Together

It’s been really nice to spend more time with my kids recently. With finals over, I haven’t had any deadlines to meet or assignments to finish or textbooks to read. And I decided to just let the house be for a few more days (it’s suffered greatly this semester).

The Bwun is talking and talking and talking almost nonstop. He’s also being bossy almost nonstop. We are working hard to put a stop to this. For some reason he’s gotten it into his head that he wants to be the one who feeds jr. Um, she’s just been nursing…so it’s a bit amusing that the Bwun would like to be in charge. When I sit down to feed her he’ll come over and say, “Jr! No eating!” (See? Bossy.) Other times he’ll boss me around: “No! Stop feeding jr!” Usually I address his bossiness by making him repeat the order as a request, and a fair amount of the time, I then deny his request. With something like feeding jr, I think that’s reasonable, right?

At the moment the Bwun’s favorite things are Grandpa, construction machinery, tools, cooking, “helping” me wash dishes, and anything involving the stroller.

Jr is six months old (!) and so close to crawling. She’s a pro at getting up on all fours and often ends up on her tiptoes, bottom in the air. For the past few days she’s been scooting around but just can’t figure out that she needs to move her hands instead of just her legs to crawl. Her hair is getting lighter – and a tiny bit red? Her eyes are dark green, just like the Bwun’s were at this stage. We’ll see if they stay green or turn brown.

By far jr’s favorite things are the Bwun and the Bwun’s toys.

I think this summer we’ll get one of those little inflatable pools and spend time out in the front yard under the tree. A neighbor had one last year and the Bwun really enjoyed splashing in it. Other plans this summer: a trip to Lake Tahoe for a family reunion, and maybe a visit to my parents’ house too. Most of all I’m looking forward to spending more time with my cute kids.

Doctor's office

Both the Bwun and jr had checkups today, for being 2 years and 4 months, respectively. I talked to the Bwun for a few days about going to see the doctor to “get numbers” (be weighed and measured), have vaccines to not get sick, and get a sticker. I told him jr would get her numbers too, but I’m not sure he really cared about that.

We haven’t been to the doctor’s office in a while. The Bwun loved seeing the fish in the aquarium out front, and liked playing with other kids. (I love that this office has completely separate rooms, divided by the giant aquarium, for sick and well kids.) He stood on the scale just fine. But as soon as we stepped into the actual exam room, he took one look at the nurse and started bawling. Apparently he DID remember our last visit.

So, we got to hold him down to be measured and have his eyes, ears, and breathing checked. The doctor tested his reflexes and confirmed what we already knew: the Bwun is strong. Oh yes. Quite so. When the doctor asked us if the Bwun uses two-word sentences, we almost laughed. The Bwun was counting to 10 on the drive to the office and he usually uses 4-6 words together. Not surprising, considering he’s our kid, and we’re both brilliant people, right?

Luckily the Bwun is up-to-date on his immunizations and didn’t need to get any shots. I brought the Romgi with me so I didn’t have to manage two kids who’d just been stabbed with needles, but fortunately only jr was subjected to shots today.

She’s growing well. Sure, she’s tiny, but the doctor said her strength is about what he’d expect for a 6-month-old. Strong again! I love our kids.

Here are the official statistics:

The Bwun

weight: 25 lbs (16th percentile)
height: 33 in (16th percentile)
head circumference: 18.75 in (23rd percentile)

jr
weight: 11.5 lbs (7th percentile)
height: 24.25 in (42nd percentile)
head circumference: 15.25 in (2nd percentile)

Yeah…jr is getting tall. The Bwun did the same thing – in the first few months he grew several inches, and then stayed the same length for a while. I want to say two things about jr. First, since her checkup at 4 days old – when she measured 18.25 in – she’s grown a whopping 6 inches! Also, her head is kind of minuscule. She barely fits into most headbands we have.