What's Up Doc?

I hope you enjoyed the pictures of Nolan's birthday party. I am pleased to report that he is enjoying all of his toys now that Bailey has grown tired of them. I will never understand a 4-year-old's fascination with baby toys. Oh well, such is life!!

I somehow ended up with both kids' well care appointments on the same day. Bailey's birthday was in August, but I didn't get around to scheduling hers until recently and it seemed (at the time) that one appointment for both would be very efficient. When push came to shove, however, I knew I couldn't handle this alone so I recruited my MIL to go with me. It was a very long appointment and, altogether, we endured 8 shots and a finger prick, and won the battle with one pee cup and one eye chart. Here's a pic of the kids waiting for the doctor to come in. Bailey selected this very lovely gown. I guess at 4, they like to nurture modesty.

Bailey stressed out about her shots throughout the whole appointment and asked no less than 25 times, "Do I have to get a shot now?" She asked so many times that the doctor said, "Girlfriend, I don't give shots so you don't even have to think about it until I leave." That calmed her down a bit....and initiated a lifelong fear of nurses, I'm sure. We laughed after she got her shots, though because she collected herself very quickly. Then, as I was dressing Nolan, she began to wail again. I asked her why, as she had been doing just fine. She said, "I just keep remembering it." So cute.

Here are their stats:


Nolan - 19 lbs. 5%

27 1/2 inches 10%


Bailey - 47 lbs. 95%

42 1/2 inches 95%

Yes, you are correct. I have one at the top of the growth chart and one at the bottom. One pretty much eats anything we put in front of her (including beets and all kinds of things kids don't usually like) and the other we have to force feed (except for sweets, he'd eat ice cream all day long). Funny!

Bailey had her school Christmas concert this week. We used our regular video recorder so I don't have video to post (yes, I recall that it was my vow to learn how to upload videos almost a year ago) but here are a few pictures. Bailey was sweaty before the show even began because she and a few buddies were running around the room, jumping up and down the steps and, as you can see, posing for silly pictures.

She did really well. She was quite a ham and I heard her voice loud and clear over the group. Now, she doesn't really have many vocal skills (at least yet), but she is definitely a performer.

This past week, we had "Family Night" in the Cox household. We all got in our pajamas, made a gingerbread house and then watched "Elf" with a big bowl of popcorn. Bailey had so much fun staying up late and then slept until 10 a.m. the next morning. Here is Bailey's gingerbread masterpiece. Note: The candy only made it a few days, as Bailey has been snatching a few pieces here and there. The house looks pretty pathetic now with just the frosting and a few peppermints hanging off the roof!

Finally, I leave you with quotes of the week.

Bailey

• In response to grandma telling her she's becoming too much of a smart alec, (in the best talk back voice you can imagine, "Well, it's good to be smart, right?"

• "Momma, I need to get on your computer and go to pbs.com and order a game for my email. Is my email address 9903?" Random....and, no, she doesn't have an email address!!


• To a telemarketer, after she answered the phone (which is her new favorite thing to do...she just picks it up and says "Hi!"), "I can't help you, I'm just a kid." Click.

And, in all fairness....

Nolan

• "Uhh" - when I kept trying to get him to say "on" while we were doing our usual "light goes off and on" routine with the light switch


• "Ma?" - pretty much any inquiry about anything.

I think he said bye-bye once but I can't get him to say it again. Every once in awhile he says "daddy" but most days he just calls everyone around him "ma ma." He did begin both waving and clapping this week, which is great. I've been waiting on those things for awhile since many kids master those "tricks" around 10 months. He finally decided he wanted to try them out and he looks so cute!!!

Peace...