Yay Doctor?

This afternoon was Owen's 6 month well visit and Austin's flu booster.  Let me tell ya, it was a blast.  (Can you sense the sarcasm?)

It started out great.  We pulled up to the office and as soon as I got Austin out of the car he yelled "Yay doctor!"  I told him he was probably the only child who's ever said that, and I'm not sure he'll be saying that again anytime soon.  We went in and sat down in the waiting room, Owen was sitting in his car seat calmly (which never happens) and Austin pulled around 8 toy cars out of the diaper bag and started playing quietly.  I was thrilled because usually he's running laps around the place and trying to sneak back to the examine rooms every time someone opens the door.  He did well though, until the nurse came out and called us back...  Austin tried to grab up all his cars at once, dropping half of them on the floor.  I had to put down Owen and bend over to pick up all the cars from under tables and chairs at which time the diaper bag on my shoulder tipped over and about a dozen acorns from a side pocket fell out onto the floor.  Hmmm, wonder where those came from....

So I picked up the chocking hazards off the floor and finally tucked away all the cars while the nurse stood there impatiently waiting on us.  We started walking back when Austin, probably remembering what happened last time we walked down that same hallway, decided he wasn't going to join us.  With Owen and diaper bag in tow, I managed to drag my whining 2 year old through the door way and tell him to go find room number 4.  The kid is a sucker for counting and we arrived at our room with no further incidence.  

Austin played with his cars while we weighed and measured Owen.  He is 16.5 lbs. (35th%ile), 27.5 inches long (85th%ile) and his head is 17.3 in. (58th %ile).  

Whoa whoa whoa...does that say 35th %ile....for weight??  

I am still baffled by this as Owen looks like a chubby little 6 month old to me and has never had trouble eating.  There is nothing wrong with being in the 35th %ile, but the doctor was a little concerned because of the drastic drop, he was in the 71st %ile for weight just 2 months ago and in those 2 months has only gained half a pound, so we have to go back in a month for a weight check and see how it goes.  

Of course, as Owen's main food supply, I am a little worried that this is somehow my fault, but our doctor said that sometimes breastfed babies don't gain as quickly as bottle fed babies and as long as he's happy and healthy I shouldn't be concerned.  Guess what...I'm concerned.  So, operation "beef up the baby" has commenced.  Still don't know what I'm going to do exactly, he's already eating every three hours and it's taking everything I've got to get 2 ounces of baby food in his belly (the other 2 ounces are either on him or in Austin's belly).  Baby weight lifting maybe?  Maybe I can call up this guy and see if he's got any tips...

But anyway...Owen checked out great otherwise.  He loved staring at his reflection and couldn't stop giggling at himself in the mirror.  As I suspected, he had a ball tearing up all the paper on the exam table and trying to eat it.  He didn't enjoy his shots but calmed down quickly enough.  Austin didn't pull out any french fries from the diaper bag this time but just about everything else in there (note to self: fix zipper on diaper bag).  He found his sunglasses and for some reason started complaining that they were broken and kept taking them to Dr. M while he was examining Owen saying "glasses broken, glasses broken!"  I guess it was just an attempt at getting some attention, because after that he started rooting around in the trash can and pulling stuff out...ewww!  I swear, our pediatrician thinks I'm like the worst parent ever.

This time Austin got to get the nasal spray flu booster since he's 2 now, but while I never want to purposefully inflict pain on either of my children, I think the shot would have just been quicker and easier.  All he cared about was getting a hold of that sucker the nurse was dangling out in front of him and was not thrilled about her teasing him with it as she sprayed this stuff up his nose.

An hour and a half later we were in the car and headed home.  I was exhausted and knew Owen would be asleep as soon as we started driving since he missed his last nap, so I handed Austin his favorite toy and we just drove around Greenville for 30 minutes.  It was actually relaxing and I had time to compose myself before getting home and running through the busy nighttime routine.

And I remember the days when I used to look forward to well visits....

The mad "cheese" face

Owen (unlike his brother) loves the camera!

Owen also loved looking at that cute baby in the mirror!

And there goes the paper!

Austin's first attempt at photography.

6 Months

Owen is 6 months old today.  Where does the time go?!?

There are so many new things to share, I just can't believe how fast he's growing and changing!

-Owen is sitting by himself really well now.  He can sit for several minutes with no support and even pick up toys around him and chew on play with them.

-He's a mover!!  Owen can scoot all over the place and I don't think we're far from crawling.  He does the scoot and lunge combo to get what he wants and then puts that item directly into his mouth.  FYI-the scooting/crawling stage is much more difficult when you've got a 2 year old in the house leaving his toys and things all around.  I've walked out of the room for a second and come back to find Owen with a toy car, diaper, book, phone and shoe in his mouth!

-He can push up onto all fours now and looks like he's trying to crawl.  It's about to get interesting around here!

-Owen loves to blow raspberries!

-We've got a really great schedule going now.  Owen wakes up around 7am, naps at 9am, 12:30pm and 4pm for about an hour and a half and then goes to bed at 7:30.  He still wakes up once at night to eat but usually not until 4am.  I'm not in any huge hurry to break this habit though because he's still going for about 10 hours without eating before he wakes and those early morning feeding help me keep my supply up.

-Owen is still exclusively breastfed and eating around every 3-4 hours.  He also eats about 2 oz. of baby food a day over 2 feedings.  He's not a big fan of peaches but seems to like everything else!

-He's still a thumb sucker and I'm starting to like it!  No dropped or dirty pacis to deal with, no worrying whether or not you've got one every time you leave the house, no running upstairs in the middle of the night to reinsert a paci to calm a screaming baby, etc.  Right now Owen only sucks his thumb when he's tired or trying to go to sleep.  I hope it stays that way since you can't take a thumb away.

-In the past couple of weeks Owen has learned to put himself to sleep.  It was completely by accident too!  I was rocking him every time until he fell asleep and then putting him down, but occasionally had to put him down awake to go check on Austin and then came back to find a sleeping baby.  I'm glad he can soothe himself to sleep but it also makes me a little sad that he doesn't need me as much anymore!!

-He grabs EVERYTHING!  That little boy can't sit still for a moment without trying to grab at anything and everything in sight.  The remote, the phone, jewelry, hair, pages in a book, the centerpiece on the kitchen table, the camera, Austin...he's just got to have something in his hands at all times!  (Austin is not amused by this skill, especially when Owen gets a chunk of his hair!)

-Owen has 2 teeth and is working on a couple more.  At this rate he'll catch up to his brother in no time!

-For his weight, Owen should be wearing size 6-9 month clothes, but length wise he fits better in 12 months.  However, since he's long and lean, pants any bigger than 6-9 months fall right off.  I think he's just going to have to wear a lot of one pieces and overalls this winter...

-Owen is such a happy baby.  I can make him smile just by looking at him and he lights up when he's around people.  He loves to be held and cuddled but also doesn't mind playing solo on the floor or jumping in his jumperoo.  He loves his mama and his big brother and watches us wherever we go.  He rarely cries or fusses, in fact he's pretty quiet all around, but will let out a huge belly laugh when you tickle him or make funny faces and sounds.  He's got the sweetest blue eyes, the biggest open-mouth smile and the most precious personality to go along with it.  He makes me one proud mommy!