Olivia: Two Year Check-Up

   Today Liv had her two yer check-up with her new pediatrician. It went very well. She is still tiny! She weighs 23.5 pounds {16%} and is 33 inches {29%}. We were able to get a referral for ophthalmology so she can get her eyes re-checked since her pupils have been different sizes since she was a baby, for ENT because of her bloody noses, and for orthopedics to check on her arm. Other than those things, she is perfectly healthy! 

 She wanted to take her "baby" to her appointment.

Goodbye Cast

   After 13 days of having a "peep" {pink} cast, it's finally gone! This cutie was all smiles afterwards and has been really careful with her newly healed wrist/arm today!

Olivia's First "Fracture"

     I use " " because two doctors thought it was broken, but the orthopedic doctor doesn't seem to think it is even though we are treating it as one.

Here's what happened...

Olivia: Twelve Month Check-Up

     Yesterday was a fun day for Olivia. She ate cake, had a milk bath, and got new toys to play with. Today, wasn't so much fun. This morning she had her 12 month well baby visit. She is doing great! She is meeting all her milestones and continues to be a petite little thing. She's 28 inches long, weighs 18 pounds and 3 ounces, and her head is 42.5 cm {3%}. I didn't get her height and weight percentiles, only her head because that's where I am most concerned since it is on the smaller side. The doctor said everything looked fine and developmentally she is right on track, so they will see us again in three months. She got four shots, but has actually handled them really well. She cried for a minute, and has been fine since!

Olivia: Nine Month Check-Up

    Not only did Olivia turn nine months old today, she also had her nine month well baby visit. It went great. She was in such a good mood and got so many compliments on how pretty she is. She is still my petite girl, and her stats show it! She is 26 inches long {27%}, weighs 16 pounds and 7 oz {12%}, and her head is 42 cm {6%}. The doctor was happy with everything, so they will see her again in three months. 

Olivia: {Late} Six Month Check-Up / Connor: Five Year Check-Up

    Today Connor and Olivia both had their check up. Olivia was supposed to have it when she turned six months, but the pediatrician clinic was booked so she is getting it when she is seven months + one week old. Connor got off easy and didn't have to get any shots, however Olivia had to get two. Poor baby girl hated them!

    Olivia went first. She weighs 15 pounds and 7 ounces {19%}, is 26 inches long {27%}, and her head is 41.4 cm {9% it's growing!}. She is such a tiny thing compared her her big brother. The doctor noticed that her left eye was moving a little slower than her right, so she put in a referral to the optometrist so she can get it checked out. She said it could be nothing, but just wanted to be on the safe side and have it examined by a specialist. The other concern was one that I had. Olivia had been waking up a ton during the night and nursing frequently, so I wanted advice on what to do. The doctor told me what I already knew, that Olivia didn't know how to self soothe herself and relied on me to calm her. She suggested we make her sleep in her crib, and stop co-sleeping because it was just going to get harder as she got older. Aaron was happy with that suggestion, me... not so much.

Olivia Got Her Ears Pierced

     On Monday morning, this beautiful girl got her ears pierced! I knew we were going to do it while she was still a baby, the only question was, when? I was waiting to find out what the pediatrician told me about her head before we went through with it. I didn't want for them to bother her if she had to wear a helmet. At her appointment last week, the pediatrician told us he was confident her head would round out on its own now that she's sitting, so no helmet should be needed. That was just the answer we were hoping for, and the go ahead to get her ears pierced. 

Olivia: Four Month Check-Up

    Little Miss Livie had her four month check-up today just three days shy of turning four months. She is petite just like her mama. Her stats are:

Height: 60.2 cm {23.5 in} {33%}

Weight: 5.85 kg {12 lbs 9 oz - with clothes} {38%}

Head: 39 cm {15 inches} {8%}

     The only concern the doctor had was with her head being on the smaller side. Her soft spot was smaller than what it should be, so we will have to keep an eye on it. If for some reason it's even smaller by her next visit, they will have to do a head ultrasound. I went by myself to her appointment, so I didn't get any pictures during her check-up, but here are some from this morning.

