Two years old

[WARNING:  THIS ENTIRE POST IS ABOUT CHILDREN AND PARENTHOOD.  FEEL FREE TO SKIP IF YOU'RE NOT IN A PLACE WHERE YOU WANT TO READ ABOUT THAT.]


My sons turned 2 yesterday.  These past two years have been simultaneously joyful and stressful.  Lots of highs and lows.  I would imagine that feelings like these are typical of the first two years of parenting for most parents, especially parents of twins.

Our poor little guys had been fighting a virus (runny nose, cough, low-grade fever, and low energy levels) since a few days before their birthday, so that made their birthday weekend not quite as fun and festive as it might otherwise have been.  But they still had their planned, low-key celebration with family and a few friends, and my dad and stepmom came to visit for the weekend.

Here are a few photos from their celebration, which I will leave up for a week or so.  (If you are reading this post after that time has elapsed, feel free to email me at the email address in my profile, and I will share.)

[PHOTOS REMOVED AS OF 2/21/2014]

I really want to write a post to each of them about my thoughts and recollections on their personalities and who they are as they pass this second birthday, but I don't have the time or energy tonight.  For now, I will just share their stats from today's two-year well-check.

Today AJ weighed 24 lb, 11 oz, which placed him in 25th percentile, and measured 34.25 inches, 50th percentile.  These percentiles are exactly where he was at his 18-month and 15-month visits, so he continues to be of average height and less-than-average weight.  (That's why we call him our skinny little peanut.)  Our pediatrician noted that the important thing is that he continue to grow steadily along his own trajectory, and he has fairly consistently.  (He was a bit behind early on, due to his prematurity and early feeding difficulties, but from six months on has done well.)

AJ still has only four teeth, but the pediatrician said that we shouldn't worry about that.  He says he can see and feel that there are teeth right under the gums, just waiting to erupt--they have been "just waiting since his 15-month well-check--and there is nothing that can be done to make them come out sooner.  They don't seem to be slowing down his eating (much: he won't eat meat, and I suspect this may be a reason, though perhaps not the only reason), and he is gaining weight and growing, so we just have to wait and see.

Our other concern, AJ's speech, is improving, though slowly.  He is up to about 25 words.  The pediatrician said he should be using around 100 words and beginning to join two words together.  He uses two words together occasionally ("Oh no!" and "I see" are recent additions to his vocabulary), but is far below target for number of words used.  Our pediatrician encouraged us to have a private speech eval done in the next 60-90 days if he does not make significant progress on this front.

In addition to their virus that both boys are currently battling, we learned that AJ had developed ear infections in both ears.  So it was fortuitous that he had a doctor's appointment today.

Today MJ weighed 33 lb, 10 oz, which placed him in the 98th percentile, and measured 37.5 inches, 100th percentile.  He has increased his percentiles slightly at each well-check visit since birth, and this is the biggest he has been.  Our pediatrician asked today if "height runs in the family."  HA!  Not in mine, MM's, or the donor's, actually.  We can't figure out where MJ is getting these genes.

If you believe those who say that you can predict a child's adult height by doubling the measurement of his height on his second birthday, we can predict that MJ will be 6'3" as an adult.  (AJ would be 5'9.5".)  For comparison, MM is 5'8", and our donor is 5'7".  MM's parents are 6' and 5'4", and the donor's parents are 5'10" and 5'8".  (In case one might want to consider epigenetics. . . I am 5'5", and my parents are 5'7" and 5'2".)

Time will tell, I guess.  I feel so grateful that our sons are both growing and developing normally and are generally healthy. . . their current illnesses notwithstanding.