Our Morning Captured in a Picture
We had Gus's two year appointment today. I was quite eager to talk to the pediatrician (Dr. Bear) about his speech and language development, and just to get more info on how he's doing.
We waited in the lobby for maybe five minutes and this is what Gus looked like while we waited. FUN. And we had not even gone back yet.
Now, you'd think that his reaction is from associating getting shots (pain) and the doctor, but he hasn't had a vaccine since his appointment in November, and he was just in last month to see Dr. Bear. So I don't know what caused the crying, but he was not a happy boy as we waited to go in.
Once inside, he cried as I undressed him. He cried while the nurse tried to weigh him. In fact, she tried to get me to hold him and weigh myself and then weigh myself without him. I passed on that... no thanks!!
In the end, he was able to get on the scale and he weighed in at 29 pounds. This puts him at the 63rd percentile. His height is now 36 inches (THREE FEET TALL!!!!) and that's the 87th percentile. Lastly, his sweet little head is 18.9 inches, which is the 32nd percentile.
Here are some pictures while we waited for Dr. Bear to come into the room.
Today we discussed Gus's eating, she said he's exactly where she wants him to be with his weight. Not too big and not too small and she said to keep up the great work on that. That's a HUGE relief actually.
Then we talked about his behavior and she said that the "terrible twos" are caused by their brains working quicker than their mouths and their not able to speak their thoughts, so it causes a lot of emotion and stress and frustration. She said the baby sign is helpful and obviously it helps Gus get his needs met.
I told her I was worried about his language development, so she recommended we get his speech and hearing evaluated to be on the safe side. She said she's 99% sure he's okay, but it's better to find out and be 100% sure than to risk not catching something sooner. He has fallen a few times (could it be balance or just being a toddler??) and hates a lot of loud noises (he can obviously hear... but is there something else causing this??).
I called the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and made appointments for a hearing evaluation (it's an hour long) for June 7th and then he'll go for a speech evaluation on June 20th. The speech eval is two hours long!!
Then we talked about vaccines. I'm so glad that we did, because now the info that I have and the info that they have is aligned. We're moving to a catch-up schedule with Gus and I'm totally fine with that. He'll go back in November for an appointment with the nurse to get his Flu shot and another round of catch-up vaccines. Then when he goes in for his three year appointment, he'll be caught up. :-)
Today they drew blood from his finger (every year they do a Hemoglobin check) and then he had the Pediarix (a combo of DTaP/IPV(Polio)/HepB) and then the Hib (meningitis).
I just got a new train app the other day and I'm SO GLAD I have it. It's just video clips of trains but Gus was sucked into it. He watched while the nurse pricked his finger and drew blood and while he didn't like the blood draw (who does???) he wasn't screaming as I expected.
She was fully expecting him to fight her on the vaccines, but he was watching the train videos and was fine. He cried a little (maybe ten seconds at the most) and then was okay. It was incredible. He cried and cried when he was being weighed and they got his head size and height... but nothing for the real pain.
So we left the doctor's office and headed to Costco so I could get some cat food, tp, ground beef, and snacks. We left and went across the street to Wal-Mart and I picked up a few things as well and we headed home.
While I was at Wal-Mart, Dr. Bear had called and left me a VM. Gus's blood work was back and she wanted to talk to me about the findings and wants him to come back in three weeks to check it again. She said I could call her and talk to her, or just call for an appointment. Hmmmm.
I called her as soon as I was home and waited on hold for about ten minutes. They said she'd have to call back because she was with a patient. Fortunately, her nurse (that did the vaccines) called me and said that Gus's white blood cell count was low. They don't know what's the cause. It could be anemia, could be Leukemia, could be nothing. The protocol is to go in again and have it done and if there's STILL an issue, we go see a blood doctor for more work.
I'm trying to stay positive, but it's still pretty scary. I just pray that he's okay and healthy. I literally do not know what I'd do if there was something seriously wrong with him. :-(
After we got home and I unpacked the groceries and Costco goodies, Gus took his nap and I talked to my mom on Facetime. We talked for a while and then I hung up and started to attempt to clean the house a bit. It's a disaster.
Gus got up from his nap and we called my mom back so she could see him. We're excited to see her in two days!! WHOO HOOO!!! It's been nine months since I last saw Scott, Christie and the kids and it's been four months since I last saw my mom and dad! It's a long-overdue trip!!
It was like 5:30 and I wasn't sure what I was making for dinner yet. I decided to call Christie and get her enchalada recipe, but I got her voice mail. I decided that by the time she called back and I got started with dinner, I could have been at Taco Thursday and home already. :-) So Gus and I headed out for a date night.
We had a great dinner together. We played trains, cars, and drew together. He seemed to really enjoy himself. He ate well and it was a very enjoyable experience!
Nosey Walker
Choo Choo!!
My date
We headed home and shared a strawberry milkshake. :-) It started to really rain so we went to the front door and watched the rain. It was a perfect ending to a stressful day.
We are more than ready for daddy to get home tomorrow afternoon. It's just not the same when he's gone, and hopefully he won't be traveling away from us for a long time.
