Connor's 18-month well visit

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CONNOR MAN! 18 MONTHS OLD!

How sad is that? The most recent picture I can find of him is one where's he's buried behind his big brother and sister. I have GOT to do better at taking pictures of him all by his lovely self. Drats.

So you'll remember that at his last well-visit (15 months old) it was discovered that I:
a. don't teach Connor words.
b. don't teach Connor body parts.
c. am doing better at feeding him.

You'll also remember that I covered my ears and acted like I didn't hear the doctor when she told me that I no longer had a newborn.

Today, I did much, much better.

Stats:
Height: Lots of inches (42%)....WOOHOO! Our kid's getting some height on him.
Weight: 22 lbs. 6 oz. (9%)....BOO! Our kid has not gained even an ounce in 3 months.
Head: 1,000,000 cm. (90%)....Go Connor! We think his huge noggin is the only reason his weight is up to 9%.

At this point, the doctor read his chart and it must have said something on the computer screen like, "Be really nice. This mom's a nutjob. She still thinks her toddler is a newborn. She cries at the drop of a hat. Encourage her. Tell her everything is ok. Lie if you have to."

Because the rest of the visit sounded like this.

Doctor: Do you have any concerns?
Me: Well, his weight. He's still not gaining weight.
Doctor: No worries. You are awesome.
Me: Oh, wow. Groovy. Ok. Next concern....he still can't speak any words. You fussed at me last time and I've been sweating all morning waiting to receive your punishment. What am I doing wrong?
Doctor: You're doing absolutely nothing wrong. My child didn't start speaking until he was 19 months old. You are really cool and pretty and I love your hair.
Me: Really? Wow. Thanks. This well-visit form that your nurse asked me to fill out said 18-month-olds should be saying 2-word phrases by now and so I just thought....
Doctor: Let me just interrupt you right now. You are a blessing to me. There is not a thing in the world you should do differently. You look in that mirror and you repeat after me, "I am gorgeous and I am the perfect mom."
Me: I am gorgeous and I am the perfect mom.
Doctor: It's true, you know.
Me: Gee, thanks.
Then, You're Just Too Good to be True started playing in the background.
Doctor: No prob. Now get your rockin' self out of my office. See you when your genius baby is two years old!
Me: Sweet!

A Brand New Labor Day!

For a whole bunch of years, we've had the same Labor Day tradition:
1. Drive to Chapin Labor Day Festival.
2. Park a kajillion miles away and walk to parade.
3. Sit in 100 degree weather and tell the kids we're sorry they can't see anything because there are mounds of people in front of us.
4. Fight crowds to buy a burger.
5. Sit with whiny kids and threaten them that if they don't hurry up and eat we won't be able to pay $1,000 to slide down a huge blown up treehouse thing.
6. Walk a kajillion miles back to car sweating and miserable.
7. Go home and ask ourselves why we did that.


This year we decided to try something new. We headed to Flat Rock, NC to check out SkyTop Orchard. It was peaceful. It wasn't crowded. We wore sweaters! We went on a hayride and saw animals and ate apple doughnuts and drank apple cider and bought jalapeno pepper jelly! It was pure bliss and got me super excited about Fall!

Movin' On Up

Connor now gets to see where we're going, instead of where we've been.

12 month well-visit

This post will probably be pretty boring to most of you except my mom, grandmother and in-laws. But it serves as a good way to document milestones since I've not yet started Connor's baby book.

Yesterday, we celebrated Connor's first ever birthday by going to the doctor. He got 4 shots and a toe prick. One shot in each arm and leg. He handled it like a champ. The toe prick was for the purpose of checking his iron which is still low so we are going to have to add iron supplements. I'm not sure if anemia is hereditary but I'm anemic, so if it is, he got it from me.

Here are his stats:

Weight: 18.1 pounds- 4%
Height: 29 inches- 26%

He's a tiny little thing but the doctor is not concerned at all and neither are we. His height has consistently gone down at each well-visit (the percentages, not the actual length) but they're not dropping significantly so it's not a huge deal. I think he's the perfect size. He's our little man.

He's crawling and climbing stairs but hasn't taken any steps yet.
He's eating mostly table foods now and we've switched from formula to whole milk.
He waves to tell people "bye bye", "night night", and "hello".

Oh, and then no well-visit would be complete without finding out he has yet another ear infection. So we've started antibiotic ear drops for that.

Overall, great well-visit. Healthy baby. We'll head back to the doctor at 15 months for his next well-visit.

The Results of the Connor Man Quiz!!!!

Thank you to everyone who entered the Connor Man Quiz. Many of you did a really nice job. Connor was super proud. Here are the answers.

