Healthy Kids

It's that time of year again!  We went to say "hello" to the doctor and make sure all was in order regarding our children's health and development. 

Sophie weighed in at 36 pounds and is 40.5 inches tall.  She is at the 50th percentile for her weight and the 65th percentile for her height.  She is healthy and happy. 

She was a champ about getting 4 vaccine shots.  The doctor and nurses were shocked about how well she quietly sat to receive her shots.  She only cried for a bit.  I think after a year, she simply did not remember how painful shots can be and that's why she didn't fight it.  Afterwards she kept asking why she had to get shots and telling me they hurt.  She did so good. 

She also passed her vision and hearing screenings and we got all the health forms filled out for preschool starting up at the end of August. 

Sophie is kooky, fun, and happy.  She is doing better with monitoring her own whining and pouting.  She bounces back pretty quickly.  She is doing great with learning to share with her brother and friends.  Sophie has become more of a cuddle bug in the past 6 months.  I'm glad she sits still long enough for me to love on her.  You never have to guess much about her because she will openly tell you what's on her mind.  We chuckle at how many nonsequiters occur in a single sentence at times.  She like trying things and participating.  One could say she lives out loud.

Some of my favorite things about her is when she says "That was really getting me frustrated!" or tell her brother, "Shoo away!"  At night we have the sweetest routine when being tucked in.  Kiss, then butterfly kisses, then nose rubs, then sniffs!  The fact that when she gets her afternoon movie, she falls asleep and naps during it about 50% of the time.  To Sophie, "ridiculous" is a swear word.  We don't know why but as soon as one of us says it, as in, "Let's exit, this traffic is getting ridiculous."--she is lightning fast with a "Don't say "ridiculous!  That's not nice."

Sophie can remember the smallest details from so long ago (i.e., we had our family vacation back in February and today she told me out of the blue, "When were at our vacation, the hotel had a swimming pool and when you looked out the window, I could see my church."  We went to the indoor pool twice and yes, when you looked out the windows on one side of the room, there was a little white church not far off.  Or when we are driving to the store,  she'll say so-and-so's house is that way and she is right!

Sophie sporting her cool swim goggles

Rhys is a big kid.  He weighed in at 33 pounds and measured 38 inches tall.  He is in the 90th percentile for his weight and the 98th percentile for his height.  The medical gods smiled upon Rhys and he did not have any scheduled immunizations this visit.  We did get a referral to an audiologist to have his hearing evaluated.  Although we do not suspect a hearing loss, we want to be sure given his speech delay.

Because of his speech delay, they screened for autism (which is present in Keri's family history) and Keri answered a long list of questions regarding his communication and social skills.  It was actually a very satisfying experience because there were no red flags and it was great to hear a long list of skills that he did have.  Especially with speech and play therapy, some previously lacking skills had been acquired.  It was a great way to celebrate our little guy's achievements.

Rhys has responded well to the additional help he is receiving in speech and play.  He is verbalizing consistently and is approximating more words, even hitting it on the head sometimes.  He now has all his long vowels although are not consistent yet.  He says some words spontaneously.  His new favorites seem to be "mine" and "uh oh." 

He is also working on understanding what we are saying.  He is doing better at following simple directions, identifying objects and pictures we label,   We are working on transitioning from one activity to another with more ease and using picture cues to help him.

He is feeding himself with a spoon and trying to manage an open cup,   He likes to point to indicate his choice, given 2-3 picture options.  When putting away the toys, he categorizes them into their correct places better than his sister.  He is newly showing interest in books and picks out several board books from our local library each trip. 

His play skills are increasing in that he now demonstrates appropriate play with dolls, doll house, cars, blocks, balls, books, kitchen and play food, as well as other toys.  When we first started therapy, he was usually just opening and closing things and placing items in and out.  So we are very pleased with his success. 

Cute things he does right now are watching the chorister during the hymns at church and waving his arm around to mimic her.  Running into the living room when he hears Mickey Mouse Clubhouse's "Hot Dog" song and dancing.  Rhys' love of songs and finger plays.  His excitement when daddy comes home--"Dada!" and running to meet him. 

We are very grateful that our children are healthy, happy, and developing beautifully.  They are a joy to behold.