A little angel

Nicky was so good yesterday! Yesterday really was a rough day for all of us, but he held up so well and we're so proud of him!

First we had his 18 month pediatric visit at 9:15am. That means we left the house around 8:30am, which was too early for breakfast according to Nicky. So I packed up some halved grapes, "cookies" which are actually fruit cereal bars, and two pieces of cheese toast for him to have later and we left.

Got to his doctor right on time and he had fun playing in the office for a little while till it was his turn. Apparently having an appointment early in the morning is the way to go because we hardly had to wait at all. His pediatrician said he's doing perfectly. He's right around the 50th percentile on all measurements, which even though he had been in the 90th and then around the 70th she said he was fine.

Measurements were:
Height 32.75 inches
Weight 25 lbs 13 oz
Head 47.5 cm

She also avoided calling me a worry wart, but said his speech is just fine. She said as long as his receptive speech (understanding what we say) is developing not to worry. I'll probably still worry some, but I'll refrain from hair-pulling till he turns two. Well mostly. She did say to keep him away from TV till age 2 and to not even have it on in the background, but that music is ok. So I do feel good about how we've moved the house around. (Of course today is nail cutting day, so he will get to sit in my lap and watch a dvd while I'm snipping away. It keeps him still and that's just too useful to pass up when it comes to nail clipping.)

He did get three shots though. Polio, Flu shot, blablablasomethingsomething. All I know is he's done with shots (other than a yearly flu) until he's FIVE! That seems so far away!

So anyway, we finished that appointment right around 10am. I know! Record time! And so here we are, in the building where my doc appointment is at 11:00. An hour early. Joy. So we head to the cafeteria (yep, it's a hospital so it's got one) and feed Nicky grapes, cheese toast, and a chocolate and pink M&M cookie that Tom bought from a fight Breast Cancer display. Breakfast of champions there. The cafeteria was closed between breakfast and lunch so no milk, but we had water for him.

About 10:20 (love how he eats fast when we have a whole hour to kill) we head upstairs to my doctor. Tom watched Nicky play in the little waiting room toy area while I knit. (I actually finished his hat and scarf yesterday!) When Tom tired of running around after him we traded off. My doctor, who actually turned out to be a nurse, finally saw me it was already 11:45 or so. (yep, nearly an hour and a half in the waiting room) Nicky was tired, but still hanging in there and walking up to everyone in the waiting room to say "HI!"

I had my annual exam, and found out I can't start TTC until I see my real OB/GYN in a month. Lovely. Aw well, I guess we won't get PG this cycle. (This turns out to be a good thing after my next appointment.) I go to pay and find out that they think my insurance will pay for this visit 100%. Well cool! Hopefully that's true, otherwise I'll get a bill. But still, not having to shell out the 25$ yesterday is very helpful.

So we leave there about 12:30 and my next appointment is only a parking lot away and is at 1:00. By this time we're hungry, and Nicky is exhausted (usually naps from about 11-1 every day) so we drive to the Wendy's that is really close and run through the drive through for some cheap food. I eat in the car and then head in to my next appointment about 5 minutes early. I left Tom and Nicky in the car to try to have lunch.

I'm knitting in the waiting room when I hear a lady say "Oh he's so cute!" and realize Tom and Nicky have come in. Now this waiting room has nothing even resembling a toy in it. Well, maybe the wooden sculpture of a hippo looks like a toy to Nicky, but it's probably 500$ so I wouldn't let him touch it. We did a lot of spinning and playing with Daddy's keys in there. Tom took him outside in between rain showers and we just hoped the appointment would be quick.

I finally went back around 2:00. (Yep, an hour in the waiting room.) I waited in an exam room, then met with the doctor in his office, then back in for the exam, then talk to the doctor. Tom kept a hold on Nicky all during this. He played with my comb, his stuffed puppy, the keys, my water bottle, anything we could think of to keep him happy. He wanted to get down and play, but this place was not even close to baby-proof with the TWO biohazard containers right in the corner. Lovely. Tom took him out to walk in the hall for a little bit while I talked to the doctor after the exam. When I went out to do the whole paperwork, copay, schedule my surgery thing (yeah, surgery, fun stuff) Tom took Nicky to the car.

It was 3:00. Three PM people! My kid has usually gone down for his SECOND nap by this time! He hadn't eaten lunch, had a weird breakfast, three shots, and no nap. If I had the $ and energy I'd have bought him some amazing toy as a reward. But instead we let him sleep in the car for about 20 minutes or so while I filled out paperwork. I think he enjoyed that more.

After coming out of the office, Tom drove up to the door to pick me up. We went to the store where Tom picked up some groceries for dinner and I knit while Nicky slept. Then we went to the bank. Nicky woke up by then so we all went inside to change our address (finally- about a year after moving!) and order new checks. Then we finally got home around 4:30pm.

I took Nicky to his room, changed him, put on his music, held him through the first song and then put him right down. He laid down on his tummy and I covered him up and left the room. Not a peep. Poor kid was so tired! Tom and I took a nap too. Chasing Nicky around and keeping him entertained was exhausting, and knitting, knitting was exhausting too. And the doctor stuff wasn't much fun either.

Nicky woke up about an hour later and we started getting ready for dinner. Amazing though. He still went to bed on time (even a little early) and slept all night. What a wonderful little boy! I just had to record this amazing day for posterity. We're so lucky!

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so I know what you're really wondering about is... what were you knitting? I know! I had to take a picture to show you because I knew that is exactly what you'd be thinking!

Ok, Next month we're hoping to go to North GA to visit my family up there. It's cold, and we, being Floridians, have nothing other than jeans and a few long sleeved shirts for winter. So being the good mommy that I am (read poor) I decided to knit Nicky a hat and scarf! The hat is a "little critter hat" and the scarf is a "wiggly worm scarf" (although I declare it to be a snake!) and they're so cute. Here's Nicky doing some modeling last night.

Before I sewed on the eyes:


After eyes were sewed on:


From the back:


Falling asleep standing up?


On the phone with Nana: