3 years old check up!

Age 1

 

 Age 2

Age 3

 

My how my baby has grown in 3 years! :'(

 



His 3 year old appointment was the same day as Greyson's 15 month appointment.
March 30, 2016
Weight: 39 lb. 6 oz (above the 95th percentile)
Height: 3' 4" (41.3 in) (way above the 95th percentile)
And they don't check head circumference anymore I guess.

His stats from a year ago in case you were curious, I know I was.

His 2 year old doctors appointment was on March 6, 2015

Weight: 32 lb. 9 oz (gained about 3.7 lb. since his 18 months old checkup)

Height: 3' (36 in)

Head Circumference: 20 in

His weight stayed in the 90-95th percentile.

His length increased from the 75th percentile to 90th.

Head circumference went from the 95-98th percentile to the 90-95th.

 

Braxton's appointment went pretty well. He is much better at going to the doctors now that he hasn't gotten shots for awhile. Sounds like no more shots until he turns 5, yay!

 

The doctor said Braxton's doing great and said that his height is off the charts. He told us that he is about as tall as a 4 1/2 year old. Daddy was quite proud of that. My concern for Braxton was his eating because he is a very picky eater and I worry about his blood sugar getting to low by us not letting him eat other than what we are eating for meals. But the doctor said that his weight wasn't concerning and that Braxton wouldn't starve himself and that he will eat if he's hungry. I hope he's right. His BMI (Body Mass Index) was a little bit lower from his last appointment 16.23 compared to 17.66. The doctor isn't too concerned about it though. He said if he looked malnourished and if his weight was really low and off the charts then he would be concerned but he's not because it is above the 95th percentile and he looks healthy. So I guess that's a good thing and I shouldn't be concerned. I was concerned about his blood sugars being too low with him not eating lunch or dinner some times but he once again said he's okay and that he won't let himself starve. I guess I just gotta keep working at it. I think I need to do less snacks too. I think he snacks a lot. They aren't bad snacks but just things like goldfish, yogurt etc. but maybe I just need to do smaller portions for his snacks.

 

Braxton also had an eye test done where he looked inside a machine for a quick second for them to scan his eyes. They said that his eye sight was spot on, obviously an eye doctor would be better judgment of that but for the little eye tester they have to use, he passed as far as how the eyes looked in shape symmetrical etc. His hearing on the other hand ... well ... he screamed bloody murder and wouldn't wear the headphones. I told him we had issues with getting his hearing checked for preschool and it took days of me practicing and putting my headphones in his ears so he can get use to the feel of having something in his ears and even than the audiologist was only able to get the basic test done which was that he can hear, we just don't know how well. I hope someday to get a better test done.

 

His ears looked good, no ear infection. I was worried about him having one due to the runny noses the boys had the week before but they looked great. The tubes are still in his ears but are clogged. He agreed that the tubes are pretty much pointless now which I kind of assumed that when I was talking to the ear specialist back in December. But oh well, it's in the past, nothing I can do about it now. As long as he doesn't get any more ear infections I'm ok with them being there and clogged I guess.

 

Overall Braxton is doing well. His favorite food is cake or candy. I promise I don't give him this stuff all the time but when he does get it, he is as happy as can be. What kid wouldn't be right ;) If I were to say a more healthy food to be his favorite, I would say any breakfast foods. He always eats breakfast so well and isn't too picky about what he has for breakfast. Maybe he eats breakfast so well since he doesn't do dinner and lunch sometimes, haha.

 

He still loves books and learning. He knows all the letters of the alphabet. Doesn't know the sounds but if you point to a letter he knows what it is. He can count to 10 and loves to do that. He's getting better with colors and I think he knows them all but just not as sure about the colors as he is with his letters and numbers. He loves bubbles and loves to help mommy bake or cook meals. He loves to run as well and he is so fast. Sometimes I can't catch him which worries me but I'm working on telling him when and where he can and can't run.

