The Reichmann Family Blog: Milestones

Despite the radio silence on the blog, we have had lots of milestones in the Reichmann family in the past week (maybe it's an indicator why we haven't had time to update the blog in a week!)

First, Kira turned 15 months old and had her 15 month appointment with the pediatrician. Overall her appointment went well, with just a few minor concerns. First, we found out that Kira's uncharacteristic cranky attitude this past week wasn't just a change in attitude, but the first ear infection for the Reichmann children! Mommy was surprised, as Miri had checked just last weekend to make sure her cough and cold hadn't led to an ear infection, but it seems as if the infection came on some time after Miri checked (good thing we had a doctor's appointment planned anyway!) With some antibiotics, Kira has been back to her normal happy self this week.

Kira also only gained one ounce between her 12 month and 15 month appointments. She now weighs 20 pounds, 3 ounces and measures 33 inches long (she was 20 pounds, 2 ounces and 32.75 inches at 12 months). The doctor wasn't too concerned, as now Kira is on Ari's growth curves- 97th percentile for height and 15th percentile for weight. We'll keep an eye on her to make sure she's eating and growing appropriately, but given the fact that she is the best eater out of all three kids, we're chalking up the small gain to her new found mobility and the consequential burning of more calories.

Finally, Kira's head circumference was above the 100th percentile so there is a slight concern there, but because she is otherwise acting normally, we are on the fence as to whether or not to do a precautionary ultrasound before her soft spot in her head closes and we'd have to do a CT scan (with sedation) if there are future concerns. Dr. Miri is going to re-measure her head this weekend and we'll consider whether it is worth doing an ultrasound when there are no other signs of anything that would cause concern. Given the fact that her brother and father both had large heads as infants, this is probably (like her weight) genetic, but we'll defer to Dr. Miri in deciding what to do.

Because of her ear infection we decided to hold off on the three vaccinations until next month, but even that news didn't cheer Kira up while she was at the doctor's office. She screamed bloody murder any time the nurse or doctor walked towards her. It was interesting to see how her memory works at this young of an age!

Alex has also had a momentous week- we can now say that he is just about 100% potty trained. He is still sleeping in a diaper but has woken up dry the past two mornings (in fact, he woke up and asked Mommy to help him go to the bathroom in the middle of the night last night) so Mommy is tempted to let him sleep in underwear but holding off a few more days just in case. Mommy is DELIGHTED to have just one baby in diapers- it has already made a big difference in our monthly expenses, and it's not as difficult as Mommy had feared to take the kids to the bathroom while we're out and about, as Ari and Alex are really good at going quickly and waiting for each other.

This week Daddy worked late every day but we kept busy by spending a lot of time with friends- on Tuesday we had a fun reunion with twin friends Ellie and Thatch, who we hadn't seen since the kids were all under a year old. Thursday we played with friend Sam and his mommy in the morning and then had dinner with the Arking clan at night. Tonight we had friend Shara and her parents and baby sister over for Shabbat dinner.

Ari, Alex, Thatch and Ellie at 10 and 6 months, respectively