18 Month check ups

So we missed our appointment and then couldn't get in till they were 19 months, but close enough right? They are both doing well and growing along their growth curves. Here are some "stats" for both of them:

Ava can say about 30-35 words (the most common aside from people names are dog, apple, elmo, book, nana (banana), saja (lion), waz that, wiggle wiggle (from a book), more and milk). She is climbing and starting to run. She loves reading and thinks her brother is hilarious! She seems to love men - case in point, I'm sure if she could talk well enough, she would have asked Uncle Roy to marry her by now. She is not such a good sharer but is working on "trading" with Noah and with us. Did I mention that she loves reading? Because she really does! She loves accessories. Sometimes it's a hat or a scarf, sometimes it's pants on her head but either way she loves it! She gives amazing hugs, loves to give kisses and wants to give everyone a fist bump.





Noah says about 30 words, the most common other than people's names are more, nana!!!, dog, owie, no/no/no/no/no!, book, ball, cheese, ninety-nine. He loves to throw things and can get some distance most of the time. He also loves to kick the soccer ball - he even pulled it back with his foot a few times last week so we're going to start dribbling practice soon. :) He also climbs and "runs" and has been rearranging toys a lot lately. He and Ava definitely have a "twin language" and he loves making her laugh and has no problem giving her all of his food and toys... most of the time! He is very curious about how things work and people constantly point out to us that he "studies" things. He frequently gets very important phone calls that necessitate him pacing around the playzone while he's on the phone.

Over the last year, we've been dealing with some health stuff with Noah. In July of last year, he got sick with a virus and we did some blood work to see what was going on - mostly so we could be prepared for when Ava caught it. What we found is that Noah's white blood count is not what it should be. His neutrophils (the white blood cells that fight bacteria) are really low. Most kids have at least 1500, even on the worst of days. Noah had 0 as of his last count. That means that he's really susceptible to bacteria so anytime he gets a fever over 101, we have to bring him to the Dr or the ER, whichever is available for blood tests and antibiotics, even if we're pretty sure it's nothing. When he gets sick his body mounts a good response and increases his neutrophil count which is a great sign and most likely means that when he got that first virus, his body created antibodies that kill off the neutrophils - we are still waiting for tests to confirm but that is the most common explanation. He's not "sick" and it's something that he'll out grow in a couple of years but for now, we have to be extra cautious. Overall, we are very fortunate that it isn't something more serious and we have great doctors but it's still stressful - no matter how careful we are, kids just get sick sometimes. We'd appreciate your thoughts and prayers when you think of us - but not your worries because we know he's gonna be just fine!





It's been a great 19 months so far!