Brady's 4-month Well-Visit

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We took Brady to the Pediatrician for his 4-month well visit on Thursday, April 16th! Here are his stats:
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Weight: 12 lbs 13 oz --25th percentile

(11 lbs 1 oz at 2 months - gain of 1 lb 11 oz)

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Length: 25 1/2 inches -- 75th percentile

(23 inches at 2 months - growth of 2 1/2 inches)

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Head: 16 1/2 inches -- 50th percentile

(15 1/4 inches at 2 months - growth of 3/4 inches)

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He dropped from the 50th percentile for weight at 2 months to the 25th percentile at 4 months. Our pediatrician wasn't alarmed by this, but apparently babies don't start this drop until around 9 months when they are getting more active. We knew that my supply was decreasing as I have not been pumping the quantity that he eats while at daycare. Luckily, I have had a supply in the freezer from his first couple of months, so there has been no problem with him getting what he's wanted. I really enjoy breastfeeding and want to do so for the first year, at a minimum. So the fact that I'm already having a hard time keeping up with his needs is very sad for me. The pediatrician recommended we start him on cereal (which we did about a week ago) and that we increase his food intake (he started apples about a week ago as well). So now - he is getting a minimum of 3 jars of food a day and during the week at daycare - he gets cereal in two of his bottles. He will still nurse exclusively when with me (in the mornings, at night and on the weekends) - as opposed to receiving bottles. We're going to try this and see if he backs off the number of bottles he is taking - if he still continues to want/need the 4 bottles while at daycare (which is what he's done for the past 3 weeks) - then we will supplement that additional bottle with formula. Honestly - we are not that concerned about it - because he is gaining weight and he is just the happiest little guy. He really doesn't cry that often - just when he is ready for his bottle/nursing. My opinion is that if he were not getting enough to eat - then he wouldn't be as happy and content as he is. We're trying the new routine and hopefully all will be well at his 6-month well-visit.

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He is doing great at daycare. He is not at the same place that the girls are, as they did not have any space for him. The lady that he stays with goes on and on about how good he is....When I drop him off in the mornings and "MiMi Carolyn" takes him - he just smiles at her. It is very reassuring that he seems so happy where he is!

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Milestone-wise - he is doing GREAT! He loves to stand up (assisted, of course). He can sit up with support. We've noticed in the past week or so that when in his carseat - he is already trying to pull himself up...He laughs and smiles and talks to us ALL the time!! He is just such an easy baby. He sleeps well - not all night every night - but on a typical night he is only up maybe once. And as an added bonus - I can just lay him in his bed and he will entertain himself and then just fall asleep!!! I know there has to be more to say - but instead - I will just leave you with this picture from this past weekend.

Click the picture...

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Happy 1-Week Brady!

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Brady is already a week old and is somehow managing to survive the overwhelming love he receives from his sisters! We took him to see our pediatrician for his one-week well check this morning. You can read about it here.

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Brooklyn

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We took Brooklyn to the Pediatrician for her 2-year well visit!

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Check here for all the details!

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Bella's 3-year Well Visit

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I took Bella for her 3-year well visit on Friday. Click here to read the details!

Brooklyn at 18-Months

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I took Brooklyn for her 18-month well visit on the 9th of May. She is doing great. Here are her stats at 18-months:

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Weight: 21 pounds 6 ounces -- 10%

Height: 31 inches -- 50-75%

Head Circumference: 18 inches -- 75% (she appears to be a small child with a big brain - haha)

MILESTONES AND GUIDANCE:

Milestones:

