Baby Mayfield: Lake Rat

Yesterday, Collin had his 9 month check up. Here is how it went...

Collin and I are sitting in, which must be, the best room in the clinic. We are on the 3rd floor of the Williams Medical Plaza at St. John's Hospital. Our room has two very large windows, with one looking over Utica Square and the other looking down 21st street over Wendy's. I tell Collin, "In a few years, you'll be begging me to stop at Russel Stovers after your doctor visits for a treat... and I will gladly comply." Doctor Setter enters and sits in a chair across from us as he looks over Collin's records. His eyes grow wider and he says, "We're nine months... oh my! He is a BIG baby!"

Collin is 29 lbs 8 oz., 30.5 inches long, and his head circumference is 48.5 cm. Dr. Setter proceeds to tell me that Collin is a little under 3 lbs over the 97th percentile in weight, the 97th percentile in height, and over the 97th percentile in head circumference... which puts him at about the size of an average TWO YEAR OLD. With that in mind, the Doc has no worries about Collin's size. He is not obese, he's just... large. Some people are bigger than others. I knew it. I knew Collin had to be much bigger than average! My aching back.

Now get this...

No vaccinations for this visit. Just a finger prick to get a C.B.C. (complete blood count). Which, I am thinking, is not as awful as a shot, but still not pleasant for little ones. After the bewildered doctor leaves the room, the lab technician comes in. The cute-as-a-button, short blond hair, cheerful lab technician... Jamie. Collins eyes widen and his mouth drops open. Now... this is the part that fully explains the likeness he has with his father. As Jamie is preparing herself and Collin for this supposedly horrible experience, she warns me that this will make him very unhappy, and we need to be sure to hold him still when he starts throwing a tantrum. Meanwhile, Collin is still mesmerized by Jamie. She begins. Collin is putty in her hands. He doesn't move. He doesn't cry. He doesn't pull away. He doesn't make a sound. He just stares at her with his big blue eyes. Jamie says, "Wow, I've never had a child act this good for this." I chuckle and reply, "He has a thing for pretty girls."

Last weekend, Collin and I headed up to Grand Lake with my mom, my aunt (Aunt Nana) and her husband (Uncle Poppy). We were there 4 days and 3 nights. It is official. Collin is a Lake Rat. He thought that lake was the biggest bathtub he's ever seen! We didn't quite (successfully) get him in the lake water, but he did get some swimming time.

And some naked time...

And Uncle Poppy took us on a boat ride on his motor boat. Now, at first, Collin wasn't too fond of the wind and sun in his face when we left our cove. But after a while, we came back to the cove for a more relaxing ride. Before I realized it, Collin had passed out. I didn't realize it at first, because he was sitting straight up, wearing a life jacket.