Yesterday I took the boys for their well-visit checkups: the Menininho for his 2nd birthday visit and Baby J for his 2 month exam. I had a long list of things to discuss, especially for M since he only goes once a year now.

First up were measurements though. M. stayed pretty consistent: 25th percentile for weight and 10th percentile for height. He truly is his dad’s mini-me in every sense. It seems as though he’s looking at an adult height of right around 5 feet tall….5’ 5’’ is probably pretty optimistic (Mark is 5’4’’ on a really really good day).

Last month J had been in the 25th percentile for everything. Today, he was in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for head size.

Now, those of you who follow me on Twitter might have seen me discussing J’s eating and sleeping habits recently. He was eating every 2 hours 7 am to 1 am and not really napping. After a week I wondered if maybe his latch was causing problems and J wasn’t getting enough milk. I mean, what growth spurt lasts more than a week?

A growth spurt where the baby grows 3” in 4-5 weeks.

J’s now in the 80-90th percentile for height (but only just now at my birth length…my poor mother!). He’s about 8” shorter than his older brother. Mark is quite pleased as this means he can realize his dream of having sons to dress as Mario and Luigi for Halloween one year, haha.

After the pediatrician got over the shock at the differences in my sons’ sizes (she forgot Baby J has Marfan syndrome, haha), we discussed the Menininho. We’re going to start him on melatonin for his sleep and hopefully it helps him fall asleep at night. (I’ve been told that it won’t help him sleep through the night, but we’ll take what we can get!) We also need to start transitioning him to a toddler bed. I’m really reluctant to do this because the crib is M’s “safe space” when he tantrums. We can contain him there and know he can’t hurt himself or anyone else. But, J is going to outgrow the bassinet before too long and will need the crib. We’re just going to make the transition from crib to big boy bed a gradual one, and M’s behavioral therapist should be starting in the next week or so and I’m hopeful she can help.

My only concern when it came to Baby J was his blood pressure. When he had his echo, his blood pressure was high…in the 120s. The nurse assured me it was probably because 1) she took it on his leg and 2) he was crying. It’s been bothering me ever since though, so I asked the pediatrician to retake his blood pressure yesterday to reassure me. Although he was calm when she started the process, J would cry as soon as she started fitting the cuff on his arm. Each arm came up with a reading in the 120s. The pediatrician suggested I wait a week or two and see if I get my copy of the official echo report, let her know what’s on it, and then call J’s cardiologist. I guess we just need to get a reading where he’s not crying, to confirm that it’s the tears raising the BP and not anything else. I’m sure it’s nothing, but I need to know that. Anyone have any tricks to share to get a baby to stay calm for the reading? Nursing him didn’t help.

I think the highlight of the appointment was M signaling to the pediatrician that he’d dirtied his diaper and being able to report that he has almost 40(!) words. Hooray for progress! 🙂