18 month check-up

It's official. B-Boy is 18 months old. Tell me, where did the time go?

This milestone also meant that it was time to go for the 18 month check-up. You might remember that we have been struggling with B-Boy's food... not quite sure what has caused his digestive issues. He has been off dairy for a few weeks once again, and since he really hadn't had a solid soiled diaper since our trip to Florida in December, I demanded that the doctor do some more advanced testing.

This meant two blood draws (once from his finger, and once from his arm). He did really well with the arm one, I was so proud. He cried but did not fight or squirm. It was really hard for me to hold him through that, but we both did really well. We decided to forgo any shots at this appointment, since he had just had those draws, so B-Boy was pretty happy during this visit.

We got the results during the 18 month appointment. Turns out, there were no issues with dairy! (Which now means B-Boy can have cheese again! YAY! It's been a challenge feeding him side dishes without using cheese. You try it for a week, you will see what I mean!)

All the things we thought might be an issue were not. Dairy was fine. Wheat was fine. Corn was fine. There may be a slight issue with eggs, so we will have to keep an eye on those. We still don't have a firm answer on what is going on with him, but we have an appointment with the pediatric gastroenterologist at Duke in mid-May, so I hope to have more information soon.

Ok, enough of the yucky stuff. Now for the fun parts.

We filled out a lot of paperwork, answering lots of questions about what B-Boy is doing right now. One question was does he say 8 or more words other than Mama and Dadda? I wrote them down and was surprised the answer is YES!

His words: Up, Cereal, Kitty, Kitty Cat, Shoes, Bye-Bye, Bubble, Ball, Quack, All Done and GA!

One of the questions that the doctor liked my answer to was "Do you understand what your child communicates to you?" My response?

B-Boy is in full on babble mode. He is definitely trying to tell us something! He will repeat the same cadence of babble to you, sometimes stopping and looking you in the eye as he repeats it to be sure you get what he is telling you. He then may start a different sounding babble with someone else. But when he repeats himself a few times, the cadence (sound) is always the same with each repeat. He clearly is trying to tell us something, and knows EXACTLY what that is, even if we don't.

And now the part you have been waiting for... Weight and height! B-Boy is still off the chart with height, coming in at 35 and a half inches long! (Can you believe he is almost 3 feet tall????)

They weighed him with his diaper and clothes on because he was so upset. (I think he was expecting to be given another shot!) He weighed in at 28 pounds and 7 ounces. Personally, I think he is closer to 35 pounds!

B-Boy finished the visit in good spirits as the doctor had him take of his shoes and chase a red ball in the hallway. She wanted to watch him walk and run to see if there was anything to be concerned about. B-Boy had fun doing that, and fortunately, there were no issues to cause concern.

All in all, things are good!

15 Months

B-Boy went back to the doctor for his 15 Month check-up.

The nurses were quite surprised to see how big he had gotten! They poked and prodded, and took lots of measurements.

His length? 34 and a half inches long!

His weight? 27 pounds, 3 ounces

I told the nurse that last measurement MUST be wrong, I lift him everyday, and he is at least 35 pounds! Ha ha!

One of the things they do with the data is graph it to see how he is doing compared to other kids. His weight is good, and has actually started to slow down since his is now walking. Totally normal.

His height is another matter. Baby boy is completely off the chart. The curve for the top percentile of kids is so far below his height.. it was really funny to see his data point floating so far above the curve. I will have to graph it for you so you can see what I mean.

It is funny to think that he is almost 3 feet tall- at 15 MONTHS!!! He is looking more and more like a toddler, and I don't think it will be long before he will look old enough to drive!

B-Boy's six month checkup

B-Boy went to the doctor again on Wednesday. But not because he was sick... it was time for his six month checkup!

He got weighed and measured. He is 20.2 pounds and 28.5 inches long! I think he would have been heavier, but he was eating half of what he had been while he was sick... Incidentally, he is much better now!

Neb played with him while we waited to be seen. He was trying to see if B-Boy would be interested in a small object, and if he would try to pick it up. It is a milestone skill and was on the evaluation we needed to fill out. And guess what? He can! It was really cute to watch!

Hey Mom, look at me sitting up!

Oh, you have pincher thingies too!

He got 2 of his 4 shots and 1 liquid vaccination. He wasn't happy but after a quick bottle and snuggle, life was good again!

Aliens came and made me exercise on a farm!

Well, not quite! You see, I bought B-Boy an Exersaucer. It's a jumper that sits on a rounded surface so that it lists around. (Kind of like training wheels make a bike list if you aren't balanced.) Whhhhheeeeeeeeeee.....

It's got a farmland theme, cows and pigs and chickens. B-Boy loved it.

Finally, upright! Ahh.... this feels good!

It has three different heights, and usually folks start using them at 4 months. Now, B-Boy is just over 5 months old...  so I was curious how he would like it, and what height he would need.

We sat him in it on level one, the shortest. Too short.

We moved it to level two, much higher. Still, too short!

So, he happily used it on the tallest height.

My friends at daycare are gonna be so jealous...

How do I know? Even I can't stop drooling!

He likes chewing on the toys, and I think it is a success. We shall see!