Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The scoop on the Two-Year-Olds

The boys turned two early February.  We had to push their 2 year Doctor visit back almost 2 months because they were that far behind with their last vaccine.  When they were supposed to get their last vaccine, they were sick so we had to push that back, hence the late appointment, now.

Most importantly, I'm happy to have two healthy boys!  Here's an update probably mostly for family members who want the scoop:

- Carter is in the 90th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight.  He is 36 inches tall and 29 pounds.
- Nolan is in the 40th percentile for height and 20th percentile for weight.  He is 34 inches tall and 25 pounds.

IS THAT NOT CRAZY HOW DIFFERENT THEY ARE?

The visit went great, no one has any illnesses and my boys have managed to only have a few colds during the winter season. I sure hope we can keep the colds to a minimum still!

Carter was showing off how well he kept his cool while doc listened to his breath, checked ears, nose, eyes, etc.  But once he had to lay down for a belly check, he lost his cool completely!  Boy was MAD!

Nolan practically did the same thing.  He kept saying "dada wook" while doc did the checks.  Another show off turned angry-don't-touch-me boy.

We did have a couple concerns for the doc: 

Nolan's eyes.  I always worried about his eyes as an infant and have somewhat continued to do so.  Lazy eye maybe?  Doc said she sees NOTHING of concern. Okay I'll drop it!

Nolan's speech.  While Carter can have full on conversations with us, Nolan continues to be very difficult to understand and often doesn't make a big effort to use words or when he tries, he gets frustrated that we don't understand.  Perhaps Nolan isn't that far behind but with Carter being so far ahead, the difference makes it stand out more to us.  

Nolan truly understands EVERYTHING we say so I don't believe hearing is the issue.  Maybe he just got used to Carter asking for stuff and naturally we gave the stuff to Nolan, too.  He is much more quiet than Carter, too so maybe we just don't always hear him.  That makes my heart sad. But we are also concerned that he never uses the "H, S, or F" sounds.  "L" and "R" are not there either but I understand those can take a  while to be learned. 

For example, "Hot, hot, hot!" is a common phrase which Nolan states as "Ot, ot, ot!"  

Brad thinks he has less than 50 understandable words.  That was enough for doc to suggest we have him evaluated by a speech therapist.  They will evaluate him in some way to see if they think it is necessary to have therapy at all.  I figure we must do it!   Perhaps he is completely fine and they won't suggest therapy.  Some kids just talk later and that's fine.  But just in case there is an issue, I can't imagine having stood by and done nothing when I could have helped. So we've got to go for it!

Back to the appointment. Can you believe I left Brad with the boys right before their shots?!? Am I a terrible mother?  I had to go to make it to first period class on time (I was 2 minutes late).  Sometimes we get through the appointment in time. Sometimes we don't.  I snuck out to try and avoid a meltdown and heard Carter saying, "Where momma go?" as I walked down the hall. Brad later told me Nolan cried when he realized I was gone.  I should have said goodbye. Blahh!!  They received their shots in the leg simultaneously. Brad picked up a kid and the nurse handed him the other and he sat there while they cried on his shoulders for a bit.  Eventually he took them out of the room to check out and get a lolly pop.  Yes, I made Brad describe every detail of the ordeal. I could hardly stand it.

What an amazing dad.  Carter and Nolan are so lucky.  I'm so lucky. 

So there's the scoop...Oh but there is so much more outside of the little doctor visit.  I have so many fun things to share about these boys' personalities.  This is one of many reasons I love the blog....with lots of family and friends so far from us I'm desperate for them to know my kids better so I'll just have to describe them.....and get more videos.

Thanks for reading!

and a photo, just because...

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

time to buy a bow tie!

Okay you guys.  I seriously have some kind of obsession with making these toddler bow ties.  I really enjoy making them and forcing my poor little boys to wear them. So I bought some new material and created several more.  A couple people have asked to buy a bow tie from me for their child for Easter. So I figured why not put them out there to see if anyone else wants to buy! 

Anyway, every little boy needs a bow tie for Easter, right?

Here's the scoop.

Each bow tie is unique. Materials are all different because I select the fabric based on the pattern.  Bow ties will come with a safety pin, no neck tie.  If your kids are any bit as "I'll do it myself" as mine are, I would recommend attaching the bow tie to the shirt before dressing your boy!  For $15, including shipping in the U.S., you can choose any of my fabrics and mix and match the tie and bow!  Or you can purchase your own fabric and send it to me to me. You will pay through my paypal account and I'll ship very quickly! 

Here are several pictures but if you email me for more info, I'll send you a powerpoint of all my finished bow ties (I have 20!) and fabrics (I have 24).  rachael.kowalski@gmail.com.










And this is how cute they look on!