Kidney check

We had Nate's annual kidney check-up this week. Unfortunately, because his nephrologist is located in Charlotte, we usually have to make a full day of it. Last year they said we might be able to schedule it in Gastonia, but I guess she stopped making the trek to the other side of the tracks. He had an ultrasound scheduled for 11am, so we dropped Peter's car off for service on our way in. Pretty much as soon as we got checked in to the appointment Mia had a blow out, so I headed to the bathroom to change her.

On a side note, I HATE Luvs diapers! We got a box as a gift, which I really appreciate of course, but we have had about three of four blow-outs since we started using them. And they are always at the most inopportune moments - at church, doctor appointments, the middle of the night, visiting Peter at Barnes and Noble... So, I think I've decided that we are only going to use these at home so at least if it happens it's not as big of an inconvenience. Vent over.

While we were in the bathroom getting Mia changed, Nate got buzzed for the ultrasound and by the time I was done with her, they were done with the ultrasound! This kid is like a pro because he didn't wiggle at all and let the lady (who was the same as did it last year) get all the shots she needed no problem. Since we were done with the ultrasound before his appointment was even scheduled and we had almost two hours to kill before his main appointment, we drove to one of the Charlotte malls to have lunch. I guess we have made this kind of an annual tradition, because what else are we going to do with that time? It's not enough time to drive back home, but way too much time to just hang around the hospital. But it gives them enough time to get the results/report from the ultrasound to the doctor so she knows what we're dealing with, so better than having to drive into Charlotte on two different days.

His appointment went really well. I really love this office. I don't know if they actually remember him (he is pretty cute after all), but they act like they do anyway. And the doctor and nurse that we've seen each time are awesome. I kind of wish they were regular pediatricians, except they'd probably work in Charlotte and I'd never see them anyway. The ultrasound results look great - his right kidney is bigger (about the size of an adult female kidney) and his left kidney is smaller (2.4cm, half the size of a newborn kidney) so everything is working as it should. She made sure he wasn't having any problems and talked to us about what we might encounter over the next year. She said it might actually be good that he's not potty trained yet because since he's older we can explain more to him and make sure he doesn't try to hold it too long. *I totally knew we waited for a good reason! ;)* Not that we expected otherwise but everything looks great and that is always good news.

Nate is three!

It's kind of amazing isn't it? It's kind of hard to believe that three short years ago he was the size of his sister! In fact, I regularly forget that she doesn't weigh quite as much as he does and almost flip her over my shoulder when I pick her up!

3 year stats:
Height: 38" (75th percentile) - I actually think this is a little higher, but they measured him very quickly. His head was down and he wasn't really standing up straight.
Weight: 31lbs, 13oz (60th percentile)
BMI: 15.5 (30th percentile, but still healthy)
Hair: A dark blond right now, because of winter, but I'm sure as soon as he starts getting to be outside more it will lighten up in no time.
Eyes: Still blue most of the time, but some of the time I'll see a little bit of green. Usually when I see it, then try to look again I can't really tell.
Clothes: Well, I just packed up all of his 24 month clothes yesterday, but he is wearing 3T in a lot of stuff as well. He really needs 3T for length, but thank goodness his pants have tabs so you can tighten them otherwise they would be falling off!
Sleep: He went through a couple of weeks of nightmares and night terrors, but hasn't had any issues in the last week or so. I'm hoping this sticks around! In general though he really fights sleep and hates bedtime! He did alright when we first got his big boy bed, but ever since Amelia came bedtime has been a lot more difficult. I think he thinks he's missing out on something... and I'm sorry to say that he thinks his parents are a lot more exciting than they really are.
Awake: Well, he is talking like crazy! Are three year olds supposed to use words like frustrated? I dont know, maybe they are, but he seems to speak very well for a three year old. He got to go to Children's Church for the first time this week and was so excited! We got him registered for preschool three days a week starting in August. He is a puzzle master. He is so super sweet to his sister and loves to give her hugs and kisses and tickles. He loves trains and cars and pretty much anything that can be considered a form of transportion. His favorite show right now is Dinosaur Train and he can tell you all about Ornithomimus (sp? I don't know, he probably does) and which dinosaurs are herbivores and carnivores. When he wants some fruit he says he's a "hungry, hungry herbivore". He gets shy when he's around people he doesn't know, but when he's in a comfortable place or with people he knows he expects all eyes to be on him! He loves to read and has recently started the most fun trait of wanting to read the same book over and over and over in one sitting (before we would still read it a lot, but at least we'd read other books too). He knows the alphabet and is starting to be able to recognize numbers.
Things to work on this year: Potty training! Dressing himself, putting away his toys and, according to the doctor, his fine motor skills like coloring, beading and cutting.

2 months!

Can you believe it's been two months already?!

Two month stats:
Height: 23.5" (90th percentile)
Weight: 11lbs, 4oz (75th percentile) - I guess I overestimated last month!
Hair: According to everyone it's getting redder every day! And, luckily, you haven't lost anything you started with.
Eyes: Still a very beautiful blue! They are a kind of light blue in the middle with a very dark blue rim. I kind of hope they don't change because they are gorgeous.
Clothes: Still 0-3 months, but some of her pants are getting kind of short!
Eating: Well, since I went back to work she's been eating pumped milk and fresh milk - so far no formula! The only bad thing about breastfeeding (other than making me hungry all the time) is that you never really know how much she's eating. But, she's definitely getting enough! While I'm gone she usually doesn't eat that often - only two or three times, but she eats a lot, probably 4-6oz each feeding. I'm so happy I've been able to keep up with what she's eating by pumping at work. It's a lot easier having a place to do it that isn't a bathroom!
Sleep: She seems to go through phases... she'll give us 3-4 days of sleeping for 6-8 hour stretches at a time, then goes through 3-4 nights of not letting me put her down. I'll take every little bit that I can!
Awake: She is definitely having good, long stretches of awake time. According to Peter she will lay in the bassinet at Jack and Dianne's house for an hour looking up at her mobile, but I usually only get a few minutes at a time. Nate still likes to do belly time with her!

Belly (or back) time fun!

Rolling: All of this belly time has been good for her, because on February 27 - her two month birthday - she rolled over! Peter laid her on her belly on her play mat and walked away for a minute and when he came back she was on her back. He wasn't sure if maybe Nate had helped her over or something, but when he laid her back on her belly he saw her roll over. I was washing dishes while this was going on and missed it, but he rolled her back on her belly and she did it AGAIN! Three times in a row is definitely not a fluke. Since then we have had some close calls from the back, but nothing official. However, today she was in Nate's play area while I was trying to get it cleaned up, and when I came back from doing something I'm pretty sure she was about a full 360 degrees from where I left her, so I'm wondering if she was able to roll twice - back to belly to back. We'll see what happens in the next couple of days.

The best "smile" I could get

Coos: She loves to coo and will sometimes coo back at us when we talk to her. I love it!
Nate: Well, he's still acting like a terrible two (30 more minutes!), but he is so sweet with her. He gives her lots of kisses and hugs and when we tell him to talk to her he always just says, "Hi, sister!" in this really high voice. It's funny. He still just calls her sister, not Amelia. He knows her name when people ask, but if he's talking about her he just calls her sister.
Work: It's been going pretty well the last few weeks, but didn't start that way. I went back to work on a Tuesday, got really sick that night and ended up being out the next two days! I felt awful. I also keep having appointments for various reasons so I feel like I'm never actually at work, luckily they are very understanding. Getting back into the swing of our regular schedule has been great, hopefully we can keep it up.