Missouri, Haircuts and Hiking

We got home from the beach last Sunday night and I flew out to Missouri on Tuesday morning at 9am. Well my flight was supposed to be at 9am. It didn't actually leave until 10am which made me miss my connection in Atlanta. But I did make it to Missouri. Tuesday evening was my grandmother's visitation at the funeral home and the funeral was Wednesday morning. Both were hard but both were very nice too. She had a really nice funeral honoring her life. It's almost impossible to believe that my grandparents are all gone. A sad week for sure.

Drew and the kids stayed at home when I flew out to MO. We thought about all going and we thought about leaving the kids and Drew going but none of them worked out. Drew and his Dad stayed with the kids while I was gone. Drew is a 100% hands-on dad so I was not worried one bit. We appreciate the help of Janice, Jamie, and Esther stepping in to help out while Drew carried Lindy to physical therapy and had meetings.

Drew was busy while I was gone. Lindy had physical therapy on Tuesday morning and from what I hear all went well. Tuesday afternoon the kids finally had their two year check-up with the pediatrician (even though it is almost a month late). Drew said it was one of the shortest appointments he had ever been to. I guess I wasn't there to run my mouth so it was short! The kids seem to be doing well so we had few questions for our doctor this time! One thing to note: According to the medical professionals, preemies have to stop adjusting for their prematurity at the age of 2. Apparently at the age of 2 they are magically caught up with their normal 2 year old peers. Therefore the kids are now on the same percentile charts as every other 2 year old. Up until now we've always used their adjusted age.

The stats and highlights of the appointment: Lindy weighed 22lbs and 3.6oz and was 30 1/4 inches long. This puts Lindy in the 1% for both weight and height. Will weighed 23 lbs and 5oz and was 32 1/2 inches long. This puts him in the 4% for both weight and height. So they are a bit small compared to other 2 year olds. But hey, they are on the chart! That has to count for something. The doctor said that she was more interested with their weight to height ratio. Lindy was in the 50% for weight/height and Will was in the 20% for weight/height. Lindy is very porportional and Will is a little tall and skinny. She wants us to keep the kids on whole milk instead of switching.

Lindy had to get one vaccine to get caught up and to our surprise, both kids got their flu shots! Yeah! One less trip and one less copay!

One thing they talked about was Will's speech. We wanted to know how concerned we should be that he isn't talking a ton by now. We both feel that he is trying to say more so she was fine with giving him a few more months (till around November - when he would really be 2) to see if he has progressed. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he'll have made progress by then or he'll eventually get referred for speech services.

Lindy also had hearing therapy on Wednesday afternoon while I was gone. Drew couldn't be there either so our teacher met with Lindy and Jamie (Drew's brother's girlfriend!). I think everything went fine while we were gone.

I flew home on Thursday afternoon and almost missed my connection again. I had to book it to get on the plane in time. I was glad to get home last night.

Today we have had a good day! Both kids got haircuts today. It was Lindy's second haircut and Will's FIRST! He made it to over two years but it was finally time to cut off the wings and rat-tail. He really doesn't look that incredibly different, but he definitely looks cleaned up! I think Lindy looks more different than Will does. She basically just got her bangs cut and the back cleaned up too.

This afternoon we headed out for a little hiking fun. We hiked to the Upper Cascades at Hanging Rock State Park. Afterwards we had a little picnic dinner. It turned out to be a great little trip that we all enjoyed very much. Will got to walk a lot of it and Lindy got to ride. The path was flat enough that we could take the stroller. It might have been a little bumpy at points but it was better than carrying her!

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!

He was a little apprehensive at first.

But the cootie toy made everything a-okay!
Cutting off the wings.

Will and Anita.

Our handsome boy with his new hairdo.

Sweet girl with her haircut.

Taking a break from hiking today.

Sweet father-daugher moment.

Checking out the water.

Sitting on a rock at the Rock Garden.

Checking out the rocks.

Our picnic dinner.

Has anyone ever noticed that when we are out and about Lindy doesn't often wear her hearing aids and glasses? We have had too many instances of her taking them off and throwing them and us having to go find them that we now just take them off if we are going to be somewhere that it would be hard to find them. The girl is sneaky and sly and can chuck them without anyone noticing! We definitely take them off if any water is involved. We try to have her wear them as much as possible but we also don't want to lose them!