Half Year Check Up

This past week the girls went to see our now good buddy, Dr. Shusterman, for their 6 month check-up. After a long winter with four kids we got to know Doc pretty well through three rounds of strep, one case of pneumonia, four ear infections, three flues, several cases of conjunctivitis, one broncheolitis, two bouts of thrush, two cases of roseola, a multitude of unexplained rashes and 4 colds that lasted from November to March. So I was glad we were there finally for a well visit- not so glad to see the waiting room lined with patients with masks on- perhaps the latest victims of the dreaded swine flu. But in we marched (or paraded with the double-snap-n-go) prepared with a fresh bottle of hand sanitizer and germ-X hand wipes to an abandoned corner, careful not to sit down and risk contamination. When we finally got called in the girls were in their usual good spirits which lasted until vaccine time: eight shots in all, two in each leg. The girls were crying and I think I might have been crying as they looked at me as if to say, "Why are you just standing there, letting this happen to me?" Luckily the crying stopped as soon as I picked them up and that bout of screaming certainly tuckered them out. They fell asleep on the car ride home and slept for close to five hours until I finally woke them for dinner. Dr. Shusterman was pleased with the girls growth and development and he thought they had more than caught up for being a month premature. Ella tipped the scales at 16 lbs 4 oz and measured 26.25" putting her in the 46 percentile for weight and 60% for height. Apparently she has been eating all of Avery's food because little Ava weighed in at just 14lbs 13 oz and measured 25.74" long placing her in the 19th percentile for weight and 40th percentile for height. But both girls are growing well along their charts and I was surprised to learn are now ready to try drinking from a sippycup and eating Gerber Puffs and Cheerios. Here's a clip of their first experience with real food: