The Kids Are Alright

On Friday we took the kiddos in for their 3 year and 3 week check-ups.

The Big Kid is 35 pounds and 39 inches of Awesome--the 75th percentile for both weight and height (and 1000th percentile for Awesome). Which is a medical marvel considering his ongoing Dinner Embargo. The doctor was impressed with his abilities to count to 20, identify all of the letters and their sounds, and do 100 piece puzzles. Also, she laughed at me when I told her he could speak in compound-complex sentences, complete with conjunctions and modifiers. Her words: "You're such an English teacher. At least he'll do well on his SAT's." My poor children never had a chance. At any rate, the kid is ready for preschool.

Side note about that--um, I registered him for it last week, and it was shockingly emotional for me. I don't know if it's the postpartum hormones or the check I wrote, but I got all weepy at the thought of my baby going to school. I mean, he's been in childcare with other kids for two years. But this is school. School is where kids make friends on their own and become their own little person, much more so than before. OMG, when did my baby become a big kid?!?! I'm not sure I can handle this parenting thing. It's too much.

This is what he looks like:

The Little Kid is 8 pounds 5 ounces and 21 inches of Awesome--no idea of the percentiles here. I think somewhere around 50th. Another medical marvel considering the reflux. Often GERD babies struggle with weight gain on account of poor feeding and puking. But while Miss E does struggle with feeding and pukes her little heart out a couple of times a day, she still has managed to gain weight. Because she's Superbaby. And cute as a button. All the same, she was put on a new (stronger) medication for the reflux. The Zantac was working, but not quite well enough. So we'll see how she does on this new stuff. Hopefully the hiccups and barfing will abate, and she'll graduate to sleeping in her bassinet (she currently snoozes in her car seat because of the incline). Also, maybe I'll get to sleep again. I miss sleep. 3 cumulative hours a night in several 15-30 minute chunks is just not cutting it.

I'm really rooting for the bassinet thing, because I strongly dislike having her in the seat. Mostly because the only place to put it is on the floor of our bedroom, and Ben is all too happy to dash in there at every whimper and pick her up because, according to him, "I'm pretty sure she really needs me right now." And let me tell you--homeboy is fast. He's in there and has her in his arms and is walking down the hallway with her before I can even drop the dishes and run after him. We put the child-proof thing on the doorknob and we close the door all the way while she's napping, so that has curbed it somewhat. But we woke up to him carrying her to us at 5:45 this morning...so yeah, I'm pretty ready to have her off the floor. I love that he loves her so much and wants so badly to take care of her. But sheesh...freak me out. He really is a good brother, though. He loves to help bathe her and play with her and cuddle her and talk to her. He has all kinds of pet names for her, like sweetheart and cookie, and he can't stop kissing her. But seriously, can you blame him?

This is what she looks like:

In other news, um, two kids is hard. Super fun, but super hard. Like when I'm making lunch and the newbie starts wailing, so I go get her, and when I come back the Big One is standing on the kitchen table. And who knew that the whole "get out of the house at least once a day" thing would be so stinking hard to accomplish? I went out to the garage (which is detached and requires a trip outside) yesterday to get laundry and realized that it was the first time I'd been outdoors in a couple of days. Yikes! It's a good thing my kids are so flipping adorable.