The Brown Brick Road

Capturing our adventures one photo at a time...

Photo shoot and Doctor Update

What a great weekend we had!  The cold front moved in and it definitely feels like Fall now!  We had Lauren from Peppermint Photography over on Saturday morning to take some newborn photos of Spencer and he did great.  I tell ya – this the most laid back baby I’ve ever seen!  Maxwell was great too and I think we are going to end up with some really good shots of everyone.  Hooray!

Lauren’s pro set-up…

and Maxwell checking it all out!

In other news, we took Spencer to the doctor on Thursday of last week for his one week checkup and Dr. Walley thinks he looks great!  He was already back up past his birth weight to 7 lbs, 9 oz.  Hooray!  He’s a sleepy little guy but I guess he’s still getting plenty to eat!

Maxwell came with us and luckily Robert was able to meet us up there as well.  Dad plus an ipad makes the doctor visit much more fun for Maxwell..not to mention the sucker he got afterward!

Spencer did so well during the appointment.  He didn’t even cry when he had to strip down to his diaper and get weighed!  He then sat there and just happily let Dr. Walley examine him.  The only time he cried was when we were getting him dressed again and had to change his diaper.  I love this kid!

Bye bye for today!

 

Dentist

I took Maxwell to his first dentist appointment last week.  I really had no idea how it was going to go, especially considering he doesn’t even really like for us to brush his teeth!  In preparation, I bought a Dora book about visiting the dentist as well as this cute book about animals brushing their teeth.  We read both of them a LOT in the two weeks before our visit and I do think they helped, especially the Dora one.

Maxwell was a kind of cranky and needy that morning and our appointment was at 8:00am so I was a little nervous to say the least.  But, he did GREAT!  He had fun playing in the waiting room for a few minutes…

and sitting in the green car to watch Toy Story.

When it was our turn to go back, the first thing they do for new patients is let them put their handprint on a ceiling tile.  Almost the entire ceiling is covered in colorful handprints.  So fun and Maxwell loved it!  He then chose the red chair (which were more like benches) to sit in.  He wasn’t quite ready to do that by himself so I climbed up and held him on my lap.  The hygienist could not have been sweeter and was clearly used to working with little dudes like Maxwell.  She let him touch everything and explore it all before going anywhere near his mouth.  When it was time to clean his teeth, I was so surprised at how cooperative he was!  Go Maxwell!

Here you can see a bunch of the handprints…Maxwell made an orange one!

He was such a trooper and I was so proud of him!

After his teeth were all cleaned, the dentist came over and said that everything looked great.  He said we should be using flouride toothpaste (we already were) and brushing 2x a day (we’ve only been doing it once but changing that!).  He also said we should try to start flossing…um, sure.  🙂  He did give us some of those plastic things with the floss on them that should make it easier but we’ll see.  We still haven’t tried it at home yet!  He said all of Maxwell’s teeth are coming in just as they should and that he’d see us again in 6 months!  Thanks for a good report Dr. Johnson!

After the good report, Maxwell got to pick a little toy and we came home with a green bouncy ball that he keeps trying to bite.  That can’t be good for his teeth!  Ironic, huh?!

Yay for good dentist reports!

and p.s. – on a totally unrelated note, here’s a short video for you.  Maxwell was playing with this app on my ipad and the lady says, “oh no piggy!” and Maxwell kept repeating it as “oh no pee-pee!” and it’s just too cute for words.  It makes me laugh and I love hearing his sweet little toddler voice.

[flickr video=https://www.flickr.com/photos/sjpbrown/8091365445/]

I’ve probably watched it 100 times.  If you can’t see the video, click here.

Doctor update

Maxwell went for his 2 year check-up on Friday of last week and everything looks great!  He’s 26.4 lbs which is only the 25th-50th% but he’s 34 and 1/4 inches which is the 75th-95th%.  Dr. Walley said it’s not unusual for kids, especially boys, to have a height growth spurt in the summer months followed by a weight growth spurt in the winter months.  Guess Maxwell is just waiting to store up his fat for the winter!!  🙂

Maxwell was NOT a happy camper when we got to the room and had to take his clothes off to weigh him and measure his height.  I haven’t heard him scream like that in a long time!!  He finally calmed down and I got the ipad out to entertain him.  Can’t you tell how happy he is to be there!

