Healthy-ish

The kids have both had their well visit exams recently. Evvie's was her 9 month check up and Griffin's was his Three Year. Both went really well... for the most part!

Evvie is about 29" long and 17 pounds. This puts her in the 90th percentile for height and 30th for weight. Her doctor wasn't worried about her weight per se... she's eating and growing normally, and she doesn't look "skinny". But she was previously in the 50th percentile for weight, so they want to see her again in a few weeks. Lots of kids thin out between 6-12 months because they hit a growth spurt (and Evvie IS tall) so they just want to make sure she's following her own growth curve and isn't plateauing. She's exactly where she needs to be developmentally though! She's pulling herself up and trying to take steps, she's eating all kinds of new foods, she has SIX teeth, she's clapping and waving, and is even saying mama & dada (even if she isn't completely clear on what they mean!)

Unfortunately, she's been home sick with me for the past two days. Apparently it started with minor tummy troubles at school on Wednesday, but I haven't seen any sign of that. She's just had a really low grade fever & has been more interested in snuggling than playing. I'm not too worried- I'm wondering if it's just all these teeth that are coming in!

Griffin is 3 ft 2in and 32 pounds. That means he's in the 52nd percentile for height and 54th for weight- completely average! Not a bad place to be! It also means that all of his evil picky food avoidance at home is not killing him like I imagined. He got one vaccination and didn't even make a peep. He just goes "the doctor gave me an owie. WHY?" Brave kid! The doc & I also talked about his breathing "issues". He said that since Griffin never wheezes when he's physically exerted, and the coughing spells are really only during the winter, he doesn't think we have anything to worry about. Because the coughing DOES seem to show up frequently though and hangs out for a good long time when he does have it, he thinks he might have a really mild case of childhood asthma. Basically, he has no breathing issues unless there is an outside factor (like a virus) that irritates them, and he thinks there is a very large chance that he'll just grow out of it. It actually makes a lot of sense because I had the same thing as a kid! I grew out of my coughing/ asthma/ allergy issues when I was about 10. Fingers crossed! In the meantime, he was prescribed albuterol & flovent inhalers to use ONLY if he has a bad coughing fit. So I feel WAY better, and more prepared! Whew!

Griff was really good for the doctor *except* for when he first came in. Griffin must have been shy or nervous because he immediately dove under the chairs and hid stubbornly. Nothing I could say or do would convince him to come out, and I was HUGELY embarrassed. But then the doc told me that even though he and his wife are both pediatricians, and are friends with his son's pediatrician (so his son knows her well), his 4 year old son growled at his doc during his entire last well child exam. So I felt way better! Ha!

Now that Evvie has stopped nursing, I am back on the PCOS diet and all of my supplements. I've had a lot more energy already and I've lost 1.5" from my midsection! That is really important for people with PCOS since they tend to carry their weight around their middle. I have also been reading a really interesting book called Anticancer. While he writes about various ways to prevent or slow down cancer, one of the things that has resonated with me the most is his approach to life. He said that most people put off their own happiness and live for the future instead of in the moment. They say things like "oh, life will be easier after this big project" or "we'll have so much fun when the kids are older". On the opposite side of the coin, when someone receives a life threatening diagnosis- like cancer- most of the time they realize they need to live in the now. They allow themselves to enjoy the small things, to look forward to things that will happen that day instead of weeks from now, to be happy in the moment. I realized how much of my life I spend rushing to the next thing, feeling stressed out, or looking forward to a nebulous future. But really, I am so very lucky. My life is amazing. And I want to do a much better job about living in the present- without a cancer diagnosis to push me there.

To my Incredible Boy on his Third Birthday

Dear Griffin,

It blows my mind that you're three. How can that possibly be when I remember holding tiny you, just fresh home from the hospital like it was yesterday? Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that you first learned to walk, that you learned to say "mama"?

But it must be true. You're such a KID now. Not a baby, not even a toddler... you're a rough and tumble boy. You're all about tackles, jumping, climbing and sliding. You're getting so tall your pants are all too short on you. This also means that you're counter height so you're like a large dog the way you surf them for items of interest. You're so self sufficient, still demanding you do everything YOURSELF, only now you're getting to the point where you actually CAN! You've gone from short conversations to telling full blown stories, complete with characters and sound effects. And you love your crew of friends. Your Tommy and Tanner and Brandon and Everett. You come home from school so excited about what you got to do with them that day. I hope you get to keep them forever.

Like just about every other kid, you're picky. You hate 90% of the dinners I make, and I can count on my hand the food items that I *know* you'll eat. Just today I asked what you wanted for dinner- I said we could go ANYWHERE or I would make ANYTHING- whatever your heart desires. You asked me for toaster waffles. Quite the refined palate, my friend.

You love to get ready with me in the morning- picking out your clothes, brushing your teeth and combing your hair. Sometimes you ask if you can wear some of my make up and while I usually tell you that your face is so perfect without it, sometimes I indulge you and pretend to brush on blush or mascara. Don't worry- I've never sent you to school looking too fancy. It is your job to let Scarlett outside and then bring her back in. And you have also decided that you are in charge of opening Evvie's door in the morning (which is an important job, to be sure).

You're almost potty trained. ALMOST. You're just stubborn enough to understand that's a little bit of extra effort on your part so sometimes you just pass... It's ok, I know we'll get there. But in the meantime, you are SO PROUD to put on underpants and you want to show everyone when you HAVE gone potty (even though we'd be just as happy without inspecting it...)

You are so smart. So crazy, amazingly smart. Your dad and I are so impressed every single day. Of course you know your letters and numbers- you have forever. But now you can count to 10 in Spanish! You whip through puzzles and tangrams so quickly with no help from us. You can pick out Colorado, Ohio and Connecticut on a map and tell us who lives where. And you remember a crazy amount of random facts- like the Sphinx is a statue of a lion and a person. I mean, WHAT? You're just the coolest boy.

You love story time. You get two every night, but you always try to weasel in a third. And lately you've started reading to Evvie which she maintains an odd attention span for. It's such an important and beneficial love to have. Nurture that- it will serve you well in the future.

Speaking of Evvie- I cant tell you how much my heart grows every single day watching you two. Because you don't just tolerate each other, you ADORE each other. You really are best friends. You make each other laugh, you want to be around each other, you share your toys, you play together, you do what you can to protect her... its absolutely incredible. I'm so proud of the way you accepted such a big change and the ways you showed us what a loving, sweet, good person you are.

You ARE such a big kid. But you'll always be my baby. The other day as we were walking in to school, you fell and skinned your knee. You dusted yourself off and pretended like you were ok because other people were around, but I could see the tears shimmering in your eyes just waiting to fall. I gave you a big hug and told you that you were brave. But then you just weren't quite ready to let go of my hand. You lingered next to me longer than usual, you weren't interested in your friends or the Legos. In that moment, you just needed your mommy and know you were safe. You just needed a second to regroup and be yourself. And if you grow up knowing anything, I hope it is that. That no matter how big you are, I am still your mommy. You can hold my hand as long as you need to.

I love you more than there are stars in the sky. Happy happy birthday.

mama