First day of school

Today is the first day of school for the kids. While we were ready physically - everything was purchased and organized, I don't think we were ready in any mental way yet. We are just off the trans-Atlantic vacation jet lag and then BAM! School starts.

My teen got up fairly easily - probably the only time all year that will happen.  He's entering the 11th grade and will turn 16 in 2 days. That late August birthday really gets me every year. I have a December birthday, so when I was almost 16, I was entering the 10th grade - NOT 11th grade!

I had to wake up the 7 year old this morning though. He was still sound asleep at 7:50 am. So, I gently woke him up and it was easy enough as he got excited about the first day of school.

I took photos of the younger one before school and got the two of them together after school. The older one was not up for a photo at 7 am. Or, of a solo shot. Ah, teens!

When I look at these photos though, I realize how different pounds look on different body builds.

First, there's my 7 year old. He's 7 years and 4 months. We measured him yesterday and he's exactly 54" tall which is 4.5 feet tall. He weighs 81 pounds. For both height and weight, he is off the charts. And he is a tank, but look at this picture. BIG he is, but not chubby. He is a lot like me:

My older son is about 6'2" tall and weighs 140 pounds. That's 98th percentile for height and about 55th percentile for weight. Though, he's thin. He's not too thin. he's just right for his body build - which is almost identical to my husband, just a bit bigger than my husband and he looks a lot like my husband

Here are the two boys together:

If you were to do BMI charts for the oldest one, he is within the healthy BMI range. My younger son's BMI puts him in the obese range (19.5).

From WebMD:

Your Child's BMI

Based on your child's age and gender, his BMI of 19.5 places him in the 95th percentile. This means that in a room of a 100 kids the same age and gender of your child, on average he has more body fat than at least 95 of them. A BMI that is in the 95th percentile or higher is in the obese range.

Looking at these two - I say they both look just right and healthy. They are just built differently. Height and weight are only part of the story! Is my younger son HEAVIER than most kids of the same age? Yes he is. Without a doubt. But I do not believe for a second that he has MORE FAT simply because he's heavier... the calculation is flawed. That does not look like an obese child to me.

But seriously, how I wish I understood this as a kid. I totally didn't understand why my peers of the same height always weighed less than me! Now, as an adult looking at kids, I totally see how different all kids are built, and therefore, how differently adults are built.

Oh, and to all my boardie pals. berryblondeboys is in reference to my red-headed boys (my husband has black hair and I have dark blonde/light brown hair). Though, copperpennyboys might be a better name, though BBB flows better.