Doctor Visits and Adventures in Shopping (Part IV)

I think I've made a trek to the doctor either for myself or a kid just about every day this past week. Mostly just check-ups and immunizations, but it makes for a lot of trips to and fro (especially when the radiologist calls you and asks to reschedule and tells you to come in at 3:15, but when you get there she gives you a dirty look and says, "I told you to come at 3:00" and makes you reschedule yet again). And I have to go back to the office on Monday because Samantha kicked off a sock in the ultrasound room and I didn't notice 'til I got home. Oh well. At least we don't live out in the middle of nowhere where we'd have to drive forever to get to the doctor.

Yesterday was Samantha's two month check-up. She's doing quite well; chunking right up. She weighs 10 pounds 14.5 ounces and is 22.5 inches long. She's right on the 50th percentile for height and weight. Her head circumference seems a little small to me; it's only on the 25 percentile. But it's growing on a steady curve, so it's nothing to worry too much about. While he was checking Samantha out, the doctor made a comment that she doesn't have much of a neck. She's mostly cheeks and chins (yes, it's plural). We had a good laugh about that. I was really impressed with how Samantha did with all the poking and prodding of checking her ears and eyes and listening to her heart and lungs. She just wiggled around and seemed to enjoy it. Drew and Owen screamed bloody murder at every doctor visit until about 18 months (24 months for Owen).

We went grocery shopping last night. Just as a side note: I really wish Walmart had frequent shopper discounts. I'm thinking of getting a job there just for the 10% employee discount. It would really help out with diapers and such. There's another store in town whose prices are actually a little cheaper than Walmart's, but they don't take credit cards. This is a problem for us, because we're trying to rack up points and take a vacation in February.

Any outing with Drew and Owen in tow is an adventure. Now, with Samantha joining us, it's even more exciting. For some reason, we seem to make a bit of a spectacle and draw a lot of comments. For example: I was carrying Samantha in the Snugli, and a guy passing by said, "What a cute bundle you have there! That's really cool." It was a rather cute bundle, I must say. Samantha was snuggled into my chest with her arms and legs dangling out the sides of the Snugli, and her little pink pom-pom hat sticking out the top.

Adding to the spectacle are Drew and Owen who have to say "Hi" to everyone we pass, and comment on every screaming kid: "Baby crying," Drew always says loudly. The parents always look at us like they're embarrassed, so I feel compelled to remind Drew that he, too, behaves like that quite often. Yesterday, one of the ladies Drew said hi to stopped and chatted for a minute. She said, "You boys have such great hair!" She asked me if they always had good, thick hair like that. I told her that Drew was born with quite a bit but that Owen was bald for the first year or so. She said, "Well, it looks great! You have newscaster hair!"

By the end of our shopping trip, Samantha was getting fussy. It was probably around 9:30, which is past her bedtime. Plus, she'd been sitting on a dirty diaper for half the trip. She cried and cried while I was putting groceries into the car. Owen was in the car seat next to her and as I loaded the last bag into the car, I saw him petting her arm as he said over and over, "See nuff 'Mantha (that's enough, Samantha)." I hurried and closed the car door so he wouldn't hear me giggling all the way to the cart return.