Gumballs and Shots

Today we went to the pediatrician for Spencer's 18m check up. He's doing well but still short. Sorry kid, that's my fault. That's what you get for having a mom who's only 4'11". (I'd hoped his father's 6'2" genes would have been stronger!) We'll have to watch though, he dropped from the 10th percentile to the 3rd. Growing up, most of the kids in my family weren't even on the chart but we kept growing on a normal growth curve so we were considered healthy. As long as that's what Spencer continues to do, all is fine. His milk problems? Well, I think this was the first time the doctor really listened. He was surprised that just a small handful of chocolate chips gave him bad diapers. I've already been using rice milk for cooking and kept him on formula so now the doctor also wants me to switch him to lactose free formula. We'll try that out and see how he does this week.

I went ahead and had all of the children get flu shots. I tried to explain to them how it would feel so they wouldn't be shocked. That didn't help much. Evelyn was so startled at the needle poking her she jerked her arm away and began crying. She would be a drama queen if we'd allow it! I was shocked the nurse actually got the medicine in! Thankfully she didn't have to do it again. Evelyn's reaction freaked Oliver out. He's never had problems with the shots before . This time it was a struggle just to get him sitting down and I had to hold both his legs and arms down. The nurse suggested we put it in his leg rather than arm, as its a little easier to keep them still that way. Once it happened he looked at me a little surprised, kind of like "That was it?" The only problem with doing it in his leg was he dropped his pants in the waiting room to show everyone how brave he was. Spencer, well he had three shots and didn't even fuss until the tetanus shot, which really does hurt. He was the bravest or them all (or most unaware of what was going on).

All of the kids were really well behaved. The doctor just kept laughing at Spencer because he was really involved with the other children, climbing, talking, writing on himself, and getting into stuff. The doctor came back into the room to hand me the formula samples and said to Spencer, "Just look at yourself!" In the few minutes he been gone, Spencer had covered his bare legs and belly with purple ballpoint pen ink. So Spencer bent over and really checked out his drawings. The doctors had a good chuckle at how well he had not only understood but responded. Through the whole appointment our doctor kept saying what a character Spencer was. It was unusually fun for being at the doctor's office with three young children.

Our doctor gives each child a penny to get a piece of bubble gum out of the candy machine after each appointment. The kids always want to go to the doctor's because of that gum ball machine. They had their gum right after their shots. On our drive home Oliver announced to me that he and Evelyn had traded gum balls. I thought hmmm...that announcement seems a little late. Sure enough they hadn't traded gumballs but already chewed gum! Oh well it could be worse and I'm glad they're willing to share, kind of.