April 11, 2006

Soaring to New Heights

Today we had well visits for both Big I and Lil C. It was fun, let me tell you. Of the two: a 5-year old or a 6-month old, who would you guess would be the problem child? If you guessed the 5-year old, you would be correct. Big I is an awesome kid; she just doesn’t particularly care for doctors. If mothers earned "belts" for accomplishments in motherhood the way students earn belts in karate, I would be a black belt easily after making it through today.

Unfortunately, my eldest daughter takes after me. I hate doctors, always have, and always will. This is why I had a midwife deliver Lil C, because I was not going through it with an MD again. From the moment Big I woke up today, she was MISERABLE, whining, complaining, and asserting that she simply would not go to the doctor’s appointment; she would instead hide and we would "never ever ever find her." In the end, she dragged her sad little feet out the front door and into the car. As we pulled in to the doctor’s office, she left out one final wail of defeat. Lil C sat there smiling at her.

I honestly don’t know which is worse: having to go twice (once for each kid), or going once and getting it over with. We left this house at 2 p.m. We returned home at 3:50. The doctor was running an hour behind. NIGHTMARE much? When we finally made it back to the check-up room, my husband and I had to split up. I went with Big I for height/weight, eyes, and ears. This was the first time that Big I had to do the hearing and vision tests. You would have thought she was having teeth pulled. I honestly felt like the child had eaten lead for breakfast and that it had settled in her feet as I dragged her from ear test to vision test and back to the exam room.

Lil C? Smiled at the nurse weighing her and reached up for her to hold her. My husband definitely had the easier job.

When the doctor finally came in, Lil C grinned ear to ear at him. Big I sulked and cowered in the chair beside her daddy. She went first and did fine, except for the fact that every question the doctor asked her, had the response of "doh," Homer Simpson style instead of a simple, "no." She finished up and Lil C was ready to roll.

When Big I was a baby (and even now), the doctor had to take our word for it that she could: roll, sit up, push up, stand up, etc. She never behaved particularly well at the doctor’s office. After she turned a year old, I needed to start training in order to be in shape enough to hold the child at the doctor’s office. I left in a sweat each time and with a massive headache. Lil C is nothing short of a show-off. When placed on her belly, and the doctor asked us if she was pushing up or attempting to crawl, she got onto her hands and knees as if on cue and started rocking back and forth while cracking up laughing.

The doctor finished up and the nurses came in to double team Big I since she needed two vaccines. We were of the "wait and see if she gets the pox" thinking. She didn’t get it, so she had to get that today in order to enter school in the fall. She also needed a DTaP vaccine. She squirmed and cried, yelled and moaned, and only stopped after we were back inside the safety of our home for a while. As we were exiting the doctor’s office, I’m pretty sure she scared the daylights out of at least three waiting room dwelling children with her proclamations of, "It HURT sooooo bad," and "My arms hurt." Throughout the evening, she still had an occasional crying jag, just thinking about the horrible horror nightmarish hell of it all. Lil C had to get one vaccine today. She pouted and started to fuss and then wrapped it up with a grin within about 10 seconds. Could these girls be more different?

So, after all the measurements today, here’s how the gals stack up:

Big I- 97th percentile for height; between 75th-90th for weight

Lil C- off the charts for height and has been for the last three visits; between 75th-90th for weight

It got me to thinking about how tall they will be when they’re fully grown. I went on those height predictors on the web at about.com and this is what it said about Big I.

Your Child’s Predicted Height Results:

A (female) child who is 3 feet and 9.25 inches at 5 years of age has a predicted future height of:

172.5 cm, or

5 feet 7.9 inches

This seemed rather short to me considering the skyscraper genes that this child has. So, I plugged in the numbers based on my height (5’9") and my husband’s height (6’3") and it told me this:

Your Child’s Genetic
Potential for height is:

5 feet 9.5 inches

I was still a little surprised. Reason being? My mother is 5’4". My dad is 5’10". I am 5’9". So, I plugged in my parent’s heights; and apparently I have exceeded my genetic potential and then some because I got this:

Your Child’s Genetic
Potential for height is:

5 feet 4.5 inches

So, based on this, I am going to add 4.5" to Big I’s genetic potential height and that would make her 6′ 1.5" when full grown. Look out Gabby Reese! You may have some competition coming. Then again, considering all the drama today, Big I may be better suited for a career in theater. We’ll find out soon because she just started an acting class. I’m hoping that maybe she’ll learn how to at least act the part of a warrior at karate class. And, let’s be perfectly honest, isn’t every parent secretly hoping their kid hits it big and eventually buys them a beach house as thanks for all those classes that were so crucial during the formative years?

To be honest though, I’m just glad today’s festivities are officially over. I’ll worry about the beach house later.