy is pretty tall, huh?" Every. Time.)

Otherwise, Hank is pretty awesome. Nothing new to report here.

Hank's 12 month doctor's visit

The one-year well child visit was pretty uneventful for Hank. Oh, except for the THREE shots he had to get. Other than that, uneventful. He's still a big guy, obviously, and he's developing normally. His right ear (that one that has had problems) is still a little clogged with fluid, but he seems to hear fine out of it. I still have to make another hearing appointment for him... *sigh* I just don't want to do it. Especially now that he's one year old and not as easy to put asleep in the ring sling.

Anyway. Here are the stats:
Height: 32.8 inches - 99th percentile (!)
Weight: 24lb 4 oz - 71st percentile

No wonder people keep thinking Hank is so much older than he is - he's ridiculously tall!

Hank's 9 month doctor visit

Two weeks ago (geez, I have quite a backlog, don't I?) Hank had his 9 month doctor appointment and it went very well.

Stats:
Weight: 21 lbs 10 oz - 69th percentile
Height: 30.8 inches - 99th percentile (!!!)

He's a tall boy, that's for sure. Many strangers think he's already one year old and are shocked to find out that he's actually 3 months shy.

Other than his stats, the doctor asked if Hank likes his orange foods, to which I replied, "Um... yeah. He loves carrots, butternut squash, mango and sweet potatoes... How did you know?" Apparently, when you eat a lot of orange foods, the beta-carotene builds up in your body and turns you a little orange. I guess Hank's eyes looked a bit orange to the doctor and he was diagnosed with "carotenemia", which is harmless. Thank goodness. Because that kid loves his sweet potatoes.

Backlog: Doctor's visit

I think this is the last of the backlog posts. This will (mostly) catch everyone up on the goings-on the Durso household.

Johnny and Hank were both due for their doctor's appointments around the same time; Johnny for his 2 year (I know, it's weird that I have to a two-year-old now) and Hank for his 6 month. So the receptionist managed to schedule them for the same day within 20 minutes of each other. Perfect! Only one trip to the doctor! It certainly couldn't have worked out any better.

I must have been high on crack the day I made those appointments.

It started off well enough. Johnny was distracted by my iPhone and Hank was sleeping in the Ergo. Then Hank had to be taken out for measuring and weighing. Then Johnny had to be weighed (on a real big-boy scale!) and have his height measured. Then we waited twenty more minutes for the doctor to come in... and then it was fall out juggling. Put Hank on the table, hold Hank's chest and keep Johnny from leaving the room. Put Hank in the Ergo and pick Johnny up. Put Hank down and hold Johnny on the table. Put leg out to keep Johnny from bolting out of the office. Even then, it wasn't too bad. What I forgot about were the shots. Oh, the shots!! Both boys needed immunizations, thus both had to be stuck in the arm or leg with a needle and then both needed to comforted. Johnny went first and was MAJORLY upset. Then Hank needed a bazillion shots, so I was left with a screaming baby and a crying clingy toddler.

I'll never do that again.

Anyway! Here are the boys' stats for your perusal:
Johnny:
Height: 36 inches - 87th percentile
Weight: 31 pounds - 82nd percentile

Hank:
Height: 28 inches - 93rd percentile
Weight: 19 pounds - 77th percentile

You better watch out, Johnny, Hank is bigger than you were at the same age! He's not called Hank the Tank for nothing!

Hank's 4 month doctor visit

I'm just now putting up the stats from Hank's doctor visit ten days ago... oh well. Part of my promise to myself in blogging again is to only put up a post when I feel like it. So here we are.

Anyway. Here are the stats:
Height: 27 inches - 99th percentile
Weight: 17 lbs 4 oz. - 88th percentile
Head circ: 17 inches - 86th percentile

So I guess he's growing fine. :) This was about the time that Johnny stopped growing though, so I'm wondering if Hank will stop growing for a couple of months and then pick back up after that, like Johnny. We shall see.

