Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Stats Update

The kids (yikes! We have kids! As in multiple children!) had doctor’s appointments yesterday. Well, they had one doctor appointment that they shared. It was Colin’s one-month (plus a week) check-up and Danica’s two-year (plus a month).

Colin weighed in at 11 pounds, 5 ounces and 21 ¾ inches. That’s a gain of almost three pounds (!) since the last time he was weighed (7 pounds, 7 ounces a week out of the hospital). His 21 ¾ inches in height is a gain of two inches, which puts him in the 75th percentile for height (what the…!?). I can’t remember what Danica weighed at the same time (I tried looking it up) but I would have to say it couldn’t have been more than 9-and-a-half pounds.

I know it shouldn’t be unusual to find out, but it is crazy how boys are that much bigger than girls. Colin’s really filling out a number of his onesies now, and his face has really rounded out. It’s pretty funny to see him without clothes on, because his body really is getting big(ish).

Funny story… when we first had him, it was amusing to change his diaper and then change Danica’s diaper afterwards, because it really made Danica seem HUGE. It’s not as apparent to us now, but I’m pretty sure most of that is probably from us getting used to him. Even though he’s grown a lot, he’s still tiny (sorry, buddy… genetics).

He’s also been much more vocal over the past couple of weeks, and there is no holding this kid down when he’s hungry. As with most babies, we’re trying to feed him every three hours during the day and four at night. Unfortunately for Kindra, he won’t go that long, and it’s just about every two-and-a-half hours during the day. Binkys and such don’t hold him off, either.

The trade-off of Colin becoming more vocal is that he’s also become a little more responsive. He tracks objects pretty well and will turn his head towards you if you talk to him or get close to his face. He’s also smiling more, which is fun (I know, I know… he smiles because he’s thinking about Grandma). He seems to be ticklish on his tummy (occasionally). The best place to get him is probably on the changing table, which he enjoys because of the soft, green changing pad cover we have on it.

I should take this time to mention that Kindra didn’t appreciate the fact that I wrote that Colin’s fussy between 3:00 a.m. and noon. He’s not really that difficult, but he does get fussy in the early morning and sometimes between 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. (right when his sister is trying to go to sleep, natch). Recently though, he has been sleeping longer between his night feedings, sometimes going four hours between bouts. I got him to sleep for a while last night after Kindra told me to swaddle him tightly and cradle him chest-to-chest. He slept right through Game 3 of the NBA Finals (hmm… will have to talk to him about that).

As for Danica, she measured out at 27-and-a-half pounds. We were also told that she measured in at 35 ¼ inches, which we realized was nuts when Kindra doubled it to arrive at her being 70 inches tall fully grown (that whole thing about doubling the height at age 2 to see how tall a child will be…). So, we measured her last night and she came in between 32 and 33 inches, which makes sense since it would measure her out to about 5’3” when she’s grown (again, sorry about the genetics, kid).

The Girl surprised us by behaving really well yesterday. The last time we took her to the doctor, she freaked out. We were prepared for the worst, but she didn’t shed a tear. She actually stood on a regular scale (of course, it helps that the pad was covered in stickers – smart doctors and nurses!), let the doctor examine her, and actually cried for less than ten seconds after receiving her shot.

Oh yeah… they both got shots yesterday, Colin getting his first Hep B immunization, while Danica got a Hep A shot. I think I explained the downside of having our current doctor, but just to refresh, the problem with going with this doctor is that the nurse that works with her is a horrible shot-giver. When she gives shots, she holds the syringe like a dart, sticks the kids, then holds the syringe in their arm or leg while she scoots her hand up to inject the serum. It’s kinda slow. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Colin did alright with the shot. Kindra held off completely feeding him before the appointment so she could feed him after he got his shot (brilliant!), so he calmed down relatively quickly.

The thing that caught both of us off guard about our doctor’s appointment is that while we’ll take Colin back next month, Danica doesn’t have to go back for a year (!). I find it insane that we’ve gotten to the point where we have a child who can go a year between appointments. I also find it insane that I write as much about raising my kids as I do, but I do appreciate how many of you find it insane as well. Thanks.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Catsup (or I Have Nothing Better to Title This)

Danica marked her 25th-month birthday on Monday… makes me wonder when I’m going to stop counting months.

Kindra’s cousin Nicole left for home on Thursday morning, after spending a week here. We’re pretty sure she was ready to leave, since when you stay with us, you get the kids experience 24/7. She was a lot of help, especially when I traveled to Philly last weekend for my sister’s graduation from Jefferson Medical School (congrats to Steph!). Nicole was the last of our six weeks of help, so we’re finally getting a chance to adjust to “normal” life with just the four of us.

We spent today watching Danica figure out how to put on her shoes, while repeatedly encouraging her to get them on and then telling her to take them off because we don’t wear shoes in the house. For some reason, 90% of the time, they’re on the wrong feet. It’s kinda like when she first started opening up books, and they’d be upside down most of the time. Go figure. But, she can get shoes on herself now, if not actually get the Velcro straps through the loops properly. Unfortunately, she throws fits when she can’t get them on quickly. (FYI, she actually put on her shoes by herself yesterday for the first time that either Kindra or I have seen.)

Colin’s been on an eating rampage today. He’s definitely what you’d call a “snacker.” He eats some, falls asleep, and then wakes up an hour-and-a-half later starving. Kindra’s not too thrilled about it. And he always likes to do a little taste-test before he really starts eating – I gotta tell ya buddy, it’s the same thing you’ve always gotten. Believe me, I tried to get your mom to produce chocolate or strawberry milk, but she refuses.

The Boy never seems totally comfortable between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. for reasons beyond our understanding. He just never seems to sleep well and can get pretty fussy. It’s hard to tell whether to wrap him up in a blanket, take him out of the blanket, hold him over your shoulder or cradle him, put him down or pick him up, sit down with him or stand up… well, you get the idea. It’s a little crazier than it was with Danica (I think… but I don’t really remember), but I will say that he definitely sleeps more than she did.

Funny story that some of you haven’t heard… We tend to call Colin “buddy,” as in “little buddy.” I don’t know why I started it, but it’s stuck for now. So sometimes when he fusses, we say, “Oh, buddy…” Danica picked up on this, so from time to time she’ll call him “Baby Oh, Buddy” when she hears him cry.

Speaking of that, Danica’s really been picking up on words and phrases over the past few weeks. It’s crazy when she throws out a sentence or phrase that you haven’t heard her use before; she’ll even throw things togther from words she hears you say. For instance, if she doesn’t know where you are, she’s recently gone to asking¸ “Where are you?” She also heard me tell Kindra that I forgot my ring in the apartment, then spit out, “Daddy forgot ring,” which is just insane. Her expanding vocabulary is making it harder for me to understand her because her pronounciation isn’t catching up quite as fast.

And while we’re talking about Danica’s vocabulary, I’m proud to say that she said the word “basketball” for the first time when we put her Laker shirt on her. I can’t get her to say it during a game or even when we’re playing with a basketball, but she took one look at the Laker logo on the front of the shirt, pointed at it, and said “basketball” clearly. It was pretty shocking, because she usually just says, “Ball.”

The kids’ doctor’s appointment is on Tuesday, so we’ll get a chance to see where they are growth-wise. Kindra thinks Colin’s at least ten pounds, and I’m anxious to see where Danica’s at since she hasn’t had a doctor’s appointment in at least six months.

Oh yeah, after a call to our doctor, it turns out Colin’s skin rash on his cheeks was eczema, which cleared up with some hydrocortisone. His cheeks are still a bit rough, but they look a ton better. Danica had the same thing when she was his age, too.