18 Month Check Up

The girls turned 18 months last Thursday (March 29th) and they saw their new pediatrician for their check up on Monday this week. Their new doctor was referred to us by Joni as she was Linus' doctor while they lived in Somerville. This is the first time that we had met her. I was a bit nervous about meeting a new doctor since my entire family has a deeply rooted history with our previous pediatrician, and I  knew that that relationship would be absent with this new provider. 

I've always known that having David Hurley as my girls' pediatrician was a very special thing. He was, in fact, my pediatrician as well. My mom always told me, "He saw you when you were born before I did, you know", referring to David being present at my delivery. I can say the same thing to both Sophie and Olivia--"You know, Dr. Hurley saw you when you were born before mommy did". There are lots of things about their birth that are blurry to me now, and lots of things that are still crystal clear, and one of those crystal clear memories is how many people were actually in the delivery room when my girls were born. Since they were premature, there were teams from the NICU for each baby, nurses, aids, my mother, a resident and a medical student even. David was among the masses that day and checked each baby out just moments after they were born. Of course, our history goes deeper than just being a 2-generation pediatrician. Our families have worshiped together for decades, first at Southside (even pre-Southside, I'm told) and then at Murray Park. It was wonderful to be at church with David because I always felt like my girls were being checked on on a regular basis, and that they were receiving a much more personal degree of attention, as opposed to the occasional office visit from a near-stranger. I remember being babysat by Jerri at times in my childhood and have memories of babysitting her children during my adolescence. David officiated at my wedding with Sean, and was there with me when he died. Both are two of the most powerful memories I have in my life. We've had countless family get-togethers, Wednesday night small groups, and 4th of July parades with the Hurley family. Somehow, even if we stay with the new pediatrician for 18+ years, I doubt that the relationship I'll have with her will scratch the surface of what I have with the Hurley family. 

The meeting with the new pediatrician went just fine. She was very nice and friendly. She wasn't terribly warm, but was very clinical, which is what I expected. I suppose I appreciate the fact that she was professional, as I was absolutely looking for a medical provider for my children and not a friend in this woman. She warmed to the girls easily (who doesn't?), and they seemed to be comfortable around her, which helped the fact that I had them there on my own. 

Here's the part where I get all sentimental about how I can't believe that my little babies are so grown up already! 18 months! How has that time gone by so quickly? Auuuuuugh!

Okay, that's out of my system, for now at least. 

My sweet little Sophie, who was born a mere 9 minutes before her sissy and weighed 3 lbs 15 oz at birth has grown to a powerful 22lbs 14 oz! I think that this number is actually lower than her 15 month weight, but she hadn't started fully walking at that point, and this kid is all over the place now! She's a tall one too--she's 33" now, which is 3 whole inches taller than Olivia, who measures 30" tall and 19 lbs 6.5 oz. This little bug used to be about 5" shorter and about 5 lbs lighter than her sissy, but she's been eating like crazy (and walking like crazy too), so she seems to have closed the gap slightly. I fear though, that she's destined to follow in her mommy's shrimpy footsteps whereas Sophie is displaying indicators of treading along the path of her 6'3" father. Twins indeed.

The girls are great at throwing tantrums now--we're talking full-on flops to the ground, kicking and screaming and rolling around, and all that good stuff. Luckily that happens at home usually, and doesn't in public. Thankfully these tantrums seem manageable (I can usually ward them off if I know that it's around nap time or lunch time or if they're becoming interested in a toy we only have one of, etc), and overall, they are still little sweethearts. Even when they are little monsters, I can't help but love on them...maybe I'll outgrow that by the time they are teenagers? I warn Matt that he may be the only one of us to survive their teenage years.  ;)

They are doing things like drinking from a straw, drinking from an open-rimmed cup on their own (with mommy's supervision), pretending to cook in their little ikea kitchen, feeding themselves with utensils, making the correct animal noises when asked about them or when they see pictures in books, walking everywhere, talking with each other in their "secret twin language", and singing along to songs that they know (VeggieTales, the ABC's, Itsy-Bitsy Spider). They're a lot of fun right now, and I'm glad that they are happy and healthy little kiddos.

My little monsters watching Monsters, Inc. 

This was yesterday after the doctors appointment. It was right during nap time, and I knew that by the time we got home they'd either be asleep or incredibly fussy. 

 They both got ice cream stickers at the doctors office and that's what's on their hands

They're getting better at stabbing food with a fork

She would stab her noodles then pull them off with her hands instead of putting them in her mouth. Silly girl.

These silly ones love having pillows dropped on them. Matt was playing with them on the bed last night and they just couldn't stop giggling! It wore them out quite nicely for bed!