He eventually warmed up to Dr. Walley.  Dr. Walley’s pretty good at entertaining him with that stethoscope!

Luckily he didn’t have to get any shots but we did get him the flu mist to try and keep that flu away from him and BBB#2.  Waiting for the nurse…

Dr. Walley did say that he has absolutely no concerns about Maxwell not wanting to drink milk.  He said he’s still getting plenty of calcium and that it’s great that he loves yogurt.  He said it’s honestly not as bad of a problem as those kids that drink a ton of milk and never eat because of that.  He did suggest going on and switching the skim milk as well.  I’m glad to not have to buy 2 varieties of milk anymore!

He gave me some good tips on food in general – basically just continuing to try new things and knowing that Maxwell won’t starve himself.  If he doesn’t want to eat what I make him, fine.  Just don’t get stuck in a rut of only giving him the same things over and over and over.  He needs variety and exposure to new foods.  We’re going to try to switch our schedule around a little bit and actually have a family dinner each night.  Up until now, I’ve been feeding Maxwell between 5:30 and 6:00 and then Robert and I would eat dinner after Maxwell went to bed between 7:30 and 8:00.  I’m going to see if we can all eat together around 6:30 and then do bedtime routine after that.  That means I gotta get myself into gear making dinner earlier – wish me luck!

While Maxwell felt like this about the doctor visit overall…

I’m very thankful for the good report!

Injured for real

Well, get this – Maxwell has a broken leg.  A BROKEN LEG.  Are you kidding?  My poor, poor buddy.  What an ordeal.

When Maxwell woke up yesterday morning, he still wasn’t wanting to walk at all.  I called his pediatrician first thing and they said that since he wasn’t putting any weight on the leg, we should take him into the pediatric orthopedist.  I really thought he was just going to tell us it was a sprained ankle but, no such luck.  At our appointment at 1:00 they took some x-rays of his little leg and, sure enough, he has a fracture in his shin.  What bone is that?  I’m not even sure.  I’m not sure who was crying harder when the doc told us the news – me or Maxwell!  They put a little baby blue cast on his leg and he can’t walk for two weeks.  Two weeks of no walking at all.  Wow.  No playing on the playground, no running in the yard, no pushing his lawnmower, and, very sadly, no school.  So, so sad.  After two weeks, we go back for another x-ray and they will likely put on a walking cast that he will wear for another two weeks.  The doctor then said that it will probably take another two weeks after that for everything to go back to normal.  So, we’re looking at a 6 week ordeal.  Again, my poor, poor buddy.

Trying to look on the bright side – at least this isn’t the middle of the summer.  He’ll have it off before pool and sprinkler time is in full force, thank goodness!

Some pictures of his “casting”….

Pitiful…

So pitiful…

Robert was trying to entertain with a Sesame Street video…


All finished and doing a little better…

Maxwell really handled it all like a champ.  Especially given that the appointment was smack dab in the middle of his nap time.

Home and happy again…

Full view of his cast…

Don’t you like the baby blue?  I picked it so it would match his Easter outfit!  🙂

Giving him a bath last night was interesting.  If you see him over the next two weeks and he looks a little dirty – please forgive us!

If any of you have been through this before and have any advice, I’ll gladly take it.  Any ideas on activities for an 18 month old that you can do sitting down?  Would LOVE those.  I’m seeing a lot of Sesame Street videos and coloring in our future for the next 6 weeks!

Life is always an adventure,  no?

Doctor update – 18 months

Hope you guys had a great weekend.  Ours was nice and low-key.  Thankfully we managed to escape all of the storms they predicted for us on Friday.  Besides a little hail, we just had rain.

Maxwell had his 18 month check-up with the doctor last week and we got a good report all around!  He’s now 24 lbs, 13 oz. (50th %) and 33 inches tall (75th to 90th %).  His heart sounded good, his lungs sounded strong, and his ears looked clear!  There really wasn’t much to the appointment…just a reminder to be very grateful for our healthy and growing little boy.  He did have to get 3 shots though which were the pits.  But, those are the last ones until he goes to kindergarten so we’re in the clear for a few years.  Hooray!

Hanging out, waiting for Dr. Walley…

Maxwell kinda gave Dr. Walley the eye when he came in…

and then thought he’d be better off in my arms.  Fine with me!  🙂

But they eventually made friends and all was well.

Thank goodness for good doctor reports!