camryn's ortho update

Camryn had her follow-up visit with Dr. Winell (CHOP Orthopedics) to take another look at her feet. Dr. Winell said the "metatarsus adductus", a.k.a. intoeing, is better. She noticed this time that it's not only her feet turning inward, it's also her shin bone, and that's called "tibial torsion". Both are mild and likely caused by positioning in utero, although she also told me that the shin turning inward is actually an inherited condition. She recommended that I continue the stretching and also that I buy her shoes and have her wear them on the wrong feet. Both conditions will correct themselves and shouldn't impact her learning to walk when the time comes. As it turns out, Carl's right foot turns slightly inward. This is something I've always known but didn't really think of until today. So Camryn may trip over her feet more than the typical toddler. Carl says that I trip and bump into things constantly (and the bruises prove him right) so between that quality and the inherited intoeing, Camryn doesn't have a chance.

(You can see what her feet do at rest in this picture. Her right foot is worse than her left.)

7 months old, 6 months stats

Camryn will be 7 months old tomorrow and although I meant to blog when she turned 6 months, I never got around to it. She saw the pediatrician for a well-visit last month so her stats are a month old, and at the rate she is growing they've probably already changed. The girl is big. I call her chunky monkey and, although I'm not proud to admit it, I also call her fatty. I will stop that soon.

So, at six months, Camryn weighed in at 18 pounds 4 ounces, which is the 90%tile for her age. To put it in perspective, at six months Connor weighed 17 pounds 8 ounces and Emily weighed 16 pounds 6 ounces. Carter's says that's a size "9 months"; Old Navy says that's a size "6 to 12 months"; Target (Circo) says that's a size "9 months" and Children's Place says that's a size "12 months". I say it's a size "large and in charge". I do love her legs...they are solid. Her height was 75%tile; 26 and a half inches.

Developmentally, she's doing everything she should be doing. She's well into solid foods now, her favorites are pears, prunes and sweet potatoes. She's not a big fan of baby cereal. I've been trying the juice cup but she doesn't know what to do with it yet. She just laughs at me when I put it in her mouth. She's a great sleeper thus far. She goes to bed around 7 p.m., gets up for a bottle around 5 a.m. and then goes back to sleep until about 7-8 a.m. For the most part, she is taking two naps now but needs a third some days. When not sleeping or eating, she is very content doing anything. She'll sit on the floor and play with toys, cruise around in her walker, hang out in her ultrasaucer, and she likes the swing and johnny jumper. She watches Connor and Emily constantly and they are very good with her. She also really enjoys music. Camryn seems to always be smiling.

She's has a follow-up appointment with the Orthopedic doctor on the 11th to take another look at her feet (see previous December post "Metatarsus Adductus"). I'll blog an update about that next week.

irony

Okay, so last night we went to 99 for dinner. The restaurant was empty. There was literally one couple there eating, an older couple who looked as though they were enjoying their wine, their food and their quiet. When the host took us to the table right next to them, I thought to myself...why here? The whole restaurant is empty and you seat a family of five, with three small children, right next to these people? It was a fleeting thought because we were soon busy unpacking kids, setting up seats, getting out crayons, etc. and reminding Connor and Emily to keep their voices down.

Our dinner was great, no real story to tell. Connor kept himself busy with the activity book, Emily colored and sat nicely and Camryn catnapped. The kids ate their food, listened well and we all enjoyed ourselves. The couple sitting next to us were finished before us. As they were leaving, they came over and complimented us. The man told us what a nice family we have. The woman said, "it's refreshing to sit near such quiet children".

We thanked them and as they left I had to laugh. A few posts ago I talked about how we are 'that' family and my last post described, video evidence included, the dinnertime screaming competition that Connor and Emily decided was appropriate. How ironic.

who can scream the loudest

These days, Connor and Emily pretty much spend every waking moment trying to out-do each other. Emily wants to play with Connor's things, Connor wants to play with whatever Emily has at the moment, they chase each other, tackle each other, scream at each other...you name it. For some reason, dinnertime has become their time to see who can be the loudest. One is singing while the other is talking, or they're trying to get Camryn to laugh, or they're trying to get each other to laugh. Whatever they are doing, it is usually loud. Tonight they decided to have a "who can scream the loudest" competition. I can't decide if Camryn looks scared, confused, amazed or disgusted. I just had to grab the camera.

future career: chef or interior decorator

When the kitchen closet opens, no matter where she is, Emily comes running. She has radar for it. When the door squeaks, I know that Emily will be there within moments. She likes to browse the shelves that she can reach, pick out a snack and then take it into another room to enjoy. We have a device on the doorknob so that she can't open it herself. If we leave it open, even just a little, she is sure to be in there looking for something. Most of the time, we don't even see her take the food. Like below, I didn't know she was all set to enjoy some peanut butter and crackers until I spotted her sitting in the family room. I'm not sure how she was planning to spread the peanut butter on the crackers, but I'm sure given enough time she would have figured out something!



When I found Emily in the foyer I couldn't pass up the photo op. I've heard of kids coloring on their walls and I've always wondered how that happens. I mean, don't parents supervise their children for goodness sake? And I only found her because she said, "You painting Mom...you making it green." I realized right away that she wasn't sitting with the coloring book that she had been sitting with just moments before. And then I saw her peek out from behind the foyer wall. I didn't have the heart to really scold her because she was so proud of her "painting". As soon as I took the pictures, the colored pencil was confiscated and she was told that her decorating needs to be on paper only.

we are that family

As we walked through Office Max a few days ago, I realized something. It's official. We are that family. You know that family. The family that you can hear four aisles away at the supermarket. The family that apologizes to you because one of their children rammed a shopping cart into your leg. The family that has more food on the floor under the table than they have actually eaten at the restaurant. The family with the child who doesn't want to ride in the cart or stroller or sit in the booster seat, and who also doesn't want to stay nearby when given that little bit of freedom out in public. The family with the brother and sister who are constantly in each others spaces, touching each other, annoying each other, one laughing and one screaming. You can hear us a mile away and as you do when you pass by a car accident, you just have to look. Don't get me wrong, we have gotten a lot of compliments from strangers on how well-behaved our children are and "what a nice family" we have. But as of late, we definitely have become 'that' family.

princess emily

When she was born, Emily received a beautiful dress from my friend and co-worker, Kandie. Since it was size 24 months, it has been hanging in her closet waiting for her. When she gave it to me, Kandie told me that every little girl should have a princess dress. I don't remember having one. In fact, I don't think I have any pictures of me in a dress when I was little. Instead, my parents dressed me up in plaid pants...plaid 70's pants, jeans and corduroys. Funny, because as an adult I prefer the same...the jeans and corduroys, minus the plaid pattern...unless it's on a sofa or curtain. Anyway, back to the dress.

Emily spotted it not too long ago in the closet and said, "You put your princess dress on Mom!" ("You" and "Your" means "I" and "My" because she has the typical incorrect pronoun usage thing going on). So I got the dress out and she has been wearing it almost everyday since. Carl even had to put her in for a nap with it on because she "refused" to take it off. She even wears it over jeans and with sneakers. I'm thinking she'll officially wear it for her 2nd birthday party next month. I better pick up some pretty shoes to match!

I think Em was going for the Amish look here.