Nathan's 4 year check up

After writing about Charlotte's 18 month appointment, I realized I never did Nathan's 4 year update! He was 42.2 lbs (90%) and 40.8 inches tall (75%). This appointment was one I was dreading because I knew he had to get 4 shots plus the flu shot. The more "aware" they are, the hard the shots are. Nathan normally loves going to the doctor so I didn't tell him he was going to get shots because he was so excited about the appointment which made me really sad for him. The first thing they did was take his blood pressure. The nurse was so sweet and said that the cuff she was going to put on him was to test his muscles. She said that if it got tight (which it does) that meant he had lots of muscles! As it pumped up, Nathan looked at me with these huge eyes and a big smile because he thought he was really strong. Then they tested his vision. This part was so funny to me! They had him look into this binocular type device where he could see lots of rows of pictures. The nurse told him to look at the bottom row and then call the row out in order. Well, Nathan was so amazed by the pictures, he kept saying, "Mommy, you've got to look at this!" The nurse would try to get him back on track, and he'd start to tell the first picture, then he'd say, "Hey, how did they get a cow in here?" Then he finally read off a row, but it was the wrong row. I was trying so hard not to laugh. So he ended up passing that one. Now it was on to the hearing test. Nathan put on some ear phones and the nurse told him he was going to hear some beeps. When he heard one, he was supposed to say "BEEP." Nathan was smiling the whole time as she put on the ear phones and then started the test. And he just kept smiling and smiling but never said "beep." The nurse asked him if he heard the beeps, and he said, "Oh yes, I heard lots of them!" We tried again, and he "beeped" and giggled along with it. Finally, we passed that one too!

So while we waited for the doctor, I told Nathan that he needed to not be shy and really talk to her (we ended up seeing Nurse Debbie, Dr. Guetersloh's nurse practitioner). Boy did he put on a show! I was so proud of him because he talked and talked and was so proud of all of the things he could do and show her. she asked him to say his ABC's and count and hop on one foot, and he loved it all. Then she asked him if he could spell his name. "Yes I can!" And I'm thinking, "You can?! I didn't know that!" So he says "N-A..." And I'm thinking, "Oh my goodness! He must have learned this at school! I'm so proud of him!" Then he stops after A and says, "What's the next letter Mommy?" And I say "T" and then he says "T...what's the next letter Mommy?" And we do this back and forth thing until he spells his whole name :) But he was proud of himself! So we ended up getting a good report, but now it's time for the shots. Luckily, he was old enough to get the flu mist where he sniffs it up his nose, but when he got the rest of his shots, my heart just broke for him. He cried so hard, but he did calm down finally after I told him we'd go to Berry Luscious for a yogurt. My little Nathan is such a sweet, sometimes mischievous boy, but he is my first baby and always will be. We love our little Nay Nay!

Charlotte is 18 months old

Charlotte went for her 18 month appointment on Wednesday and was such a good girl. She weighs 23 lbs, 11 oz (50%) and is 32.3 inches tall (75-80%) so maybe she'll end up being tall and skinny! I had to fill out a report card on her and answer all sorts of questions about what she's able to do. I remember doing this with Nathan! I answered yes to almost everything...does she like to climb, can she pick things up with two fingers, does she take you by the hand to show you something, does she point to what she wants, can she stack blocks on top of each other...Yes, Yes, Yes to everything! And then this question: Does she say at least 8 words not including Mama and Dada? Can I count Mommy and Daddy? Nope, it has to be 8 words besides any form of "mom" and "dad". So I had to answer no to that. She says Mama, Dada, Mommy, Daddy, up (which can mean the literal UP like she wants to get up, or it can mean CUP) Bah Bah which either means BOTTOM or ball, and that's about it. So she's a little behind on her words but I'm not worried about it and neither is the doctor since she understands everything we tell her. I can ask her to do just about anything and she knows what I'm talking about.

She is still very shy around people she doesn't know well. When Dr. Guetersloh was doing his exam, she was trying to be a big girl, but she kept looking at me and her little mouth was turning down like she was about to cry but was trying not to. At one point he picked her up and took her across the room to watch her walk. As soon as he put her down, she RAN to me with her arms straight out and said "Mommy." When I picked her up, she just laid her head down on me and patted me. So cute! Charlotte didn't get any major shots, but she did get the flu shot and a finger prick to test her iron. She cried just a little but then loved getting a band-aid. When we got home, I tried to take it off, but she didn't want me to. And when it came off in the bathtub, she led me to the pantry where we keep all of the band-aids and pointed to the box! She wanted a new one!

Here is our usual "serious" Charlotte

Little Miss Serious looking at her band-aid...and then I got her to actually smile for the camera! The next two pictures are of her smiling because I made her laugh and then the last one is her smiling all by herself because I asked her to.

