Well, it finally happened. Walker and Curran have been having a rather playful competition regarding their height for some time now. Curran has always been tall and Walker has been a shrimp for some time now. He is dwarfed by many of the kids in his class and his best friend has a head and shoulders above him. Geez, he had to pick the tallest kid to befriend???! lol

Anyway, tonight they decided that they would be measured. I truly was not thinking or else I would have ran off to clean toilets or something less volatile. :hairpull: If I wondered about competition between brothers before, I wonder no more. Egad.

There is literally a speck separating them in height. Less than 1/4 inch. This made Curran beam like a solar flare and made Walker about as redfaced as one. :sad3: An initially good natured ribbing was taking place, but Walker is REALLY sensitive about his height (or more to the point, the lack of that thereof) and I put a stop to it.

Anyone know when a 9 year old critter would go through a growth spurt? He is 49' tall. That is putting him at less than the 3rd percentile. He has been there for about 3 years now. Perhaps it is time to look into this? He is a healthy critter and eats well. He eats about 1/3 to 1/2 of what Curran does and he is getting downright stocky at the moment. He weighs in at a whopping 67lbs. :hairpull: That places him at about the 52nd for weight, but trust me, he is chunking up. Despite all the swimming and lack of snacking, this boy is packing on the pounds. His legs were hurting so much around Christmas I was sure he was going to sprout up.

We go to the ped for their checkups on the 10th and I will ask about this. I am concerned about thryoid issues as I bring that to the genetic table. I was diagnosed as hyper thyroid at age 8 and had my thryroid knocked out at age 9 as I was 5'7" already. (in case you are all wondering, they predicted I would be over 6'1" and I ended up at 5'9" with a size 12 ladies shoe. Darn it).

Any pearls of wisdom to share? I have never pushed at the ped to check this out.

I promised myself a long time ago that I needed to rip myself away from the scales and measurements due to all we went through with Iain and hanging on for every ounce. I thought I was over the neurosis, but find myself worried about Walker and his height. I am trying to reconcile how my healthy critter could be surpassed by his 7 year old brother who has allergies, malabsorption and still pukes? *shrugs shoulders*

As long as he is healthy, I am fine with this, but it is so hard to see how upset he is getting over being short. :sad5: It seems that my telling him he is going to grow is no longer making any difference.

Hi Leigh - My middle son was always small. His younger brother (4 yrs younger) was about the same size as he was at a few points in his life. He really shot up in high school. It was so bad I was buying new pants every 3 months because of the growth spurts.

I would still bring it up to the ped to lessen your worries about him.

Thanks, Jane. :hug:

I am not overly worried about it as he has been hovering at the bottom of the chart for years now. Long ago he lost his 75th % that he held at birth and the 50th-75th% for some years beyond.

My main concern is that I have been showing a lack of concern over it, if that makes any sense? We have the two other boys who have been have been exceptionally needy in the health department. The ped and I laugh when she pulls out the files for the boys as they are thick as tomes for Curran and Iain and Walker's is pretty sparse in comparison.

I have told him that when he gets to be a teen, he will shoot up. I believe that he will and it is hard to convince him of that. I do not think he will be a 6-footer by any means, nor do I think he will likely be the 'shrimp' he is at the moment. I bring the height genes, but can not overlook the fact that Bill is only 5'7" and his side of the family is all around the same height. Pointing out that he has Polkaroo feet that he will grow into no longer works. He has noticed my feet are huge, too. lol

We will see what the ped says. I was just wondering if there is a 9 or 10 year old growth spurt to expect? I know puberty is when it all happens by leaps and bounds, but my heart can not take thinking about puberty at the moment. Egad. Can we just skip that stage???! :smt036

Dylan who is almost 15 just grew 1 1/2 inches in 3 mos( he goes for med checks every 3 mos for add) before that he had grown an inch he is now 5 3 1/2 they seemed a spurt... he is still smaller than most 15 yr olds and i would maybe compare him to a 12 yr old... he still gets kid meals at restaurants lol...

Growth spurts for boys happen anywhere between 10 and 15. It could happen for him anytime.

I remember my nephew was a shrimp at around this age, and he began to chunk out, and no height change what so ever. Then when he turned 15 BAM!!!! within just months he was unrecognizable. It was the weirdest thing. My sister gave me pictures of his new braces and he was still the little boy I always new. He got them in March. We came home for a visit in Aug, and He was a man. A tall man!!!! With a ton of hair and a deep deep voice!!! It made me cry Leigh. and I got mad at my sister for not sending more pictures of him. LOL but she couldn't help it, it just happened so so so fast. ewwww it was so creepy. It actually took me a good amount of time and a lot more visits with him before I could see him as my nephew again.

My only advice is to document. Take lot's of pictures from here on out. Take them daily if you can get away with it ;)

But seriously Leigh, it's not such a bad idea to talk to the doctor about. With the boys medical histories, and the fact that he feels so badly about it, I think it would be a great idea. He might get disappointed with what the doc has to say "I think you are perfectly normal, and healthy, you just need to wait it out".
But hearing that from a doc might just be what he needs to help him get through the next few of years KWIM?

I would mention it to the doc also. Let him know that your son is somewhat sensitive about it also. Maybe the doc has some magic words to ease the worry of height.

Minnie's right, between 10-15 is a major spurt.

First, I was thinking that you're pretty tall but if I remember correctly, Bill isn't exactly a giant...right? (or did it just feel as though I was looking down my nose at him when he teased me about wearing pajama pants to dinner?) Perhaps he didn't inherit quite the height his mother has...:-)

Secondly, I'm with Minnie and Lena. While I don't have older kids of my own, I do remember being a pre-teen/teenager. The girls (yours truly, especially) towered over the boys until about freshman or sophomore year of high school. I remember reading that girls get their height earlier than boys...so I wouldn't be surprised if he stays around this height for awhile then suddenly rockets up.

Of course, when you're young and you feel dwarfed by everyone else, these words are pretty hollow. :-(

Plus it's normal for males to grow until around 20. He has plenty of time to catch up.