BeurskensBaby: 24 Month (I mean TWO YEAR!) Stats

We had Tommy's 24 month well visit with Dr. Nito on Tuesday, September 13th. I prefer to say 24 months I think because it keeps my baby a BABY! TWO YEARS OLD just doesn't seem like a baby anymore. My little guy has really started to exert his independence, and it's very bittersweet. I'm thrilled that he is doing so well, growing, talking, learning, making friends, playing ball, being more active, but it really makes me miss the days when he had to rely on us for everything. Did I really just admit that???

I am so happy to see what a little boy my baby is becoming though. He has the best personality, and I can tell from how others react to him or who relay a story to me about something he did that I was not around to witness, it's not just me. I mean, I have friends who will not hesitate to complain how mean/whiny/rude their kids are, and I would always say, "oh, they can't be that bad." Then I see what they are talking about. Eek. We truly have been blessed with Tommy. Not that he doesn't have his bad days, get upset, or throw tantrums (you should see what happens when I refuse to turn the TV on to let him watch Wubzy, his latest fascination!). But those are rare, I have to admit.

Tommy actually stood on the scale this visit to get his weight, which was 26.5 pounds, up just under 2 pounds from his 18 month visit. They measured his height at 32 3/4", which we think is off because that means he only grew 3/4 of an inch since March, and I can tell by how short some of his shorts/pants have gotten that can't be accurate. We think he may have been slouching. Tommy got his first eye test, which was done while he sat on my lap in front of a screen on which they flashed all different images and patterns. He had some thingamabobs hooked up to his forehead and back of his head, and he wore a pirate's patch over one eye at a time to do the test. The nurse was amazed that he was being so calm and sitting still for the test...she said it's rarely the case with any kids. The test indicated his vision is perfect, which is no less than we expected considering the kid spots airplanes 30,000+ feet in the air that the rest of us can't imagine how he picks up on!

The hearing test did not go as well - because they could not get the thing that measures the hearing to work. Again, Tommy was AWESOME just sitting there, not moving, while the nurse tried to do the test, but either she was doing something wrong or the batteries were dead. They replaced the batteries and is still did not work. The nurse was nice, but seemed a little nervous, so she may not have known how to use the thing. And when Dr. Nito came in, he actually said, 'Oh, so he wasn't cooperative for the hearing test I see." Um, no, your equipment wasn't...John and I both made sure to make that clear and that even after the nurse changed the batteries she could not get it to work. He was really great! We are not worried about his hearing though. Thankfully no ear infections or ear aches for over a year, and he responds even when there is a lot of background noise. While I have a profound hearing loss in my left ear, I really have not given it much thought as something that he'd inherit from me, since mine was not inherited from anyone. It's just the way it is.

Dr. Nito was very happy with how Tommy is doing, and Tommy was just as happy to see Dr. Nito. Then another nurse came in to give Tommy his flu shot. O.M.G. She asked me to hold the opposite leg down while she gave him the shot, when she should have told me to hold his arms. Weird. But I listened. And wouldn't you know it, the boy who has excellent hand eye coordination grabbled for the needle...and ALMOST got it. As a result, the needle scratched Tommy's leg, and we had to get bandaged up. Thankfully, his hand/fingers did not touch the needle at all. But the tears were probably quadruple of any other time we've had to get shots. Thankfully, the "wound" has healed nicely and Tommy milked it all week, demanding band-aids. In fact, we had to convince him it needed to air out last night and to day because the band aids were leaving irritating marks!

I'll leave you with some photos from our last night with Tommy's Oma visiting us for the big 2nd birthday week. Sunday night, we went out to...you guessed it, Squan Tavern! Are we boring? Predictable? Or do we just know a good antipasta salad when we taste one?