• You baby should walk alone and begin to walk fast - Brooklyn has been walking since she was 11 months old and now if you tell her to do something and she doesn't want to and you go towards her to pick her up - she runs away giggling!
• Self-feeds with fingers, drinks from a cup and uses a spoon - Brooklyn has fed herself since she started on table food. She only took a bottle maybe 10 times total - so the transition to a cup was no problem. If I do not give her a spoon/fork fast enough - she starts demanding asking for a fork.
• Your baby should now have a 4-10 word vocabulary and a few two word sentences - When I started listing all the words Brooklyn could say the pediatrician was very pleased and commented "that's a lot of words for an 18-month old"! Her current vocabulary includes (but is not limited to): Momma, Da-Da, Nana, Pop, Mi-Mi, Paw-Paw, Georgia, Bebba (Bella), Wa-Wa (water), truck, ball, bow, please, nose, eye, ear, mouth, baby, more, mine, no (I know there are more - I just can't think of them right now).
• Start to learn body parts - Brooklyn knows where all of the following are and will point to them when asked (except of course at the pediatrician's office): nose, ears, eyes, mouth (she opens her mouth very wide when you ask her where her mouth is), feet, toes, hands, fingers, belly.

Guidance:

• Continue to exercise accident prevention - honestly - I feel like they are both accidents waiting to happen. It's only a matter of time given how much they climb and jump off things!
• Avoid peanuts, gum, hard candies, hot dogs and popcorn - hmm...she likes nuts, don't give either of them gum or hard candies, she likes hotdogs and she likes popcorn (hello - movie night) - but she doesn't get any of the above without supervision....
• Read to your baby. Begin as a bonding experience and continue to help your child develop early phonics and literacy - Brooklyn doesn't seem as interested in reading as Bella is (and was), but we keep trying and we're always looking at books for magazines (they get both Animal Babies and My Backyard in the mail) - so she is definitely exposed to it!
• Off the bottle! - I just have to say how nice it was not to have to worry about this one! She has also totally stopped nursing (as of about a month or so ago). She pretty much did it on her own - so it wasn't too traumatic (on either of us).
• Set limits with positive reinforcement to avoid temper tantrums - She has such a good example to follow with Bella that she is already spending so time in time-out!
• Continue a regular bedtime routing including book reading - no nighttime bottle - Brooklyn goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 every night - we just ask her "are you ready to go nite-nite" and if she isn't, she'll say shake her head and say "no" and if she is, she'll walk into her room and start climbing on her crib! It's so easy right now - I dread moving her out of the crib!

Brooklyn was a bit more displeased with the doctor checking her over. I don't know what it was this time because last time she just sat in Brannon's lap and let the doctor do everything she needed. You may remember from her 12/15-month well visit - her iron levels were on the low side at 9. She has been on iron supplements to determine if she had an iron deficiency or if there was something else going on. When they pricked her finger (for which she didn't even cry!) - her levels were up to 10 - so they are holding off until her 2 year well visit to do the vein draw depending upon what her levels are at that point. (I was relieved they didn't have to do the vein draw)!! She got a new book at the doctor - Baa-Baa Black Sheep. They get a new book at each visit!

All in all she is doing great!

LONG POST: 1-year and 2-year Well Visits with Pediatrician

Today we took the girls to the pediatrician (finally) for their 1-year and 2-year check-ups. It has been over a year since either girl has seen a medical doctor, other than Bella's recent trip to the ER and subsequent visit to the orthopaedic a couple of weeks ago. There just hasn't been a need for a medical doctor - they have not been sick, other than a couple of runny noses, since we've had them out of daycare! We did want to take them for their annual check-ups though. Today was that day! Luckily, we scheduled it on a day that Brannon is in his office so he was able to go with us. So here are the results:

STATISTICS:

Bella at 2-years:

Weight: 24 lbs 7 oz (25th percentile) - hey she's on the charts!

Height: 35 1/4 inches (50th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18 1/4 inches (not sure of percentile here)

Brooklyn at 1-year:

Weight: 19 lb 9 1/2 oz (10th percentile)

Height: 31 1/4 inches (50th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18 inches (75th percentile)

Basically we have tall and skinny babies! But they are very proportionate given all three measurements. My comment on Brooklyn's stats was that she was tall and skinny with a big brain (75th percentile for her head circumference!!)!

