Another Diagnostic Test for J.R.

Hello, all, J.R. had his nine month checkup and his catch-up shots on March 17th. He weighed 16 pounds, I don't remember how many ounces, and was 27 inches long. His head circumference was something like 43 centimeters. Apparently that is somewhere in the 90-95th percentile for his age, weight, or height, I'm not sure which. But either way, the rest of him is still in the 5-10th percentile range, so the doctor wanted to rule out any issues that would be making his head grow faster than the rest of his body. So she had us schedule an ultrasound for his head. But everything else was normal. The doctor has accepted that he is small for his age, and he continues to stay in the same ranges as he has been. But she said that everything else looked perfectly fine. His next visit is somewhere around his first birthday, unless his doctor wants to schedule a followup to talk about the results of this test.

So we were scheduled to fly to Arizona to visit my mom between March 18th, the day after his doctor visit (and his shots), and march 25th. So we scheduled his ultrasound for the day after we got back. However, that trip never happened, because Dallas/Fort Worth had some really severe weather and closed their airport. By the time I talked to a person at the reservation desk, the earliest they could get me there was two days later. I told them to cancel the trip, and I would rebook later. So it has now been rescheduled for April 12th through the 19th. So we'll see. I hope it happens, I haven't seen my mom and brother since J.R. was due to be born. But everyone knows that if it doesn't happen again for whatever reason, I'll take the hint that God is telling me that I just shouldn't go for some reason. But hopefully, the worst weather season will be past, and it will go off without a hitch. I'm kinda worried about flying with J.R., just not sure how he's going to take sitting for two hours in my lap at a time during each leg of the flight. I couldn't get nonstops, unfortunately.

Anyway, on to his ultrasound. We go in, the nurse calls us back, she is really nice. I sit J.R. down on the bed, and he gets nervous and wants to be picked up. I can't pick him up, and he starts to get really upset. He won't keep relatively still, so I have to lay him down so the nurse can get decent pictures. She kept the wand right on his soft spot. I figured she'd have to move it around, but she didn't. It only took five to ten minutes for her to get the pictures she wanted. She cleaned off his head, I gave him a bottle that I'd thought to bring with me, and the tech went to get the pediatric radiologist. The radiologist came in, with a thick Russian-type accent. She was nice, though, and told me that everything looked normal. She asked why the doctor had sent us in for one, and I explained that J.R.'s head just seemed to be growing faster than the rest of him. So it was good news. Bryan was not surprised, no one really thought there was anything wrong with him, he doesn't show any signs of mental or neurological problems. Bryan's biggest issue was that we are going to have to pay a lot of money for another diagnostic test that only proved nothing. Oh well. It's what happens, we have to make sure he's healthy. Better to rule out problems than to ignore something until it IS a problem.

In other news, this boy is trying his hardest to crawl. I put him on his rump, and he is immediately on his belly. He's going backwards everywhere right now, hasn't figured out how to move forward yet. But he gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth all the time. Because he's found this new freedom, he is much more content to sit in the floor and entertain himself these days. Bryan and I have started examining our living room, trying to decide what all needs to be done for babyproofing. The bottom two shelves of our bookshelf have to be emptied. The cords to the electronics have to be hidden. Bryan's laptop will either become off-limits or put out of reach until it's used, we haven't decided yet. Our coffee table will have to be cleaned off, and my Painted Ponies, which are ceramic, have to be moved. Lots to do... as well as covering outlets and making sure to vacuum every day to keep clumps of cat hair and dog hair out of the floor and subsequently out of J.R.'s mouth.

And that boy is a talker! He gabs all the time, and is now starting to show frustration about stuff, he'll certainly make his displeasure known! His fine motor skills have improved dramatically, he has become a pro at picking things up with his thumb and forefinger, and has recently learned how to turn things over in his hand and pass them back and forth in different directions. He seems to be mostly right-handed, but I know better than to label him this early. I can hope, though. Both of his blood-related uncles are left-handed, and were very hard to teach to write.

Here are a couple pictures from his first Easter. Since we never forget the reason we celebrate Easter, I bought J.R. his very first Bible, and we read the story of Jesus' Last Supper, betrayal, death, and resurrection before breakfast Sunday morning. I wanted to take him to church, but I knew we wouldn't make Sonrise service, and I didn't know what time my church had their service for later morning.

Anyway, we're off!