More Olive to Love...

Arm rolls. She has arm rolls. You thought leg rolls were cute on a baby? Wait till you see these little forearms of chub.

Yes, we have already covered that my once skinny little baby is now an official chubster. But let's just look at the photogrpahic proof. Here is Olive modeling some of this summer's latest fashions in swimwear.



And here is Olive hanging around about eight months ago, showing off the ribs.



The transformation is amazing! It is clear that the only explanation is that some other baby came along, stole Olive's face, and then ate her.

I know, I know, baby's grow. But this is getting ridiculous. I mean, arm rolls? Seriously? I need to stop feeding her jelly donuts for breakfast.

Weight Gain and The Fever

So it is time for me to start catching up on writing about my life. I haven’t been writing because, well, life is happening.

Olive keeps growing. We know this because she has added a second chin to her repertoire and because she has been to the doctor three times in as many months. The first was a regular appointment and she weighed in at a whopping 14 lbs 14 oz. This moved her up to around the 25th percentile. Those of you that know Olive or have read this blog before remember that she was at one point the Lindsey Lohan of babies, staking out her spot in the 5th percentile of weight. Yet, like a little infant Kirstie Alley, she continues to grow. A month later, Olive weighed in at 16 lbs 3 oz. Whoah. That put her into the 35 percentile. She was beginning to look like a normal baby!

Unfortunately, the reason that she was in the doctor’s office and getting a little weigh-in was that she developed the first fever of her young life. Leanne and I knew something was going on and after one of the worst nights of sleep in the past seven months, we decided that she was indeed sick and took her temp – 101. After immediately WebMD diagnosing my daughter with everything from H1N1 to polio, we decided that the best thing to do would be to give her some children’s Tylenol, put her to bed, and see if the fever changes. Next morning – 102. Okay, now I was sure she had polio.

Later that morning we found ourselves at the doctor. If you haven’t been in a doctor’s waiting room, especially a pediatrician’s waiting room, in the Swine Flu era, I can only describe it as a cross between a MASH unit and the opening scenes of a zombie movie where everyone is starting to become infected. Kids who are way too old to be cradled by their parents are being cradled by their parents. Every face the complexion of Robert Pattison in Twilight. Nurses walking around with masks on their face. Purel everywhere. Just a pathetic and sad scene. Luckily, Olive did not have H1N1 and was diagnosed with a common cold.

Sure enough, a day later the fever was gone, but the stuffy nose remained. Nothing is more pathetic than an infant with a cold. Their little mouths hacking out a mini-cough. Snot running down their lips because they haven’t figured out how to wipe or blow their nose. Sometimes, usually after a couple minutes of crying in the crib, you get the trifecta of facial fluids. Little cheeks and chin soaked with snot, tears, and drool.

Unfortunately for me, every time Olive gets sick, I seem to get stricken as well. And this last one hit me hard. Leanne, however, always comes out clean, which leads me to believe she is the carrier, or part of an alien race that is immune to the rhinovirus.

But there is lots to write about and lots that has happened in about the last month or so. Here is a little preview about what you can expect to see in upcoming episodes:
• Halloween! Little babies in ridiculous costumes!
• Teeth! Olive has two!
• The irrational fears of a new dad – H1N1, diaper rash, mountain lions, oh my!
• My new mantra: Olive will not be an 18 year old that…

Playing Doctor

So Olive had her fourth doctor’s appointment yesterday. We were looking forward to two big events (only a parent considers a routine Doctor’s appointment a “big event” – sometimes I want to punch myself in the face) at this appointment. One, Olive would be getting weighted and measured and we were hoping that she would finally break double digits. She was exactly 9 pounds at her 2-month appointment. Yes, she is skinny. We know. Been through this. Two, Olive was going to get her second round of vaccinations.

The doctor is both a routine experience and an exciting one. The first time you go is usually within a week of the baby being born or a few days after leaving the hospital. At this point, you have no idea what you are doing and are eager to ask a professional questions like; Is she really supposed to poop this often? Is her poop really supposed to look like this? How do I know that she is eating enough? Do I really need to watch her ALL the time? Things like that. Really, if everything is moving along normally, it is just an introduction with you and the Doctor. You then meet again at one month, where you basically ask the same exact questions. At each appointment the baby gets weighed and measured. They write the results in a little blue book that you need to keep track of and take to each appointment. You will inevitable misplace this blue book and have to run around looking for it, just knowing you are going to be late for the appointment. Really, a little blue book? We can't put this on the interweb or something yet?

