I took the boys in for their check-ups and it continues to amaze me how differently all of my children develop.
Fiver, my second largest baby, has maintained his title as the slowest growing member of our family. He will be six in August and he is 44 inches tall and he has finally broken 40 pounds. He still wears 4T shorts and his foot has only grown one full size in three years. He comes in at the 20th percentile for height and weight.
Bun, on the other hand, has been busy bulking up. He was my smallest baby by far, but at four months old he is now tipping the scales at 17 pounds and he is 26 inches tall. He comes in at the 90th percentile.
But no one can beat Sally. She was the biggest baby, and she is continuing that trend as she grows. She wasn't in for a check-up, but we measured her just for kicks and giggles. She weighs 32 pounds and she is 36 inches tall. She's not yet two years old.
They say that if you double your child's height at two you'll get their average adult height. Apparently we are looking at a career in the WNBA, since this child is already wearing 3T clothing. That's only one size smaller than Fiver. Did I mention he is almost six?
Of course, Fiver's slow growth is not a new phenomenon around here. He grows, but it comes at a snail's pace. He has been tested for every kind of genetic or chromosomal abnormality that may cause his slow growth and lack of muscle tone, but no explanation has been found.
Sometimes it frustrates me, the not knowing, but I prefer to focus on the positives. Like all the money I save by not having to buy him new clothes. He's wearing his summer wardrobe from last year, and even some of those pants are still big on him. God bless the person who invented those handy adjustable waistbands in kids' pants.
We also found out that Fiver has a heart murmur. Of course he does. I should have known something was up when Dr. P was spending a lot of time with the stethoscope pressed to his chest.
She feels that the murmur is probably innocent, but she said she'll keep a close eye (ear?) on it because of all of the other mojo he's got going on. She also feels that his growth is normal for him, even though it looks abnormal when compared with the way my other children grow. I just shrugged because, honestly?, sometimes I have no idea what is going on with this kid. He is what he is. Small but mighty.
What I do know is that I plan on saving some major coin at the school uniform store this summer.
What about your people, my friends? Any other slow-growers out there? How about slow-growers in a family of kids who look like they might be hopped up on HGH? Do you think they'll outgrow it?
Heh. I've got to get my laughs in somewhere.
Sally is almost the size of my 5yo! I have teeny kids. My 5yo is 39" and 33lbs, my 2.5 yo is 26lbs and my baby was 22" and 10lbs 14oz. My biggest baby (the newest one) is my slowest grower. Genes are so weird!
ReplyDeleteMy children are all tall and skinny. My 11 year old has to wear a size 12 pant for length but we have to by adjustable waist and usually use a belt. At age 5, he finally stopped wearing a 2T pair of shorts! Even our baby, who started out at a whopping 9lb 6oz is now only about 16 pounds at 6 months. However, to us he is a whopper--he is the only one we have ever had with an ounce of baby fat!
ReplyDeleteOne of my cousins on my mom's side of the family was a chubby chipmunk baby. But that slowed down drastically. He became a short toothpick while his 2 brothers and sister were HUGE. I'm talking both tall and chunky.
ReplyDeleteThen he turned 17. Over the next 3 years he grew like a weed and is now the second tallest of the boys at 6'3" (all three of the boys are over 6').
Little Brother is 6. He is 42 inches tall and 39 pounds. He is my BIGGEST child at that age.
ReplyDeleteBut all of a sudden, Middle Sister, who was always a little peanut, decided to shoot up several inches--at age 12. Big Brother has been growing at a quick rate for the past few years also.
So the coin you save will be what I am spending. I have 2 children who need ALL NEW UNIFORMS for next year. Fortunately Little Brother will still fit in all of his.
LOVE those adjustable waists, and I found some great belts on ebay (seller is skool outfitters) that are elastic with a magnetic buckle.
We are mostly average, but with a couple of exceptions.
ReplyDeleteBuddy, who will be 5 in October, weighs 31 pounds! I don't know how tall he is, but he is shorter than other kids his age, but not by a lot. He wears 4T and 5T shirts, but 6-12 month shorts! I just bought him a pair of shorts with an adjustable waistband that were size 12 months! I have no idea what he will wear in the winter. He has always been small though, and I was the same as a baby.
All of my kids fall on the bottom half of the weight chart, but none as drastically as Buddy. Butterfly has not been weighed since her 2 month checkup, and she weighed 10 pounds then.
It is funny how kids grow (or don't grow, as the case may be).
Some kids just seem to hit growth spurts later than sooner.
ReplyDeleteIn the past he priest we used to have at our 5:15 Sunday Mass was a compact 5'3.5 (or so) inches.
One boy server caught him in height about age 12-13. His younger brother didn't reach the same height until he was SIXTEEN. (He (and we, truth be told) wondered whether puberty would ever kick in.)
One of our current servers is age 11 and a few months ago hit the priest's height, and is now a little taller. I call him "weed."
Karen
Hey, Aimee, the more I read about the more I read about Fiver, the more I think he's like Little Professor. My son is so skinny, I can't remember the last time he wore something without an adjustable waste. He just outgrew his 4T underwear and is consistently hovering around the 10%ile for weight. My pediatrician is always joking he is going to take his driver's test in a booster seat since its our law you have to be in one till your 80lbs. BTW, he is nearly 8 and just hit 50lbs. I feed him a high fat diet (still on whole milk) and lots of olive oil, but mostly, I don't worry about it. What can you do?
ReplyDelete