Both girls got their finger pricked to check their hemoglobin. Bella's remains low (10.1) but this is due to the Beta thalassemia trait that she carries. I am sure I "blogged" about this around her first birthday when we discovered it. In a nutshell, Beta thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that reduces the production of hemoglobin - Bella only carries the trait - she does NOT have the disorder. Brooklyn's was quite low (9.1), so she is now on iron supplements until we go back for her 18-month check-up. If the levels increase with the supplements, then we can safely assume she has an iron deficiency and if they do not increase, then we will do the full blood work to determine if she also carries the Beta thalassemia trait. We went through this same process with Bella as far as giving the iron supplements before doing a vein draw. So we are comfortable with this situation for now.

MILESTONES AND GUIDANCE:

Bella:

Milestones:

• Your baby should walk alone and climb steps holding onto rail -- No problems here, as we all know she climbs onto lots of things!
• Use spoon and cup well -- No problems here either
• Your baby should now have a 20-word vocabulary and a few 2-word sentences -- Definitely no problems here. Brannon and I were even talking last night and we think she has a much bigger vocabulary - more like 200 words (no kidding - the child is always saying something)
• He/she should call self by name and scribble spontaneously-- No problems here either - she knows her first and last name and always says "Bella" - she doesn't talk about herself in the first person - it is still third person. When I said this to the pediatrician, she asked if she had pronouns for other people and I said no because she calls everyone by their names. She wasn't concerned. And we all know Bella likes to color and/or write.

Guidance:

• Continue to exercise accident prevention -- we obviously failed at this given she is wearing the cast!
• Read to your baby -- Bella loves to read. She is always bringing us a book saying "read book". Plus we go to the library once a week!
• Encourage toilet use with positive reinforcement. Don't push, allow your child to guide training -- so I feel a bit better - the pediatrician said "she's only two"!
• Start time out and continue to set limits -- START TIMEOUT???? HAHA - Bella already spends a lot of time in timeout!!

Brooklyn:

Milestones:

• Your baby should walk alone -- No problems here, she can walk, run, climb and fall!
• Self-feeds with fingers -- No problems here either and she even shows interest in using a fork or spoon - YAY BROOKLYN!
• Your baby should now have a 3-6 word vocabulary and follow simple commands -- I hadn't really thought about this but when I started telling the pediatrician what she could say - it quickly added up to 3-6 words. *momma, *da-da, *georgia, *pop-pop, * bye-bye, *hi, *nana, *more and I think she is trying to say Bella. She can also sign: *please, *thank you, *more, *milk and *eat.

Guidance:

• Prepare your home for baby safety -- pretty much already done given they are so close
• Read to your baby - she doesn't do well sitting yet for stories - but we still look at books, etc. Plus we go to the library once a week.
• Begin to set limits with positive reinforcement to avoid temper tantrums -- we obviously failed at this also given these pictures.
• Start a regular bedtime routine including book reading - no nighttime bottle -- we do not read at bedtime, necessarily and she does still nurse before bed! But she is sleeping all night in her own bed (more than I can say for her sister)!

Each of the girls got a new book from the pediatrician and will get new one each time they visit! Bella got "I'm a Little Teapot" and Brooklyn got "123 Baby". So that was our visit - Bella did not like the doctor "checking" her over nor did she like her checking Brooklyn and was yelling the doctor to leave Baby Brooke alone! It was a new doctor and she hadn't been to a doctor in over a year and she has a cold - so I'm assuming that was it because she was never like this with our pediatrician in Atlanta! Brooklyn just sat there letting the pediatrician do whatever she needed/wanted her to do - she is definitely our more laid back one most of the time!

WOW - if you're still reading, I'm impressed!!!! Sorry for the long post - but wanted to get all this documented and since I don't do baby books - this is the place! Happy Tuesday,