Doctor Appointment

I took the boys to the pediatrician for their "well baby" appts today. Caleb had his 3 year check and Isaac had his 9 month check. I was going to cancel it because the weather is terrible here. (Rained all night, froze, rained this AM, and is now snowing so hard I can't see out the window. I think the whole city is shut down again...) But with Christmas coming up, I didn't want to reschedule, especially since I am already late with IZ's appt.

I am glad I took them because Isaac has an ear infection! He's been acting totally fine, except for last night he was a little more cranky than normal (meaning he cried when I put him into his crib instead of falling right to sleep and this AM was a bit clingy). I didn't think anything of it since he's FINALLY getting a tooth, well actually 3 all at the same time and blamed his mood on that. Anyway, I mentioned to the doc that he started pulling at his ear this morning and was a bit fussy. (Since Caleb is always on antibiotics, he has never had an ear infection, so I really didn't know if I should be concerned with Isaac's "symptoms.") He assured me that that kids typically do that when they are teething. But, when he looked in his ear he found a pretty bad infection. I felt terrible. So he's on 10 days worth of antibiotics, which he hates.

The good news is, aside from his ear, he's doing fabulous. He's 24 pounds, 4 oz and is 30 inches tall. (90th percentile, and 97th percentile) His development is on track and his doc has no concerns about him. I told him that he's getting tired of baby food and really wants to eat what we are, and he told me that I can give him anything he wants (except for fish, peanuts and honey)! Yesterday he ate an entire stick of string cheese for his snack! He loves to feed himself crackers and fruit. His ped also wants to see him off of bottles completely by the time he's a year old. Wow. Lucky for me, Isaac doesn't like to drink his bottles unless he's sleepy (sound familiar??!!), but he will drink from a sippy cup during meals. I am just going to have to start pushing the cup more I guess. Anyway, his "turn" was very short and sweet.

So Grammie and I swapped kids and it was Caleb's turn. His wasn't as short, but his ped was also very happy with Caleb's progress as well. He (of course) is concerned about his night time waking, which is back to at least 6 times a night. He really wants us to take him to the sleep clinic, but Joel is against it, so we won't be doing it at this point. I don't want to subject him to anything else either, but I am not sure how long I can keep getting up so often and still be able to function during the day. I have been reading the book "The Out of Sync Child" and it says that children with sensory issues are typically terrible sleepers and one cause (among a lot of other factors) can be due to a diet that lacks magnesium. For a child who basically lives on noodles, this could be a factor. His ped wasn't too convinced, but did give me guidelines as to how much magnesium he needs. His vitamin only provides about 5% of what he needs, but whole milk contains some too. Side note: I also read that a diet the lacks zinc can affect a child's taste, so food doesn't taste good...interesting! Caleb's always preferred very strong flavors. For instance, yesterday was licking up nacho cheese sauce from Joel's plate, which is way too spicy for me! And he loves lemon and pickle juice. I also read that Omega-3 fats are also very important for children with sensory issues as well (I knew it was good for speech development from my preemie mom friends). I am going to do my own research and see if I should start giving him supplements. I figure it won't hurt to try! Although I can hear Joel already "He's on enough crap already!!" Anyway, he wrote out a "schedule" on how to get Caleb off of the night time bottles, so when I get up enough stamina to be up all night for at least a week, I will be trying it:)

I brought along C's school testing scores and he said he's mostly concerned about his speech at this point. He feels that C's fine and gross motor stuff will come, but really wants me to get him into gymnastics, soccer or any other sports that he can participate in at this age. He also concerned about his social development, and wants me to take him to "anything and everything" to get him around kids his age. He told me about a couple places in the area that I had never heard of, like a huge warehouse that has playgrounds in it so kids can play during the winter months...sounds like fun!

He was pleased with his growth (weight 26 pounds, 4 oz and height 34.5 inches..which put him at the 5th percentile for weight and 10th for height!). When I explained to him that I still have to feed him in order for him to eat anything, and he told he that I can start letting him feed himself and see how much he'll eat. I'm guessing it won't be much, but we'll see. He also wants him to eat fruits and vegetables (Well, duh!! Maybe he could come over and try and get him to eat them!). Anyway, it should be interesting.

Once again, C charmed some of the nurses that we've known since he was DC'd from the NICU. A couple didn't even recognize him! They cannot believe that he's getting so big and is so active. Some of them haven't seen him in a long time and they couldn't stop talking about how cute he is!

So, other than Isaac's poor ear, it was a good appt. He has to go back in 3 weeks for an ear re-check and his 9 month vaccines. And C doesn't have to go back until he's 4!! (Let's hope that is the case!)