Connor's Visit to the ER

    So because I like to document everything {because one day I am going to print these out into books for the kids} I need to write about our Saturday spent in the ER. Connor had been running a fever on and off for the last couple of days. On Thursday evening he complained that his neck was hurting. I mentioned to Aaron that a sore neck is a sign of meningitis, but we thought we would see how he was feeling the next morning. The next morning he was back to his old self, until around 3pm he started running another fever. I medicated him the rest of the day/evening. Around 4am on Saturday morning I noticed he still felt warm, so I gave him some more Ibuprofen. When he woke up he was acting normal. We had errands to run and stopped to eat lunch between one of our stops when Connor started shivering. It was cold in the food court, but not cold enough to cause shivers. Then he started complaining that he was tired and his head hurt. I started looking him over and noticed he had a rash on his chest. That's when the red flag came to my mind: meningitis. I told Aaron we needed to take him to the ER to be seen. 

Olivia: Two Month Check-Up

    Yesterday Olivia had her two month appointment. She is doing great and growing so fast! She was such a good girl and didn't cry until it was time for her shots.

When It Rains, It Pours

     That saying has been 100% true for us over the last couple weeks. As you all know from my last post, Aaron got into a Motorcycle accident 2 Sunday's ago. Well after the surgeon in Aviano decided their equipment was not going to be fixed soon enough, he decided to send Aaron to Germany for surgery. We spent last Wednesday, 5/6, preparing for our long trip to Germany. We dropped the dogs off with our friends, packed our bags, and went to sleep early because we knew Thursday was going to be a looooooong day. 

     On Thursday morning, we woke up extra early and waited for the bus to pick us up. It was a 13 hour bus ride to Germany!!!! Connor did pretty good for being cooped up in a bus for such a long time.

 Waiting for the bus to leave.

Connor: Eighteen Month Appointment

   Connor had his 18 month checkup today and he is perfect in every way! Since I was by myself for most of the appointment, I wasn't able to take pictures like I usually do. Here he is playing in the waiting room before his check-up:

Connor: Fifteen Month Check-Up

    Right after Aaron and I jumped out of the tower at GI Jane Day, we rushed right across the street to the clinic for Connor's 15 month check-up. It was Connor's first time being seen at this clinic since we moved to Italy. I like the clinic here a lot more. It is much newer and there was a really fun area for Connor to play in. The rooms were also a lot bigger and had cute themes. However, I like his old nurse and pediatrician more. They seemed more talkative and interactive with Connor. 

Connor: Twelve Month Check-Up

   This morning Aaron and I took Connor to his 12 month check-up. We got to his appointment right on time. Nurse Jody was waiting for us and took us right back to her room. She brought out the bubbles right away, and Connor thought they were the funnest things. He had never seen them before, so they were very different. 

Rash

    Yesterday, my poor little guy woke up with a rash on his chest and back.  I made an appointment for him to see the doctor at lunch time. It wasn't his regular pediatrician, and I honestly didn't care for the woman he saw. He hasn't had any new foods. The only thing different was the soap we used in Charleston, and more than likely the detergent they washed the linen with. She wasn't too concerned because he was acting normal. I was instructed to keep an eye on it and put hydrocortisone cream on it a couple times a day.

Not the best picture, but you can see the redness on his chest.

     Thankfully it was almost all cleared up by this afternoon! Hopefully that won't happen again anytime soon :( 

Connor: Nine Month Check-up

     Early this morning, at 7:40 to be exact, Connor had his 9 month check-up. I was actually looking forward to it because I knew he didn't have to get shots. I was also worried that he might have an ear infection from being sick the last week.

Connor: Six Month Check-up

Yesterday Connor had his 6 month check-up. Thankfully Aaron was able to go with me to his appointment.

 Waiting for the nurse to come get us.

Connor: Four Month Check-up

      Connor had his 4 month check-up this morning, so we woke up earlier than normal. While I got ready, he layed quietly in his crib.

My poor boy has no idea what's about to happen in a couple hours.

A New Chapter

          The birth of Connor has begun a new chapter in our life. Aaron and I thought creating a blog would be the perfect way to share our day-to-day life with all our family and friends. We don't want for you all to miss all the fun and important stuff that is happening because we live so far away! I am going to start with a short recap of the last couple months.

On April 9,2013 at 1:56 pm, our sweet little Connor was born.