Seth Swings

Just a few more pictures from Thanksgiving weekend -- including Cousin Seth's first time in a baby swing!

Checkup 2.5

The boys had their two-and-a-half year checkup today. 

James had dipped back down below 23 lbs (bummer!), coming in at 22 lbs, 13 oz.  He is still below the charts, but he is following the curves for both weight and height, so that's good.  (James was quite unamused by having to take his clothes off to get weighed -- I think at least partially because Mattie didn't have to!)

We didn't get the most accurate weight on Mattie because the nurse said we could leave his clothes on, but he's at about the 30th percentile for weight and the 25th for height, which is about where he's been tracking all along. 

Unfortunately, Mattie is also at the 95th percentile for blood pressure for two year olds (108/69)!  So they're going to have us come back in a month and check it again, and our doc is also going to consult with Nephrology at UNC to see if they think he needs to go back on medication for it.  (Bummer!)  It was funny -- the doctor asked if I had any concerns, and I said I wanted to get his blood pressure checked again since it had been a while, and she told me that it was now the standard recommendation to check it at all appointments for all patients over 3.  Wow!  Apparently this recommendation was met with some dismay by pediatricians and nurses, because as we know from extensive personal experience, it's not easy to get BP measurements on the little ones.  I'm hoping that one side effect of the recommendation will be the development of better pediatric blood pressure equipment. 

But I must say, Mattie was a perfect angel getting his BP checked.  He had been playing with the doctor's flashlight, and she said she had another machine he could see down the hall.  "Oh!  Yes!" he said, and happily walked down with me to the other room.  I explained to him that we would be checking his blood pressure ("what's that?"), and the machine would give his arm a hug, and it might feel funny but he needed to sit very still.  And he did, he was great.  Mike went in with James a bit later, and said he did well, too. 

Other than that, everything looked fine for both of them, and they didn't even have to get any shots! 

P.S.  I told Mattie last night that he'd be going to the doctor today, and that the doctor would look at his eyes, and his ears, etc.  He said, "And look at my teeth.  And have a Mister Thirsty there."  So I had to explain to him that this doctor didn't have a Mister Thirsty, which was only at the dentist's office.  "I want to go to the dentist," he said.  I never thought I'd hear those words from a child of mine!

The White Bear Chronicles

Matthew has been sharing his white bear's thoughts and feelings with us more lately. Here are a couple recent ones.

Matthew: "My bear is upset."
Me: "Why?"
Matthew: "He want to vacuum by himself." (brief pause) "He changed his mind."
Me: "Is he happy now?"
Mattie: "Yes. He feels better."

Mattie: "My white bear wants to jump on the bed. He's waiting his turn."

(Of course, when Baby Cousin Seth was here, Mattie informed me that white bear "doesn't know how to walk by himself yet.")

White Bear also wanted to hear the ABC song the other morning, so Mattie sang it to him. (Unfortunately, James had been sleeping up until that point but was perhaps awakened by the serenade!)

As You Were

In which Daddy is a bad influence...

The relatives are all either back home or on their way (Grandpa is taking the overnight train), so the house is quiet again -- or at least as quiet as it ever gets with a couple of crazy two-year-olds running around. It was so much fun to see everyone! 

Jamesie had an ear doctor appointment yesterday morning; he has dry skin and irritation in his ear canals (which meant he has a lot of gunk in his ears which may be affecting his hearing -- the doctor was able to get some of it out, but we have to use ear drops to try to clear the rest).  So, we're supposed to try to minimize using his hearing aids for a couple days to let things heal up.  Poor kid!  It doesn't seem to be bothering him any, though; he's as cheerful (and talkative) as ever. 

James loves to throw the ball!

Smile

Abby and Daniel

We had a photographer come to the house today to take family pictures (no, not the ones posted here).  We liked the photographer a lot, but I don't know how the large group one will turn out -- James and Matthew were the weakest link, since they picked that moment to decide they wanted milk!

Friday Cousins

Just some pictures.  :)

Thankful

 We are thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving with family!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from cute little Baby Cousin Seth! (And Matthew and James and the rest of us!)

Quality Control

James tested out the command center to make sure it was in good shape before Baby Cousin Seth's arrival.

Pre-Thanksgiving Pre-School

Why, yes, it was our turn again to be Parent of the Day at preschool. :)

Jamesie had an audiologist appointment in the afternoon, but they couldn't actually do a hearing test because his ears were clogged up with (I guess) wax. So he'll go to the ear doctor on Monday to see if he can help clear it out. (If they'd helped us out with the problem, oh, the last two times we were there, that would have been even better, but we'll see how it goes.)

Mister Thirsty

The boys had their second visit to the pediatric dentist yesterday. Matthew was great! I had explained to him in advance that we were going to the dentist, and what was going to happen when he was there. So he was very well-behaved for his exam. The hygenist was fantastic. She got him a balloon first, and she also explained everything to him as she was going through it. She had some fun toys for him to play with while he was waiting for James. But Mattie also was interested in the dental tools, so she showed them to him (which might help for a future visit when they actually use the polisher, etc. -- right now they just brush, examine, and do a flouride treatment). The dentist tools combined Mattie's two favorite things -- water (the squirter) and a vacuum (the little one they use to suck liquid out of your mouth during a cleaning). The hygenist squirted some water on the table and let Mattie suck it up with the little vacuum. He was thrilled! He was also pretty happy when he got to pick a fire truck out of the toy box at the end.

When I told him it was time to go, he said, "No, I want to stay here!"  (I don't know how often you hear that about a dentist's office!)  I got him out by reminding him that he would get to push the button on the elevator, and he said, "Oh, yeah!" and dashed out the door.  :)

James was a perfect angel in the waiting room, but got a little upset when they actually wanted to look in his mouth.  He eventually let them do it, though.

Mattie's teeth are looking good; Jamesie's gums bled a little when they did the exam, which means we need to do a better job with brushing his teeth (which, frankly, any brushing at all would be an improvement over what we've been doing!  We have fallen down on the job on that one.)  They both have two-year molars coming in. 

The boys both had a great time with their balloons in the evening.  They would let them go and then stand on the stool or a pillow to get the string.  And then they were getting on the couch to get them (and then leaping off the couch, which I'm not totally thrilled about, but they seemed to land okay).