 

Charlotte is just the sweetest thing ever! She is extremely loving and loves to cuddle. She is super sensitive so I have to be careful when I tell her no because her feelings get hurt VERY easily. She still loves her babies and loves to see real babies when we're out. She's even gotten to where she recognizes a baby carrier. Even if a blanket is covering it, she squeals and points if she sees one, or even a stroller because she knows there's a baby in it. Where Nathan loves to look at a toy catalog to see the toys, Charlotte loves to look at it to see babies! And she and her brother are so cute together. Nathan is normally really sweet with her and likes to play with her, but he can be naughty too. The other day I heard him telling her that Mama and Papa were at the front door. He said, "Little girl, guess who's outside? It's Mama and Papa!" And then he would laugh when she would run to the front door to see them! It was kind of sad but also funny. Nathan has also come to realize that Charlotte pretty much thinks I am only HER mommy. If I hold Nathan in front of her, she comes over and starts to cry or tries to pull Nathan's shirt to get him down. And Nathan thinks it's funny! There have been so many times that he wants me to hold him just because Charlotte is right there and he wants to see her reaction. Sometimes I'll say, "Now Nathan, don't TRY to make her upset." And he'll say, "Mommy, we have to teach her to share."

Nathan's School Picture

How cute is this little boy?! He is loving school and is learning so much. His favorite thing to do now is rhyme words. When he first showed us how he can rhyme anything, we realized that every word he rhymed was with an "m" word. I would say, "What rhymes with can?" And Nathan would say, "can...man" "What about star?" "star...mar!" It was so funny because some of the "m" words would work and be real words and then some were crazy words! At least he gets the idea, and he is so proud of himself!

Happy Halloween 2011!

Halloween is finally here! I cannot tell you how often Nathan asked me if it was time to trick or treat! Andrew has come over the last two years and was able to come again this year...I think we're making it a tradition which I love! Plus we added Nathan's friend, Jake...they are our neighbors across the alley. I could definitely tell a difference in this year vs. last year. Last year, the kids were happy just going up and down our street. This year, they wanted to go all over the neighborhood! I know I had to burn a ton of calories! And the great thing about going trick or treating in our neighborhood was that when we went by Jake's house, his dad Mike, ran to his garage and got us a few adult beverages for the rest of the night! We had kids, beer, and candy! Jake was Spider Man and Andrew was Buzz Lightyear. We also had our Transformer and Ladybug with us.

After Nathan, Jake, and Andrew showed Charlotte how to trick or treat, she finally got the idea...kind of. Charlotte's idea of trick or treating was to go to the houses and hand THEM one of her pieces of candy. So sweet.

Nathan's Halloween pail

And here is my Halloween pail :)

After going all through the neighborhood, we headed back to our house where the boys dumped their candy and had a ball going through it all. Charlotte and Jake's baby sister, Skylar played and hugged and kissed all night. They were so sweet together.

We had so much candy that I thought it was going to last forever. WRONG! Wayne and I have no willpower when it comes to chocolate so that was the first to go. And Nathan loves the Tootsie Rolls. So between the 4 of us, our stash is quickly dwindling and making its way to Mommy's thighs :)

Neighborhood "Fall Festival"

On the Saturday before Halloween, our neighborhood hosted a "Fall Festival." Normally, they have this party the evening of Halloween and then everyone goes trick or treating afterwards. But this year was different. It was funny to me because when they first started advertising it, they really emphasized that it was a "Fall Festival" not a "Halloween" party, and they encouraged everyone to dress up in costumes that go along with that theme, not Halloween costumes...It sounded like they were trying to be politically correct yet some suggestions for costumes were: farmers, pilgrims, INDIANS (don't we say Native Americans now?) and AMISH! What do Amish people have to do with Fall or even Thanksgiving? As the "Festival" got closer, the fliers changed their wording and said "Feel free to preview your Halloween costume." So Nathan and Charlotte got dressed up again in their costumes and we went to the "Fall Festival" where every other person was dressed up in costumes too! I don't think I saw one farmer, pilgrim, Indian, or Amish person!

It really was so much fun. There was a pony ride, petting zoo (which Nathan and Charlotte LOVED...I think we spend 45 minutes in that one place!) two bounce houses, face painting, caricature drawings, a hay ride, fire truck, ambulance, and police cars, and a snack stand! There is also a small playground in the cul-de-sac that Nathan and Charlotte played on. Oh and when you see the picture of the two of them eating popcorn, it isn't popcorn that I bought. While we were waiting for the artist to finish Nathan's picture, Charlotte apparently saw a man eating popcorn and went up to him and tried to get some. He was really nice and asked me if she could have a few pieces. I said "Sure, that's so nice." And as he lowered the bag for her to get a piece, Nathan stuck his whole hand in and helped himself! I was a tad bit embarrassed, but the guy just laughed and gave them the sack...we're still working on manners :)