The two month appointment is a biggy, cause it is the time when the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends getting the first dose of a lot of vaccinations. At two months, Olive got three injections and one orally administered vaccination. Needless to say this is quite unpleasant for the child and the parent. It is however, in a lab rat kind of way, a little fascinating to watch your child’s reaction to being pricked with a needle for the first time. Now, hear me out. As adults, or even as children, when we go in to get a shot, we know what is coming. There is going to be a prick, and a little pain. We can try to distract ourselves, but we know it will pinch. Olive, however, has no idea what she is in for. So the needle goes in, and she doesn’t really react for a beat or two. Then her face transforms from confused, to shocked, to really really sad. She really couldn’t prepare herself because she has never felt that before.

Now, my wife and I have decided to follow the AAFP and AAP recommended schedule of vaccinations. This is not a decision without some controversy. There are intelligent, well-meaning, and passionate opinions on both sides of this issue (see here, here, and here for some fairly interesting takes on the controversy). But we have come down on one side. We think that vaccinating our daughter, and doing it on the recommended schedule is the correct decision for our family. The AAFP, the AAP, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approve the schedule we are on, and they do so for a reason. These are some pretty nasty diseases that we are trying to prevent here. I mean, the measles really suck. Rotovirus is a leading cause of childhood death in developing countries. That is not to say that some of the reported side effects aren't shocking as well. The medical community can and has gotten things terrible wrong in the past...we are hedging our bets that they get this one right. I’m sure each parent has to make their own decision, and as along as it is an informed one, I can not argue with it. Being a parent requires you to make lots of decisions like this.

So, that brings us to the four month appointment. Olive weighed in at 11 pounds, 8 ounces. And I fed her a hefty, 6 ounce bottle about 45 minutes before that weigh in. She is, shall we say, petite. But she has gained 2.5 pounds since her two month appointment and is steadily following the little 10th percentile line on the weight chart and about the 75th percentile line on the length chart. If that holds, I think she is going to be about 5’10” and 65 pounds as an adult. Being light as a feather may have some advantages though. Less weight to move around. Our doctor said that Olive is “quite mature.” She is sleeping well. Taking naps. Rolling over. Holding her head up well. And supporting her weight on her legs. She is even pushing herself forward a bit when she is on her tummy. She is a genius. As soon as they name a site for the 2028 Olympics, I’m booking a hotel room.

She took the second round of vaccinations like a champ. She didn’t enjoy it, of course, but after a few screams she was in mommy’s arms and had calmed down. She even smiled and played with me when we got home. So all in all, not a bad little day playing doctor. Now we have two more months to lose our little blue book, prepare Olive for another round of needles, and fatten her up.

What's the Skinny

My baby is skinny. She is not scary, Lindsey Lohan skinny or anything, but she isn’t what you expect a 4 month old to look like. When making introductions to friends and family, her size is usually one of the first three things that come up. Normally it is a polite comment: Oh, she is a little peanut! Look at those little legs! She is so mini!

At first my wife and I were a little sensitive about it. But so far, everything is developing just fine. She is on the growth chart, she is just near the bottom. She is growing in length normally, gaining weight, and hitting all of her developmental milestones. She is just skinny.

So I don’t know why it bothered me so much when this past weekend a woman held a door for us as we wheeled our stroller into a store and then turned to her husband and said, in shocked tone, “Wow, that is a skinny baby!” I didn’t hear her say it, but my wife, who was trailing behind, said that the woman didn’t try to lower her voice or whisper.

Yes, I know my daughter is skinny. An 11-12 pound (she hasn’t been weighed in about two months so this is a guess) four-month-old is not the chubby, rolly-polly baby we are used to seeing. I know this. That being said, I don’t think it is the place of a perfect stranger to make a comment about it behind my back. If I had an overweight child walking behind me, would the woman have said, “Wow, that kid is overweight.” What if I had an ugly dog, would she have made a comment? For some reason people may think that because the baby can’t understand you, anything you say is fine. But I can hear you! I wanted to seek the woman out and walk behind her making comments on her appearance. “Nice mom jeans. Wow, letting yourself go there a little, huh? Time for another jelly donut.” But I am better than that. I decided to bash her on the internet instead.

Later in the day my wife and I were eating an ice cream cone and a woman came over to see the contents of our car seat. She oohed and awwed, and told us how cute and then said, “what a beautiful little petite baby.” I smiled and thanked her. I know she was thinking, “wow, that is a skinny baby.” But she held back. Baby’s come in all shapes and sizes, some are plump, some not. Some have rolls, some have a single roll. I’m sure my daughter is going to turn out to be an average sized adult. She is just taking a different route there.