1. How much did Connor Man weigh when he was born? 9 lbs. 3 oz.
2. What is Connor Man's favorite fruit that comes in a babyfood jar? bananas
3. What is Connor Man's favorite fruit that does not come in a babyfood jar? cantaloupe
4. How many teeth does Connor Man currently have? 4
5. True or False. I am Connor Man's favorite person in the entire world. True
6. What is Connor Man's middle name? Nathan
7. Which number grandchild is Connor Man on Nathan's side of the family? 9th
8. Name all the words Connor Man can say. I'm giving two possible answers for this. He says "DaDa" but he has no clue what that means so I also counted "He doesn't say any words yet" as a correct answer.
9. Why was Connor Man in the hospital when he was 6 weeks old? Swine Flu
10. What is Connor Man going to be for Halloween? a football, not a football player, just a football. (Landon will be a football player and Reagan will be a cheerleader.)

Ok, now for the winners. That's right. There was a tie and I love them both so much! (By the way, my mom entered the contest but I disqualified her because she's my mom and she should know these anyway.)

Winner #1: MaMa (my grandmother) She almost got disqualified because she's my grandmother so she should know these but I decided to be gracious. Congratulations, MaMa! I love you so much.

5 things I love about MaMa:
1. She is completely selfless. She always, always, ALWAYS puts the needs of others ahead of her own.
2. She cooks lunch EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY for her entire family. She lives in Spartanburg so we don't get to enjoy her delicious food much, but I call my mom every Sunday afternoon to ask what MaMa cooked so I can live vicariously through their lunch. :)
3. She makes the best facial expressions in the world. I never wonder what she's thinking.
4. She acts way younger than she is. And she looks way younger than she is.
5. She prays consistently for her family.

Winner #2: Megan Soong. For a long time, I introduced her to others as "Nathan's best friend's wife". And even now sometimes I still do it out of habit. But I can honestly she has become one of my absolute best friends.

5 things I love about Megan:
1. She is a planner. I love how organized, thorough, and efficient she is. Her house is beautiful and peaceful. She works hard to create such a pleasant atmosphere for her family.
2. She is a thoughtful mom. She does everything for a reason.
3. She has a half Asian baby girl. Seriously? That's awesome. Megan's white and Eric is Asian and together they have produced an absolute beauty. And I've already decided that Connor will marry Brantley. It's a done deal.
4. She is a fantastic teacher who loves children like crazy. We've had some great discussions around teaching and learning.
5. She is a great listener. The perfect balance of offering wisdom and just being there to sit and listen.

Congratulations to the winners! I will mail you your prizes soon. :) But don't hold your breath.

Connor Man Quiz

My little dude turns 12 months old on Wednesday. In honor of his birthday, I invite you to test your Connor Man Knowledge skills. Answer each question. 1 point per correct answer. Submit them to me via blog, email, Facebook, phone call, text, or letter in the mail. I will not accept answers told to me in person or via video conference. I want them written down. The winner will receive something. I'm having a yard sale in a few weeks and I can't promise that it won't be something from my yard sale pile (Heather and Sally, don't get so excited. You've not seen my yard sale pile.) In addition to winning something, I will also write a blog about how awesome you are. Don't cheat by looking at other people's answers. I'll find out about it and it won't be cool. Good Luck! Oh, you have until Thursday morning to answer. I'll announce the winner Thursday afternoon. And if there is a tie I'll just pick the person I like better.

1. How much did Connor Man weigh when he was born?
2. What is Connor Man's favorite fruit that comes in a babyfood jar?
3. What is Connor Man's favorite fruit that does not come in a babyfood jar?
4. How many teeth does Connor Man currently have?
5. True or False. I am Connor Man's favorite person in the entire world.
6. What is Connor Man's middle name?
7. Which number grandchild is Connor Man on Nathan's side of the family?
8. Name all the words Connor Man can say.
9. Why was Connor Man in the hospital when he was 6 weeks old?
10. What is Connor Man going to be for Halloween?

It's Ridiculous

It's ridiculous how cute that child is. I am so in love.

Here are a few things you may or may not know about my stud, Connor:

1. He has the worst nicknames EVER....ConMan and ConJuan. Yep, I totally call him both of those all the time.

2. He can sit up all by himself now without looking really scared.

3. He thinks green vegetables are the worst idea ever.

4. He is head over heels in love with me. My other two kids like me pretty well, but Connor can't get enough of me. He smiles HUGE when I walk in a room. It's pretty awesome.

5. He's cried about two times in his entire life.

6. He still has no teeth.

7. When he eats he breaks out a little bit on the right side of his face. And we can't figure out why. But he still smiles.

8. He can still wear 0-3 months clothes with no problems at all.

9. He takes a 4 hour afternoon nap.

10. He loves music as much as his big brother. His feet move, move, move when I play music. He's a huge fan of the Black Eyed Peas.