In other health news, Hank's ear is still blocked with fluid, so the doctor told me to wait on the hearing test. There's no point in doing another test if the ear drum looks unchanged, he says. And I'm inclined to agree. The doctor is a little concerned, however, about Hank's hips. It seems that one hip doesn't have the range of motion of the other and there are some subtle signs pointing to hip dysplasia. So we have an appointment for a hip ultrasound in a couple of weeks. I was worried that all of his time in the ring sling may have caused this dysplasia, but the doctor assured me that having his legs spread across my stomach is a good thing and may help out his little hips. Poor Hank. He's deaf in one ear and has a bad hip... you'd think he was 100 years old!!! But he's happy, so at least there's that.

He handled his shots like a champ and smiled at everyone at the office on the way out, prompting exclamations of, "He's so happy!" "What a cutie!" and "Look at that big smile!"

Hank's 2 month doctor visit

Hank visited the doctor on Wednesday and did quite well, despite the FIVE (count 'em: FIVE) shots and one oral vaccination he got. He was pretty pissed about being pricked so many times, but after nursing for a short while, I swaddled him and stuck him in the ring sling where he promptly passed out. Passed out so hard, in fact, that he actually STAYED asleep in the car seat. Poor guy. He must have been pretty traumatized. That's why babies have such short memories though. Thank goodness.

So here are the stats:
Height: 25" - 97%
Weight: 13lbs 5oz - 86%
Head circumference: 16.2" - 82%

This is all pretty similar to Johnny at the same age, though strangely, Johnny weighed more than Hank even though he started out two pounds less... must have been all those nighttime feedings that Hank feels he doesn't need. The doctor also took a look at the ear that failed the hearing test (Hank's right) and said that it looks like there is fluid behind the ear drum still, so not to fret too much.

All in all, Hank is healthy, happy, and thriving.

Hi everyone!

Hank just wanted to drop in and say "Hi!"

The eyes are still blue!

I was trying to catch him smiling, but instead caught him...I don't know... grimacing?

So now that he's said his hellos, it's time for an update.

Last week Hank had his newborn hearing test. I know, I know, he's hardly a newborn anymore, so why is he getting a hearing test so late? Long story short: birth center could do it, but with our insurance it was easier to get it done with the pediatrician. The first available appointment was in August... and I called in June. Apparently they're pretty busy.

Anyway. This test is supposed to be done while the baby is asleep, so he just chilled in the ring sling while the lady attached the electrodes to his head and put the speakers in his ears. She conducted the test and the good news is he stayed asleep the entire time. The bad news is that his right ear failed the test. His left ear is totally fine, but his right ear didn't respond, which means we'll be back for more testing. The tester said that many things could be the culprit for the lack of a response: too much ear wax, fluid behind the inner ear, etc.

I'm not too worried. I know he can hear because every time he's sleeping somewhere other than me, Johnny will get close to him and yell "HANK!!!!" and he jumps and wakes up. Yeah, I think he'll be fine.

Johnny's 18-month doctor visit

This was supposed to be Johnny's 18 month checkup, but our new pediatrician is quite popular, so we didn't get in to see him until one and a half months after Johnny's 18 month mark. It's worth it, though, because I really like this doctor.

Overall, Johnny is very healthy and doesn't have autism, according to the form I filled out. He took his shot like a champ and then was mystified by the sucker he was given afterward. He kept trying to put the stick part of the sucker into his mouth instead of the candy part. I guess that's a good thing though. The only bad part was the doctor's disappointment over Johnny still being on a bottle. Remember when I tried to take him off of it? Yeah, that didn't happen. My tired pregnant self couldn't handle not getting a nap since Johnny would scream the entire time he should have been napping... so I just kept him on it. Now it looks like we have to get rid of it for real. *sigh* He's gone to bed without a bottle successfully the last couple of nights, and I'll stop the bottle at nap time after today. Definitely not looking forward to that.

So here are the stats:
Height: 34" - 86th percentile
Weight: 28 lbs 8 oz - 75th percentile
Head circumference: 19.76" - 94th percentile

Since he's doing so well weight and height-wise, the doctor said to start him on 2% milk instead of whole milk. Yay Johnny!

