What Statistics Really Mean.

Colin had his four-month check up on Friday.  

I've never fooled myself.  I know Colin is big.  Like, really big.  I think this because strangers on the street will stop us and say things like, "Wow, he's big. Like, really big." 

But on Friday, I found out exactly how big.  He is 26 1/4" long and 19.2 pounds.  That's the 89% and the 96%, respectively.  I took it in stride at the moment.  "Sure," I thought.  "Ninety-sixth percentile.  Who isn't?"  But then I got home and realized exactly who isn't: 99 people in 100 aren't in the 96th percentile.  And then I got to thinking about what those statistics really mean.

If there were 100 babies in a room (and let's be honest: that's a lot of babies), and someone patiently lined up all 100 babies in descending order of weight, Colin would be the fourth baby to be lined up.   The fourth!   He'll fall asleep waiting for the other 96 babies to be organized. And by the time the job's done, he'll be ready for snack.

If you're the 4th-heaviest baby in the room (or, if it makes you feel better, the 96th-lightest), raise your hand!

Shout-out.

This entry serves as a shout-out to Maren, who bought Colin this totally rockin' Nike leisure suit.

In addition to being super cute, the outfit is functional, too. See, Colin is commonly mistaken for a girl* and, despite Serena Williams' lucrative endorsement deal, nothing says "boy" like Nike.

* Brad thinks that it only happens if the person asking has a daughter.  I think it's more widespread.  I think it happens because Colin is super-naturally pretty.  

The Music Man.

Colin's been standing more and more, and we thought he'd dig being in a standing position while playing.  So,  Brad and I took the plunge and bought him an exer-saucer.  The exer-saucer we bought has a music-playing, push-button (for lack of a better word) device.  It has five buttons, all with an animal's picture on it.  The first time you hit a button, it mimics the sound the animal makes.  The second hit gives you the name of the animal in English.  The third - the animal's name in Spanish.  On the fourth, it plays classical music (or totally non-classical music made to sound classical, in the case of the cow playing "Old McDonald Had a Farm"). 

Colin has loved music since he was born, and he's a huge fan of not the exer-saucer as a whole, and not that particular device, but that particular device while playing music.  When music is playing, he's happy as a clam.

When music isn't playing, this happens.

After getting sad enough often enough, Colin is now expert at slapping the button three times really fast, all while grimacing.  After the fourth hit, when the music starts, he's super-psyched. (He has yet to play with any of the other toys.)