One at a time, it is decided!

We had our 15 month check up on Tuesday July 29th. I had taken off that day to recover from our river vacation and to put up all our stuff. Dallas ended up having to work but was able to get off early enough to attend the visit with me and thank goodness. Our appt was at 3:20 pm but the office had said to come in around 4 pm. We arrived a little after 4 pm and I received a call from the office saying she was behind again and for us to come in about 30 mins. We were in the parking lot, Hello! Nope not leaving and coming back so we let the kids run around outside for a while. They loved it and I was hot. We ventured into the office to let them play. They played well for a while then they got bored aka adventurous! They feel at home in our doctor's office and everyone knows them by name. They feel free to do as they please which makes controlling them more difficult. One would take off down one hall while the other went down the opposite hall with Dallas and I right behind them. They did not want to be held especially Miss Paige. We finally were called back to our room and we could rest easy they were now contained!

Ethan weighed in at 26 lbs, 15 ozs and 31 inches tall. Paige weighed in at 25 lbs, 14 ozs and 31 3/4 inches tall. I don't believe for a second that she is taller than Ethan but she sure was more wiggly than her brother! We took the measurement and moved on. We went back to our room and waited for our turn. The wait is always horrible but so worth it when she gets to you. She never rushes me through my questions in fact she usually goes above and beyond what I need to know. D and I love her and her office. I had mistakenly not brought dinner with us thinking we would be home in plenty of time. Dallas had to rush to a near by restaurant and dig up some chicken for them to eat once she had gotten into our room. Dallas fed the little pups "bites" as Julie (Dr. Tomberlin) and I talked.

We talked about everything from their head to their feet. They are really growing and developing well. She wants us to work on body parts starting with one a week. I have decided to start with nose and work my way around in no particular way. She said to point out every one's nose over and over throughout the week then switch body parts while still referring back to the nose. I know the kids recognize some of the body parts already simply because I say give me a foot and they do. They follow commands very well and that is right on track for their age. Woo hoo! I have always tried to get them involved and it seems to have worked well. Instead of saying "get out, no" when they get into the pantry I say "can you shut it" and they do. Its like a challenge and our stubborn kids wouldn't let a challenge pass by! I have never been the best about drilling the kids with words, objects, or actions. Part of me feels like they will be "schooled" for many years in their future and it is not necessary to drill them with every object at such a young age. However the other part of me wants them to have the best education possible starting now to better support and guide their futures. For now I guess we will just start with nose! Ha

Back to the check up... We talked about the new nap schedule we switched to about 1 1/2 weeks ago. We went from two naps to one nap simply because the kids were all obviously ready. All four of the quads (mine and Melissa's kids) were not napping well at their second nap. We now put them down at 12:30 after lunch and they sleep until around 3 pm. We are still having some issues but on a whole they seem to be adjusting well. The biggest problem thus far is that by 6 pm one or both of my kids are super cranky! They will adjust I imagine but geez they sure are pissy in the evening. The only other problem we have had with the new nap schedule is that they only took about a 1 1/2 hour nap at home this weekend instead of 2 1/2 to 3 hours like at Melissa's house. It was the first weekend attempt at the new schedule and we were at the river so they weren't in a normal routine anyway. We will see this weekend how it goes and I will let everyone know.

While examining Ethan Dr. Tomberlin discovered that all 4 of his molars have broken through! No wonder he was such a crabby handful last week, poor baby. Paige's molars have been swollen for weeks but none have broken the skin. I can't very well check myself because I don't have the magic sugar sticks that she gives them for distraction. I have "borrowed" a few before but they don't work the same at home as they do at the doctor.

We talked about discipline and what our next step should be. I have a slight problem with discipline considering my kids are only in my care a few hours a day five days a week. They are slowly becoming more and more curious and discipline is starting to be important. Thus far the only real problem we have had has been the couch. Ethan is starting to throw screaming tantrums when he doesn't get his way but I just ignore him and he gets over it. I now must find something to use as a time out chair that they can not get out of immediately. I still think it is hard for them to understand the concept of time out but you have to start somewhere. Whatever I decide to use for time out at home has to coincide with time out at the sitter. I guess I have to get with Melissa and decide what we should do. Lord help her if she has no discipline and the quads take over!!!

Another big topic was food simply because Paigey won't eat sometimes. She will always eat her fruit, mostly eat her meat, and rarely eat her veggies. Ethan loves his veggies and picks them out first. What a good boy! Miss Paigey on the other hand won't try anything new at all. We are now cutting her milk during lunch and dinner and giving her only water until she eats well. This has seemed to help thus far but truly she would rather not eat than eat something she doesn't like. The food is definitely a work in progress and will be for a long time.

We were at the doctor until 7:30 pm which is 30 mins after their bedtime. It was not fun once we got in the car. We have decided that we are going to take one baby at a time to well checks from now on. Dallas said he would rather take a day off work than take them both at the same time ever again. They just get really cranky after a while and D is the one watching the kids while I talk to the doctor. It is always easier to keep one baby happy rather than two. All in all it was a very good check up and the kids are doing excellent!

PS I had this blog saved from the week it actually happened so the time line might be messed up. We have been on one nap a day for weeks now, etc...