Healthy Kids

I took the kiddos to their well-visits at a new doctor's office today. We had a great visit! Overall our kids are A-OK...very healthy and smart. We discussed Cayman first.

Cayman's Stats

He wore a gown today for the first time!
I almost cried!

Height - 37in (50%); Weight - 31lbs (50%); Vision - 20/20; Hearing - Just fine 

Today was the first time that Cayman did big boy tasks at the doctor's office. He had to have his blood pressure checked. Then we walked to a quiet hallway, where I had to stand behind him and watch him answer questions for the nurse. She held up a chart, similar to an eye chart, but with pictures instead of letters. He answered each one correctly the first time around, except for a circle, which he called a triangle. :) He even correctly identified a flag, which I was a little surprised about. She then walked a few feet away, and Cayman had to stand on his spot, holding a patch over one eye at a time, calling out each picture. He spoke a little quietly at times, and I had to shake my head if he answered correctly.

Next we all went in a small listening room, where he had to first identify pictures again (boat, sandbox, bathtub, etc.) Then he had to wear headphones, listening to a voice telling him which pictures to point at. I'm not sure if he answered all of those correctly, but they weren't worried about his hearing, so I guess he did ok.

As he went through these tests, I couldn't help but feel as if I were being tested as well! "Just how well do you teach your son as he's at home with you everyday, Mrs. Moody?" "How much time are you spending with him on a daily basis?" Of course the nurses and doctors do not expect the mother of a three year old to be teaching on a daily basis! But I was very proud of my son's knowledge, and it felt good to know that Ian and I aren't the only ones that think he's a bright little boy!

Charis' Stats

Miss Activity - never still for a picture anymore!
(It's a bug bite on her head, concerned grandmamas...) :)

Height - 31in (90%); Weight - 21lbs (25%) - a whopping 2lb weight gain since her 12mth visit

Even though Charis still doesn't weigh very much, none of her doctors have been concerned about it. I know how much she eats on a daily basis (she out eats Cayman on a regular basis). So I'm not concerned either, especially since she is growing. She's just too much like her daddy! As the doctor said: she deals with so many overweight children that it's hard for her to be concerned with a child so slender! So from now on, Charis is not tiny or a peanut - she's just slender! :)

Charis is supposed to be saying three words other than mama and daddy. Right now, her vocabulary consists of these words: eat, Bubba, bath, off, snack, water, cup, uh oh, no, yes, fish, dog, cow, shoe, pie (pacifier), nay nay (her blankets), book, cracker, hit play, Jenn Jenn, hello...I think that's about all. She can follow simple directions: Go get your shoes; put this in your room; etc. And she can answer simple questions: Do you want a snack? Who wants to go outside? Can you point to the dog? Let's see. She's also got quite a bite, as Cayman has unfortunately been finding out. He has a big bruise on his arm from a previous chow down, and she bit him or attempted to bite him two times today. Ugh. Never had to deal with this with Cayman! Well I did, but in a different way. He bit himself when he got frustrated! ??? No idea why he thought that was such a good idea. He corrected that issue by himself. He got tired of the pain. I believe that sometimes Cayman antagonizes her to the point of being so frustrated that she lashes out. But other times, that is not the case. More proof that we are born sinners. No one has taught Charis to bite. She innately figured it out. Anyways. Beside the point. She's healthy. He's healthy. We're all healthy.

Overall, it was a good visit! Can't complain about my two thriving children when I know so many children who have a disease or chronic illness or haven't even made it to our children's ages! We are so thankful for that aspect of our lives!

At the end of the appointment, Cayman kept asking for "dat thing dat goes in my mouth dat I eat." He wanted a sucker. I had to ask the lady behind the desk if they passed out stickers or *suckers* (in a whispered tone). She said they had stickers, but they apparently don't pass them out to everyone... ? We had to go back in the back to nurse's desk, and she showed Cayman ALLLLL of their stickers until he finally chose two car ones for him and an Elmo sticker and Goofy sticker for Charis. Two hours after our appointment time, we're back in the van and headed home!

Now. Off to help Ian sort through applications AGAIN to prepare for yet another day of interviews! Praying for our future team!