3 years wellness check-up

Today was Kendall's 3 years old wellness check-up with our awesome pediatrician Dr. Benzick. (I called them in late March to schedule it in early May, around her birthday, but the earliest they had, that also fit our school schedule was today. It's not a big deal, but we have just been excited about getting her official stats and seeing him and his sweet nurses since she hasn't been in there for a whole year now!)

 

She continues to show me what a big girl she is now ... and although it is exciting and makes me a proud Mommy, it does break my heart just a little bit when I think about how she is not a baby anymore & is just growing up so fast! The same feelings, I'm sure, that every Mommy has from time to time. Most of the time, I want to say, "Excuse me, but WHEN did YOU get so BIG?!?!"

She did great ... and now that she is 3, she was really observing and analyzing what the nurse and Dr. Benzick was doing and asking to do to her, as they took her blood pressure, temperature, listened to her heart beat & lungs, looked in her eyes and ears, asked lots of questions and expected her to answer (most of) them (some were directed to me).

Dr. Benzick came in and was so happy with all the GROWING Kendall has done over the past year ... and boy has this girl done some growin'! He showed us her growth chart ... and here are her official 3 years old stats:
Height 36 in ... 25th  percentile
Weight 31 lbs ... 50th  percentile (the highest she has ever been on the chart was last year, when she finally got on the chart for the first time in her life at a whopping 3rd percentile, so that was a huge jump!)

She has grown over 4.5 inches and gained 9 lbs in a year ... this would probably not be too great for most kids her age (since they usually gain 1-3 lbs during that year), but for Kendall it is excellent! She has been growing and catching up ... and is now in normal ranges on the charts. He showed us her "growth prediction" (which was about what we'd thought she'd probably be like as well) ... so, based on her growing stats, she's predicted to be about 5' 2" or 5' 3" (taking after her Huni who is exactly 5 foot and her Auntie Amber who is 5' 2" or 5' 3" ... that's what I'd always pictured Kendall as all grown up as, so that makes sense to me.) I know these growth predictions can be off, but it's fun to have written down to reference back to in the future.

She had a great appointment ... got to pick out a sticker and a sucker ... got many compliments from the sweet nurses ... and didn't have to get any immunization shots!  Can't ask for anything better than that!

We praise God for all of the growing & development He continues to do in Kendall.  It is truly amazing the mighty work He has done and continues to do in her sweet little body and in our lives as her family!  She is the biggest blessing (besides our salvation) that He has given & entrusted us with!  She has come such a long way from her tiny 2 lb 6 oz & 10.5 weeks early beginning ... and has just never looked back!  It is just amazing and we get to witness it every day!  To God be the Glory ... Great things He has done!

the Odom Girls Dance Recital

We ended our fun (but long) day of parties yesterday by attending our very 1st dance recital ... we watched our 3 Odom cousins Ashleigh, Kaelynn & Rylie ... and we loved it! Kendall looooooved it! She loved it ALL ... the music, the costumes, the dancing, the ballet shoes, the tap shoes ... and ALL the sparkles!  She oooohhhhed & aaaahhhhed at each class' dance performance.

 

And she loved getting to see the girls and their fancy dance costumes after the recital!  Kendall has been talking about dance class lately ... mostly because one of her little friend's Ryllie is also in dance this year.  Kendall is signed up for a session of tap & ballet over the summer so she can try it out, without a dance recital commitment.  After seeing her tonight, I think this might have been a night that changes Kendall ... into a little dancer!

Park fun with the Caton's

Tonight we babysat the Caton kids while Angela & Garrick went out on a date. We've started date night / babysitting swapping with them ... and it's worked out really great so far!  (They babysat for us the 1st time, for Ashley's birthday, so it was our turn to babysit this time.  We are all for saving money on babysiting!)

Kendall was thrilled to have Ryllie and Lyndon come over to play for a few hours ... after playing at our house for a while, we packed a pinic dinner and walked to our local favorite park ... it was a really nice night out and the kids had a blast riding in the wagon (while I pushed Lyndon in our stroller), eating & playing at the park!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the park, it was movie time ... the kids got changed into the pajamas & got to stay up past bedtime to enjoy a movie and snack.  Kendall can't wait for the next date night with her friends!

small group zoo trip

Today, we went to the Fort Worth Zoo ... one of Kendall's most favorite places! We met most of our small group there ... all the Mommys and kids ... and 52 school buses ... ahhhhh!  We had no idea it would be so crowded, especially with so many schools ... so a few of the families decided not to go on in, but Kendall already had her heart set on checking the animals, so we braved the crowd.  Since it is already May and getting rather hot out, this will probably be our last time to visit the zoo until the fall.  (We enjoy our annual membership from Sept-May!)  We met up with the Walton's, Michener's, Gradke's and Carter's ... and we had a great day together!

First up, the monkeys ... Kendall's favorite ... we have to check (and then double check again with a 2nd visit on our way to the exit) on the monkeys & the sweet baby monkey as soon as we arrive.  Luckily, that is where Chesley, Emerson & Ansley were waiting for everyone to meet up.

 

With the large crowd, we quickly decided to take the train to the back of the zoo and walk our back to the front ... and that worked great!  We saw the flamingos along on our way to the train ...

Mitch, Eva, Kendall, Reed & Adalae

sweet friends Emerson & Kendall walking to the train

All Aboard!  All the kids were soooo excited about riding the train together ...

Kendall, Emerson & Chesley

Katherine, Madeline & Mitch

Adalae, Ansley and Reed

all of our kids on the alligator at the Texas Wild area ... Ansley, Adalae, Ella, Reed, Kendall, Madeline, Mitch, Emerson, (some little girl that's not in our small group) and Eva

After the Texas Wild area, we ate lunch and split apart ... some families had to leave and rest of us went on to see our favorite must-see animals ...  

Kendall with Ella & Eva Carder and the Kangaroo mommy & baby

the birds ... Heather and Amy took their kids and Kendall into the birds area, while I stayed out to watch all of our strollers & stuff.  (History states that I do better not going inside the free flying birds area!)  Amy bought Kendall her own bird-feeding-stick and helped her feed them, but these birds were just not hungry this afternoon ... despite all of the kids sweet attempts to feed them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the end of our afternoon, we are quite sweaty, but everyone had a blast getting to be together at the zoo!  More small group playdates coming soon!