ped reports for 2

At this point in our lives, it truly feels like the doctor appointments never end.  We have several of them during any given week.  Poor Silas hates the doctor; he is constantly having his finger pricked or having his ears messed with; he even had a catheter during one check-up and an IV to draw blood at another one.  I hope he can forget all of this and get over his fear.  Ivy's 4-month coincided with a follow-up appointment for Silas a couple of weeks ago.  It was a challenge holding two screaming children while trying to ask all the questions on my list and actually comprehend the answers.  How do people with more than 2 kids do it??

Ivy was 25 3/8" long (50-70th percentile) and weighed 13 lbs 9.5 oz (50th percentile).  She is right on target with developmental stuff, even a little on the early side (which is new for us).  My one concern with her is that she still has fussy feedings quite frequently.  I admit that nursing Ivy is not always an enjoyable experience.  She is tense the entire time, gets mad as soon as the milk slows down, and often cries a lot.  We put her on Zantac in case reflux is the issue, but so far I haven't noticed a significant improvement...

Ivy rolls over from both sides all the time and can move across a room (slowly) doing this.  We think she is very close to being able to sit up on her own.  She is very attached to her pacifier and often wakes up from naps/nighttime because she lost it.  I am sort of mad at myself for starting the whole pacifier thing in the first place, but with two kids sharing a room I felt like it was unavoidable.  I don't have the luxury of letting her cry it out and falling back asleep, you know?  Her brother is a light sleeper.

Ivy is extremely alert and social.  She will go from crying to laughing in a heartbeat if someone just pays a little attention to her.  She loves to sit (or stand) on anyone's lap.  Ivy is always content when being held and usually content otherwise. :)  She sticks anything and everything into her mouth.  I haven't started her on solids yet and plan to wait until she is 6 months.

Silas has low hemoglobin, which he has been tested for several time in the last 5 months.  He had to go to a hematologist this week for more testing.  It does not seem to be an iron deficiency, so we will see what they say when the tests come back.

Si also has continued having issues with his ears and saw an ENT this week as well.  The ENT wants to put tubes in, but suggested we wait until the fall unless he gets another infection.  That way, his tubes won't interfere with his ability to swim.  He also had an abnormal hearing screening; this probably just reflects an inaccurate test, but he needs to get retested in September.

Our insurance denied Silas' new physical therapy program (his therapist with First Steps, Michelle, moved away and recommended we do this hippotherapy place- horseback riding really can help strengthen core muscles) so we are trying to appeal.  The problem is that he doesn't have a clear medical diagnosis so his insurance doesn't think he really needs the therapy.  So you can pray that our appeal will go through!

Whew, I think that's it for now.