 

He LOVES being outside, definitely gets that from his Daddy. The sun hurts my eyes so I'm not a big fan of going outside but he loves it and Maximus gives him great company every time he goes out. He loves that dog.

 

Braxton doesn't nap at all anymore. If he falls asleep on his own before 1 p.m. I let him get a little nap but other than that I don't enforce naps anymore. I realized when he was getting naps it was so hard to put him to bed. He wouldn't fall asleep till like 9 or 10 at night so now his bedtime is at 7pm but he certainly is an early riser. No matter what time I put him to bed he's always up at 5:30 a.m. We do our best to keep him in his room till 7 a.m. but that doesn't always happen. I don't have to worry about setting an alarm since my son is a great alarm clock.

 

His favorite movies ... well he has a few. He likes just about anything. He still likes Signing Time, in fact I have them to thank as to why he knows his letters so well. But he loves "Home", "Finding Nemo", "Aladdin", "Big Hero 6" and recently was just shown, "The Land Before Time" and likes that as well now. He still loves "Little Einstein's" a TV show that almost drives me crazy cause we've seen it enough now to do that. He'll watch just about anything though. His movie time happens during Greyson's naps during the day just because Greyson is such a light sleeper.

 

His speech still isn't the best. He's getting better and since he qualifies for assistance through the school district he actually started Pre-school just a month ago, right after he turned 3. He goes twice a week for 2 1/2 hours. He seems to really like it. The bus was a bit tricky the first couple times riding it but he loves the bus now. I also feel pretty good about the bus too. I first worried about something happening to him while riding the bus but due to him being so little, the teachers walk up to the bus to pick them up and walk the kids back to the bus when heading home. The bus also comes straight to our house so we don't have to walk a few blocks down the street. It really is a wonderful system and I'm so grateful for the bus especially since I have Greyson and a new baby on the way. When he gets older and they aren't so safe about getting on and off of the bus, I probably won't do the bus anymore, but for now, he gets to ride the bus, which works because he indeed loves it.

 

Preschool is going pretty well, he's been going for almost 2 months now. He always says "fun" when he gets off the bus. I'm sure it's because I asked him the first couple of days if he had fun at school and now he just say's "fun" every time he comes home. So that's a good sign. I asked the teacher how he was doing and she was pretty vague and said he's doing well but just has a hard time stopping and starting a new classroom project or rotation. She did say though that every three year old is that way. I plan to work on that a bit at home to help him stay focused on just one item. I think his speech is getting better, he and I can communicate and that's all that matters. I'm pretty good at figuring out what he says or what he wants. I hope that he'll just catch on and start talking up a storm to where it annoys me I guess lol.

 

Braxton riding the bus home from his first day of school. I drove him to school for his first day so I could meet the teacher and the speech therapist and kind of see how their system works. That's how I learned how safe the bus system really is. Braxton rode the bus home. The said he didn't want to get on the bus at first and was scared ... but he loves it now!

 

He looked so grown up coming off of the bus! So sad! :(

His first of many art projects he'll be bringing home from school!

Braxton is such a happy kid and has the most gorgeous smile. I'm sure I'm just biased because I'm his mother and I love him so much but I do think he does have such a cute smile. The bus drivers assistant, (the older lady in the picture) said to me today, "We just love him, is he always this happy?" Because Braxton just smiles all the time. I remember getting asked that same question growing up by some of my middle school teachers or my coworkers because I smiled a lot, "Why do you smile all the time?" I don't really know why I did, I guess I just find the tiniest  things in life to be funny to me. Don't know why I smile but I just do. One of my teachers gave me the nickname "smiley". I think Braxton and I are quite similar. We laugh and have so much fun together. We laugh and find the craziest little things so funny when in reality, they probably aren't funny at all. We like to have fun, I guess is a way you can put it. Sometimes I picture my husband looking at the two of us when we are in our moments of laughter wondering what the heck we think is so funny and I'm sure he's thinking that we are just simply crazy. But I do love my baby Braxton. I hope we continue to have these tiny moments of laughter as he continues to grow up.

