Back to back doctor visits

This week both Nicholas and I had doctors appointments. 

Nicholas went Wednesday for his four-year annual checkup.  He did really well and his stats haven't really changed (statistically speaking).  Nicholas weighs 39.5 lbs (75th percentile) and is 3 ft 6 in (90-95th percentile).  The nurses also performed a vision and hearing test, both of which he passed with flying colors.  Last, but certainly not least, he had to get caught up on some shots.  We technically didn't have to do it at this visit, but Dr. Whitaker said that most people like to knock them out now.  He received 5 shots.  The first two went in and he didn't do anything, but the third shot started the crying.  Then of course 4 and 5 didn't help anything.  The good news is that his next shot will not be until he is in the 6th grade.  I have a feeling though that Nicholas won't let me forget about this visit for a LONG time. 

The next day was my 12 week check-up with Dr. Gregory.  I scheduled it for 8am hoping to get out as quickly as possible.  Since Nicholas starts MDO at 9, I decided to bring him along.  And thankfully daddy joined us as well.   As expected it was a very quick visit.  Dr. Gregory did monitor the baby's heart rate, which she said sounded good.  I think Nicholas liked hearing it.  She said there were two heartbeats, but luckily that other slower heartbeat was mine.  No twins for this family.  We arrived at 7:45 and were headed home around 8:15.  My kind of appointment.  My next appointment will be in a month and then in two months is the BIG appointment - when we find out what we are having and also when Dr. Gregory will better pinpoint a due date. 

Since I'm due between Christmas and New Years I asked Dr. Gregory if they had any policy around the holidays and she said they could induce up to a week early.  Since I would prefer not to do that, I told her I will just plan on letting the baby determine when he or she wants to come.  She did say she is on call for New Years and Dr. Brown is on call for Christmas.  I would not be surprised if neither one of my children are delivered by my actual doctor (Nicholas was born Friday evening, so about halfway through my labor Dr. Gregory left and Dr. Favor was on call for that night). 

At this point I'm still feeling great, with no real signs of pregnancy.  I haven't gained any weight and can still fit into my clothes for now.  We'll see how long that lasts... 

4th Birthday Party and Exciting News!

For Nicholas' 4th birthday party, we decided to celebrate it at the house.  Nicholas is crazy about dinosaurs, so we naturally had a dinosaur birthday party (Dinosaur Train to be exact). 

On his birthday, I decided to ask Nicholas some questions and my goal is to record them over the years and see how the answers change.  So here they are:

1. How old are you?  4
2. What is your favorite color?  Green
3. What is your favorite toy?  Dinosaurs - go figure
4. What is your favorite food?  Chicken
5. Who is your best friend?  Nathan - a boy in his MDO class
6. What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Play with his bubble machine
7. What is your favorite drink?  Lemonade
8. What is your favorite TV show?  Mickey - this is completely not true, but this was his answer.  He can't get enough of Dinosaur Train on PBS.
9. What is your favorite animal?  Dinosaurs
10. What makes you happy?  Going home - loved this answer
11. What is your favorite movie?  Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - just received this for his b'day - thanks Cary and Judy!
12. What is your favorite place to go?  Mimi's house - thought this was SO sweet
13. What is your favorite book?  How do Dinosaurs Say Happy Birthday - again just got this for his b'day
14. What do you want to be when you grow up?  4
15. What is your favorite song?  Dinosaur Stomp - this was performed at his school end of the year program

Nicholas is amazingly smart, especially when it comes to dinosaurs.  He can ramble off five-syllable dinosaur names like its nothing.    I'm amazed that he can work technology as well as we do.  After only looking at/playing with my Kindle a few times, he knows what buttons to push and how to navigate the whole thing.  He recognizes several letters and numbers and can trace them really well, but at this point doesn't write them on his own.  He can count up to thirty, which shocked me one night.  Nicholas will catch me off guard with some of the things he says.  Just today, I asked the common rhetorical question, "How many times do I have to ask you to ..."  and he replied "3."  It caught me so off guard that I couldn't be mad even though he wasn't obeying and I just laughed. 

He is growing like a weed, but we won't know his percentage stats until we go to his annual checkup in a few weeks.  I thank God that he has been such a healthy baby and little boy. The only time we see Dr. Whitaker is for annual checkups. We are truly blessed. He has adjusted very well to the new house and sleeps like a champ. He goes through spurts where he has bad dreams, but they don't happen often.  Some days he fights getting his nap and yet others we have to wake him up after a three hour nap.  I hope he doesn't give those up just yet, because everyone loves naptime.  Nicholas is such a sweetheart and melts my heart whenever he randomly tells us, "I love you."

Here are some highlights from the party:

Nicholas with his awesome dino cake from Mimi

 Lots of food and goodies for everyone

Nicholas wasn't hurting for presents

 Shout out to Uncle Brad for letting us borrow the church jumpy (or whatever they are called).  It was a HUGE hit with the kids!

Chowing down with Anna and Colin. 

Blowing out his candles

 Last but not least, he wasn't quite sure of his surprise gift from mom and dad.  I think others didn't really know how to react either.

To give a bit of back story to our news, we found out I was pregnant on April 27 and decided it would be fun to announce to everyone at the party.  So I enjoyed searching online for cute big brother shirts.  We went to the doctor a week before the party and had an ultrasound.  The heartbeat sounded good.  My due date is December 28, but the ultrasound had me measuring a week behind.  Dr. Gregory said that once I had my 20 week ultrasound, they would check measurements and pin point a due date at that point.  As of now, we left it as the 28th. 

Nicholas still isn't quite sure of what is going on.  When we asked him if he wanted a little brother or sister, he said he wanted nothing.  Later on, he said he wanted a brother like Nathan, his buddy from school.  It will be interesting to see how he reacts to everything over time.