New pediatrician

After much hemming and hawing, I decided to finally look for a new pediatrician. I'm not particularly in love with the one we've been taking Johnny to and I really don't want to deal with her diagnosing my newborn so it's time to do some shopping. I started the process by taking Johnny to a new doctor yesterday and while I liked him and his nurse, I think we'll still do some more looking around before making a selection. In the meantime, here are Johnny's stats:

Weight: 24lbs 8oz. ~50th percentile
Height: 32.5 in. ~ 90th percentile
Head circumference: 19in. ~80th percentile

The height and head circumference are estimates because Johnny is a REALLY squirmy guy and tough to measure with a measuring tape.

The doctor says that he's looking really healthy and seems to be where he should be developmentally. Since there were no problems, Johnny won't need another well child visit until he's TWO YEARS OLD! It's hard to imagine that he will ever be that old... but I suppose it will go quickly when there's another child in the mix.

9 month doctor's visit

I completely forgot to give a rundown of Johnny's visit to the doctor last Thursday... so here are the statistics:

Height: 29 inches
Weight: 20lbs. 5 oz.
Head circumference: Don't remember! Oops.

They didn't give me exact percentiles this time around, but the doctor said that Johnny's average height and weight, but his head is larger than average. He didn't need any immunizations this time around, which was nice. Just a quick check up and everything points to good health. Yay!

6 month doctor's visit

Johnny had his 6 month visit with the pediatrician on Wednesday and it wasn't as stellar as his other visits. Here are the stats:

Weight: 17lbs. 2 oz. - 52nd percentile
Height: 27.5in - 76th percentile
Head circumference:

Okay, I can't find the paper that had his information printed on it with percentiles and such, so I only remember height and weight, the important ones I suppose.

Now, why isn't this stellar? Well, he lost 4 oz. from his 4 month visit. That's right, he hasn't gained any weight and he has only grown 1/2 inch. (Though to be honest, the height measurement isn't exactly accurate every time.) The biggest issue is his weight. He went from being in the 92nd percentile to the 52nd. Big problem. Normally, we'd come back when he turned 9 months for another well visit, but since he didn't gain any weight, the doctor wants to see him again in 6 weeks. If he hasn't gained any weight by then, we'll have to start supplementing with formula because my breastmilk isn't nutritious enough. Talk about a blow to the ego.

4 month doctor's visit

I know Johnny turned 4 months last week, and we did do a photo shoot just for your perusal. I will get pictures up as soon as I can get them off the SD card that my computer will not recognize anymore... lame.

In the meantime, Johnny had a doctor's appointment today. Here are the stats:
Weight: 17lbs 7oz - 92nd percentile
Height: 27 inches - 99th percentile (SAY WHAT?!)
Head circumference: 17 1/4 inches - 50th percentile

Basically, he's already proportioned like an adult and will bypass mine and John's heights by the time he's three years old. Just kidding. I hope. He also had to get a few shots, but he took them like a boss! He only screamed and turned red for about 75 seconds, but then he was okay. And now he's sleeping off the trauma, like a boss.

Taken after Johnny and I got into the car after his appointment. I think he made what he thinks about shots very clear, don't you?

2 Month Stats

Johnny and I went to the pediatrician today for his two month check up. Here are the stats:

Weight: 13lbs 14oz - 92nd percentile
Length: 24 inches - 86th percentile
Head circumference: 15.7 inches - 52nd percentile

He also had to get three shots and an oral vaccination today, which he handled like a champ . . . after he cried so hard his entire head turned beet red. After that, though, he was fine. Just tired, as usual. While we were there I asked the doctor about his sleeping habits, or lack thereof. She said it isn't normal for an infant his age to only take a few naps a day for 30 minutes each . . . so she suggested trying to put him down "drowsy but awake" to help him learn to soothe himself. It sounds to her like he's waking up after a REM/NREM cycle and then is unable to fall back asleep. So, she says I should wait awhile before responding to him when he wakes up at the 30 - 40 minute mark; since he's crying when he wakes up, he's probably still tired and it may be part of his soothing process to go back to sleep. However, she emphasized not to let him cry too long . . . whatever that means. She's convinced it will help him sleep longer at night, too . . . but I'm not too concerned about that at this point. I just want him to sleep during the day for goodness' sake! As I'm writing this, he's sleeping . . . and we're at the 45 minute mark! Perhaps there is something to this "drowsy but awake" thing.