9, 12, and 15 month appointment.

I know, I'm quite a bit behind but I might as well keep my journal up to date.

9 Months Old in this picture

Braxton joining us at the doctors office for Greyson's 9 month checkup.

Here are his measurements starting from past to now:

Previous measurements:
June 9, 2015 (6 month appointment):
Weight: 16 lb. 0.5 oz. (10th-25th percentile)
Height: 2' 1" (24.8 in) (below the 2nd percentile)
Head circumference: 16.92" (43 cm) (25th-50th percentile)

September 8, 2015 (9 month appointment):
Weight: 18 lb. 10 oz. (25th-50th percentile)
Height: 2' 3" (27.5 in) (10th-25th percentile)
Head circumference: 17.83" (45.3 cm) (50th percentile)

December 11, 2015 (12 month appointment):
Weight: 20 lb. 2.5 oz. (25th-50th percentile)
Height: 2' 5" (29 in) (10th-25th percentile)
Head circumference: 18.23" (46.3 cm) (just a little bit below the 50th percentile)

March 30, 2016 (15 month appointment):
Weight: 22 lb. 8 oz. (stayed in the 25th-50th percentile)
Height: 2' 8" (32 in) (is now in the 50th-75th percentile, almost on the line of the 75th)
Head Circumference: 18.62" (47.3 cm) (50th-75th percentile)

Notes from his 9 month appointment back in September:
All the measurements have increased in percentage since the last checkup, so that was exciting to hear that he's growing well.
He got no immunization shots for today but he did get a flu shot. Poor kiddo, I had high hopes that he wouldn't get any shots at this visit but I totally forgot about it being flu season.

Everything went well for the most part with his appointment. He just recently started physical therapy due to his possible leg contractures. It's slow going but going well for the most part. It took us a while to get into an appointment with primary children's so by the time we did, I learned that the school system is way cheaper and could offer physical therapy with a charge based off of our income.  With Jackson working for UPS at that time, our income definitely wasn't the greatest so we decided to go that route which than again took some time to start it up.  He's probably been in it for about a week and its going okay, just slow going. Greyson still doesn't crawl, he sits up but still falls over. He can hold himself up for a little bit but not very well. He is getting better at liking tummy time but it's a work in progress.

And as stated  before, he still doesn't like baby food ... or in other words, he doesn't like eating at all. He likes bottles but that is about it. The doctor said to try table food instead of baby food to see if that helps at all. So we will be trying that as soon as we can and see how it goes. His issue is he doesn't chew but maybe if I cut it up into small pieces maybe he'd be fine.

He's been sleeping in his crib since his 6 month appointment and it continues to go well as far as being able to sleep in the crib. He still takes about two naps a day and wakes up once or twice a night for feeding. The night feeding is by far annoying but he's worth the loss of sleep. :)

He likes toys that makes a lot of noise and he too likes "signing time". He still laughs and smiles at anyone and everything.

Having him sit on that dog like that is a huge accomplishment for him. Holding himself up is a lot of work. And as far as the picture on the right goes, that's how he looks for the most part. He hardly ever stands on all fours. Just in need of lots of therapy.

 

Notes from his 12 month appointment back in December:

 

A picture of him at 12 months.

 

Well he continues to grow as any baby would. He got his one year shots today.

 

Immunizations: Prevnar, MMR, Varicella, and Hepatitis A

 

Physical therapy has really helped and he has made a lot of progress! He started crawling, or at least really crawling well around the end of November. That was an exciting day for us since he wasn't doing very much of anything on the floor at his 9 month appt. In fact I think he's happier that he can now crawl to wherever he wants to go. I almost think he would crawl and explore more places than Braxton ever would. He loves to go into Braxton's room and play in there whenever he can.

 

As far as the eating goes, well it sucks lol. He just doesn't like food and couldn't care less for it. He surprisingly doesn't cry for food after long hours of not eating. There's times I think he would be starving but he doesn't seem to care. I still have a small hope that it gets better sooner rather than later. He still doesn't chew his food that well and not sure how you teach a kid to chew so it's a work in progress. I just smash up his food quite a bit and it seems to help.

