Check-Up

Well, the kids are still freakishly skinny at 18 months, weighing 18 lbs 11 oz and 19 lbs 15 oz, but their doctor has apparently decided that this is just what they're like, so we're not really doing much about it anymore. Both of them have growth curves that have been remarkably consistent despite our best efforts to shove more and more calories into them, so I don't think there's a whole lot I can really do to affect this. Their heads are a good size (50% for Nora and 35% for Milo) and their heights are fine (25% for Milo and 18% for Nora), so they'll never be amazons but at least they're on the charts for height and head. At least their brains are growing!

Nora was starting to fuss a little as the nurse charted their growth so I asked her if she wanted to sing a song, and she started singing "A B C D A B C D" (she just repeats those 4 letters). The nurse thought that was the greatest thing ever. 

We are ditching bottles this weekend and moving to cups and meals and big-kid type of eating, all the way. The more and more they can learn to feed themselves, the better it'll be, I think. (They seem kind of behind in the feeding-themselves area, which is probably our fault for not letting them practice as much as they should).  I hope it'll help them learn to enjoy mealtimes a little more.

I still remember as a kid and even a teenager dreading mealtimes over at other people's houses. Parents would load up my plate way beyond anything I would be capable of eating, and I would dread that inevitable moment when I wouldn't be able to keep going and I'd still have a giant plate of food sitting there, which I thought was rude and unacceptable. (Because you're supposed to "clean your plate"). I would eat as fast as I could, trying to get as much in as possible before the uncomfortable fullness would set in and I would be certain I couldn't eat another single bite without getting sick. This was still a problem for me even in high school. Sometimes I wonder if that is how Milo and Nora feel at mealtimes. 

The more independent they become at eating, the more they can decide how much they want to eat, and I'm looking forward to that day.  As long as they don't decide to starve themselves.