Billy and Rusty had their yearly well-checks last week. Everything looked good. The doctor, in his usual fashion, looked at their height and before saying anything else said, “How tall is their father?” I said, “Um, maybe 5’9″ -ish.” He grinned and said, “Then everything is great!”
Billy came in at 42 inches (a 5 inch growth from last year) and weighs 37.5 pounds (about 5 pounds more than last year). His height is just below average at 45% and his weight at a comfortable 25%. Billy was very excited because it wasn’t just his yearly check-up, it was his kindergarten check-up. Well, he was excited until they asked him to give a sample in a cup. That wasn’t happening (it happened at home, just for the record). And his excitement completely left when he had to have 4 or 5 shots. Whereas he’d been thrilled to be there at first, Billy was more than ready to get the heck out of Dodge by the end!
Rusty is 34.5 inches tall, which is perfectly average (50%). His weight was 31.5 pounds, which is the 45th percentile, but in January he was 32 pounds and when we took him in so sick on his birthday he was down to 29 pounds. That bout of sickness lost him nearly 10% of his body weight! The doctor was glad to see him back up.
Rusty wanted to do everything Billy was doing. After the doctor listened to his heart, Rusty was quick to remind him, “You didn’t thump my knee yet!” He wanted his reflexes tested like Billy. When they checked Billy’s vision, Rusty stood on the line and looked at the pictures on the chart, too. I think he would have even been happy to try leaving a sample in the cup if I had offered!
I enjoy our pediatrician. Our boys seem to really like him, too. That makes it nice.