 

He loves his brother and loves to try to keep up with him and play with him as much as possible. He pulls himself up to a standing position occasionally but prefers crawling by far. He makes the funniest faces, almost has a different face for everything. So many different expressions.

 

He still takes two naps a day. Sleep is going much better now that we have a routine going on. He will take a bottle before bedtime and wake up once in the night for one bottle now instead of two. I'm hoping to eventually feed him enough food before bedtime so that way the one bottle before bed will hold him off for the night. We'll see how it goes.

 

In December he also saw his hip doctor for a yearly check up. The doctor wants to see him once a year now so he was due for a check up. It went well and everything looked well. I don't remember everything that he said due to this being so long ago for me to blog about but there was no concerns and everything in the x-ray looked fine. I asked why it was crooked like that and he said it was just the way the x-ray was taken which I thought when I was holding Greyson on the x-ray board that he didn't look as straight as he could be on the board but the tech said he was fine. I guess as long as the doctor said he could see everything he needed to and that it looked fine to him, that's all I need to worry about. The doctor did say that when he can stand they are able to get an x-ray of  him standing then the joints will show better in socket as well.

 

 

Notes from his 15 month appointment:

 

 

Immunizations: DTaP and Hib

 

His appointment went well, still not walking but will stand and pull himself up everywhere with assistance. He really likes to walk along items like the couch or chairs etc and with our assistance but will never do it on his own. In fact after we walk around the room with him for 5 minutes or so and  decide to stop walking with him and let go of his hand he'll just cry and cry. That's a movement in the right direction though, the fact that he likes to walk with assistance is wonderful because before he used to not like trying to walk at all. One day I finally forced him to walk with me for like 15 minutes straight and he grew to love it and now wants to walk whenever Jackson and I can help him do so. He is still in physical therapy. He recently had an eval that said he's physically in the range of a 12 month old now, not too bad, still progress, better than where he was at 6 months. He also qualifies for speech now, just because he is more quiet and hardly jabbers. Not sure how they can test and figure all that out but the test they did in his eval said he qualified so I'm quite happy to be working with the same speech therapist that worked with Braxton before he turned 3.

 

The doctor said everything looked great with him. I was worried about his respiratory system due to being on a vent for so long as a baby and he seems to be huffing and puffing at times when he is walking but the doctor listened to his lungs and in his overall assessment didn't think anything looked wrong with him as far as possible COPD or asthma etc. I guess it's just more so my nervous nurse side of me stepping in.

 

Everything else checked out well too. His ears looked great with no ear infections. Fingers crossed it can stay that way.

 

His eating is getting better and he is happy about it as long as he is feeding himself, or attempting to feed himself. He still needs help to eat but he's definitely the type that doesn't want help and would rather feed himself. Feeding him can still be a struggle but at least he'll eat. Braxton is the one that is more of a picky eater now. Greyson will try most foods and like it. Braxton on the other hand rarely tries anything new out of his comfort zone. Greyson is not doing baby food anymore and definitely prefers to eat what we eat. He is still figuring out how to chew but for the most part he just sucks on it for awhile and than swallows.  No more bottles, yay! Just does sippy cups for now. The doctor said we can attempt regular cups but dunno if I want to yet lol. I'm sure I will soon as it will be easier to just give him a cup anywhere we go rather than bring his sippy cup with us. His favorite food I would say is anything considered to be finger foods, anything he can feed himself. He is exploring the use of utensils now and will use a fork anytime I let him. He really likes green beans and fruit.

 

Greyson loves to crawl and he's fast at it. We have found him at the top of the stairs three times now, thank heavens he has never fell down them. We need to work on going down stairs with him more but he's pretty good and quick at going up them now. We turn our back and he's already up the top of them. What a stinker!

