Being proud.

Aren't we all proud of our children whey they master a goal you've set for them or accomplish a difficult task for their developmental level? And if we're truly honest, aren't we a bit proud of ourselves as well? Yes, most of us are indeed proud. This is a dangerous path to follow. Be careful in that you are not proud of yourself as a parent, but proud of Christ who resides in you that gives you the wisdom to parent such a wonderful, amazing child.

Furthermore, be careful in that you value the talents your children have as gifts from God and not gifts from you. He has given your child special talents, big and small, and absolutely none of them come from you. Some of their talents may mimic yours, and this is without coincidence because it enables you to enjoy your time together, but it still is not from you. Praise God for giving your children such special talents and for giving YOU special talents in which to teach them how to use their gifts in a spiritual way.

James 4:6 God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Grace is for sure a good thing.

So it's offical now....

... Benjamin is indeed medically short, which is better than just "his mother thinks he's short, short"...? Anyway, he's now below the 5%, so that means it's time to get checked out. One would think that we loooooved going to Portsmouth Hospital, but we really do not. We're not sure who we're seeing this time as the cause for this could be numerous. We went in for his school physical last week and they charted his height and looked at me as if I were in the wrong for not mentioning it earlier. Sheesh, I have been mentioning it. Haven't they read my blog and/or facebook posts? I mean who do these doctors think they are dealing with? heh...

So we have to go back in to see his regular pediatrian who will then send us to Portsmouth. I know, I know, walk here to run there and sit for thirty minutes. Now get up and spin. Now squat. Now jump like a frog. This is the military referral system, folks. It's free, but painful sometimes.

I do however have full confidence in the specialists there. All of the doctors we have dealt with in the past have been wonderful. Let's hope for the same experience in figuring out what the deal is with my little shorty.

google

Benjamin has grown very little in the past year. His weight and height are almost identical to last November. If you've ever seen Benjamin, it's obvious that the weight issue is not a problem at all. He is the average sized, chunky little toddler. Little being the operative word since he's at the 8% for height. This of course was not a problem last November because his percentile then hovered around the 50% mark. The closer he gets to three at this height, the more likely it will be that he will be tested for various things just to rule out anything serious. It may just be that he's short. Only time will tell as doctors do not appear concerned until the percentile mark gets below 5%.

Now everyone knows that I am a planner. It seems like I plan to plan sometimes. So of course I google everything that could cause children to become short or stop growing. The list goes on and on and some are serious and some are not so serious. The result of internet googling can go in a wrong direction rather quickly. Suddenly, it seems as if every listed symptom is showing up right before your eyes. "Child has very wide set eyes and a blue tongue." Surely Benjamin's had a blue tongue recently, right? With a far off glaze and vacant expression, you actually begin to believe that your child is turning into a chowchow. Now that is not actually a short stature symptom, thank goodness, but you get where I'm going with that.

It's okay if he's always short. I think he's quite adorable that way. Let's just hope that he's short just because he is.