Where 33 inches* and 22 pounds will get you

 

Last week, I took the girls in to get their immunizations. For Jules, it was her 12 month well baby check, for which she was, you may note, 3 months late. I just couldn't bring myself to make her get shots in the dead of winter because I pretty much felt like January isn't a time to tempt fate by visiting the doctor's office, and February is absolutely the worst month ever (aside from My Birthday, Groundhog's Day, and Valentine's Day) so why make it even more miserable with 3 pokes in the leg? Therefore, I waited until the first day of spring was within our sights, and then took them in.

Jules still ended up picking up some cold germ (no doubt because she kept putting her hands in her mouth after touching every possible surface), but oh well. I just can't bother myself to worry that much about colds. This was a baby born in December after all, and suffered through bronchitis for the first three months of her life (although it didn't really seem to bother her since she still smiled through it all).

The official measurements: height at 33 inches* and weight at 22 pounds. That puts her 7 inches and 10 pounds smaller than Sydney. I admit I'm a bit amazed she doesn't weigh more. Jules is a very good eater. Give her a box of raisins, and 60 seconds later she'll ask you for more (but please don't give her more because she doesn't digest those raisins...ever seen a diaper full of raisins? not pretty). She eats meat. She eats vegetables. She eats fruit. She eats Sydney's leftovers. She eats our leftovers. I'm amazed by it, especially considering Sydney's main food groups are cereal, toast, and fruit. She is the quintessential picky eater.

Not Jules.

Yet, she's still on the petite side. I asked our pediatrician about it, wondering if maybe she should weigh more. He said, "It's not surprising considering you're tall and thin." Okay, let's give it up for the pediatrician. Love him.

He also pointed to the fact that Jules has been walking since 9 months, so she's just burning those calories off. I don't deny that. This girl is a mover, a shaker, a mom-just-cleaned-the-house heart breaker. Out of exasperation, I finally had Jason install another child lock on a kitchen cabinet because she insists on pulling things out. Of course, all the dangerous stuff is locked up; I'm just locking up even more stuff for the safety of my sanity.

This girl. Nothing is safe from her.

She rips up magazines,
rips up books,
rips of any shred of paper she can find,
(usually with her teeth, and then spits out the paper all over the house, so I'm constantly scraping up dried spitballs from the walls/floor/furniture),
scatters Sydney's hair ties all over the house,
pulls Daisy's tail,
empties the dog dish,
pulls my hair,
pulls Sydney's hair,
turns the computer off.

And the big trick lately is to climb. Find a chair, a stool, a bench, a pillow, and climb it has high as it will take her.

Like this week, when I hear her yelling for me as I'm back in my room folding clothes.

"Mama!" she screeches. "Maaamaaaa!"

Ever at her beck and call, I wander out to the dining room to see that she has taken possession of a container...

from the floor,
up to Sydney's craft table,
onto the chair,
onto the table,
into the box,
and gotten stuck.

Being 33 inches can get you into all sorts of trouble. Heck, it gets me into all sorts of trouble. Thank goodness she sleeps through the night because we all need our rest to keep up with this girl.

*Edited to add: I noticed this morning that Jules was just under 29 inches on her birthday, and so thinking it would be quite amazing for her to have grown 3 inches in 3 months, I re-measured her. When she's standing, she's just under 31 inches. Evidently, Jules still falls under the "baby" category where she's being measured head to toe (rather than head to heel). So, she's 9 inches shorter than Sydney, not seven. Nonetheless, that 2 inches isn't holding Jules back from anything. 

*****

(c) Creature Bug 2008. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Jess]

This girl is adorable! A baby in a box: I love it. I also find it funny that she rips up paper and magazines with her teeth, 'cause our cat does that!

[violetismycolor]

Wow, look how big she's getting. And I see a resemblance to Syndney.

[ccap]

Oh dear. The adventures I have ahead of me... again.

[Margaret]

Adventurous was my younger daughter's middle name.(second child syndrome?) She was also much smaller than her older sister--until about a year ago when she suddenly got bigger. Now Ashley is the petite one at 21 and Alison is the larger of the two. It feels weird.

[Bea]

You have beautiful children...really adoreable. And the videos are so nice to watch.

Have a nice friday!

Bea

[Rachel]

I can't believe Syd was so much taller than Jules. She is so adorable and has the best attitude...but then there are always trade offs, right? Easy going...but into everything. I love the pics. She's adorable!

[Stephanie]

Oops, maybe I should have been more specific: Jules is shorter/smaller than Sydney is right now, not when Sydney was Jules' age.

As far as where Syd was at Jules age...I think they are about the same.