 

He doesn't talk or say much, not even baby jabber or signing. My goal is to watch more signing time videos with him, especially while Braxton is at school. He does grunt when he wants to, every now and than he'll do a little bit of jabber but other than that, he's kind of shy and plays the shy look. His therapists were over today and he would just cuddle into me smiling but playing shy.

 

He sleeps really good now, about 12 hours a night! No bottle beforehand or during the night, yay! It's been that way for about two months now. Once in a while I have to put the pacifier in his mouth in the middle of the night but he does pretty good for the most part. I have high hopes that I can get rid of the pacifier by summer. He's not much of a morning person and if he gets woken up too early he can not be so pleasant. He has slept in clear till 9 once if I can keep Braxton quiet.

 

Greyson loves his brother Braxton and finds him to be so funny. He'll sometimes follow Braxton around the house whenever he leaves the room. Greyson loves playing in Braxton's room. He loves bubbles and balloons. He's not a huge fan of Max yet, I just don't think he likes to be licked like Braxton likes to be. But I have found Greyson climbing over Maximus once in a while. Maximus is so good to let him do that too. He is such a great dog with kids.

 

When trying to think of things he likes, I can't think of much other than exploring. He loves the kitchen and loves to play under the kitchen table. I think he thinks of it as his perfect, just made for him, jungle gym. As far as exploring, he'll crawl all over the place. In fact Jackson and I think he has crawled to visit more places than Braxton ever cared to go see. He loves his brother and will try and play with him at times. Another thing I have found him doing is grabbing some of the toy cars and pushing it around the kitchen floor. I've seen him do that quite a bit lately and he'll do it for long periods of times too.  He loves to put anything and everything in his mouth. He's definitely teething and starting to get molars in his mouth. He has about 9 teeth in his mouth now. Greyson loves to smile at anyone and everyone. He's a happy baby for the most part but he definitely has his own personality. That's one of the things that make me love him so much is he has quite the personality that it just cracks me up. We love our happy growing baby boy!

 

His jungle gym/our kitchen table!

Easter

Happy Easter! I work practically every weekend, so once again, we celebrated Easter more so on a different day of the week when it was convenient for Jackson and I to both be home. We went to an Easter egg hunt and bought a bag of jelly beans to fill up some Easter eggs to hide around the house. Than luckily we had an Easter egg coloring kit and some old Easter stuff bought from last year that we could use for this year to save us money. The boys are so little and don't really care at this age anyway. It still was fun for the little celebrating we did.

First was the Easter Egg hunt. It's just a nice little community one up the street, plenty of stuff for the kids and it's not announced to the general public so that way it's not packed with kids. I'm sure most Easter egg hunts around here that are publicly announced get packed with kids and then the kids only get like one or two eggs. This one that we go to is not really an "Egg" hunt because they don't fill eggs, they just throw out lots of candy and little toys on the field for the kids, which I'm totally game with that ... we don't need the plastic eggs. I'm just grateful for those who do all the work to put it on every year for the kids!

Gotta love Utah weather, it snowed the morning of and it was freezing! Hence why we are all bundled up!

The wonderful people that put this on every year!

This could be the most difficult hunt looking for things in the snow! lol

My boys!

 Braxton is still pretty scared of large characters so I'm surprised I could convince him to go up to the Easter bunny to say hi. He wouldn't stand by him and pose for a picture though, that's for sure. :)

He did do a high five though.

A little Easter Egg hunt in our living room.

A basket for the boys to share.

Time to color eggs!

Greyson wanted in on the fun so we gave him a measuring cup lol.

Decided to try to give him an egg to hold, the egg does say his name on it. :)

Decided to decorate them even more with stickers. Braxton likes stickers. :)

We had a bag of Easter eggs that teaches us more about Easter and Jesus Christ. I tried to show Braxton those eggs but he still doesn't quite understand, hoping to incorporate our Savior more into Easter as they grow older. I had them wear matching Sunday clothes for Easter but they were so fussy that day that a picture of them dressed in Sunday best never worked out. I'll take what I can get I guess. So grateful for our Savior and all that he has done for us!