Than's 18 month check-up

I took Than to his 18 month check-up at the pediatricians on Tuesday.

Tuesday was a very busy day for us. I had been trying to get both of us involved in a local mommies group since immediately after we moved here. They have a lot of activities including a 2 and under playgroup which I thought was perfect for Than, he really needs more kids to play with. They usually meet on Tuesday mornings but seemed to be having difficulty scheduling it so I volunteered to host. I was expected 2 or 3 moms and their kids but instead ended up with about 7 moms and several had more than one child. That made for a very full and noisy house. I had hoped to get more of a chance to talk and get to know some of the other moms, but that wasn't really possible under the circumstances. Hopefully next time. However the kids had a good time, though most of the kids around Than's age were girls. Not a big deal, but I was once again reminded that girls and boys play very differently. So Than came off a little aggressive with the little girls, but the boys would play back. The funniest part was Than's fascination with the carrier one of the babies came in (he long ago outgrew his), and he kept playing with it. At one point he climbed in it and even swiped the poor kids pacifier too, even though he hasn't wanted one in about a year. So he apperantly felt the need to regress for a little while. But he didn't have a problem with sharing all his toys and just spent much of his time trying to get the other moms to pick him up and give him hugs, when he wasn't trying to steal sippy cups.

The great part about all the over stimulation in the morning was that he was very mellow for his doctors appointment. He spent far less time squirming during the exam, which was helpful. Overall the appointment went very well. I had one of the regular doctors and he was far more understanding and helpful. Than weighed in at 20 lbs and 10 ozs and was 30 inches long. That puts him only barely on the growth curve, but as always he is proportional and healthy. The doc said we should stop worrying about trying to get him to gain weight. He said that he suspected that Than wouldn't be much bigger if he had been full term and that I should look in the mirror sometime...Than is more likely to be slender like I am anyway. He said that we can get him off the bottle and formula, but Than has been decreasing the amount by himself as he has been eating more solid food. So it shouldn't be too difficult to phase it out over the next little bit.

Other than that he said he has enough teeth now (especially with the 6 breaking through at the moment) that he should probably see a dentist. So I've been tracking down a kid friendly local dentist, and who knows how Than will take that. He does however love having his teeth brushed so that bodes well. He wasn't too sure about it at first but I gave him a toothbrush to play with and he loved it. Now when you add in flavored toothpaste he is thrilled, so maybe he will be better about the dentist than I was as a kid. I believe my nickname was the "fire engine" because of the noise I made as soon as I entered the door and continued the whole time with only variations in volume.

Ryan and I haven't been too concerned with Than's size (except when nasty doctors lectured us) as long as he was hitting the developmental markers. Thankfully he is ahead on them. He is a very verbal child and has a vocabulary of over 25 words and phrases. Except he refuses to use most of them after a few days of proving he knows how to use them appropriately. He will still use them with other people, just not us. He expects us to know what he wants. He picks up the strangest things though. When Ryan's parents were visiting they had set up the digital picture frame we gave them loaded up with pictures of Than. Our charming little narcissist was delighted to sit there and stare at pictures of himself for long periods of time. One day as the picture of him playing in the field with the pumpkins went by he said out of the blue and clear as day "pumpkin". Then he figured out "Thank you" and "You're welcome". He says thank you a lot these days, so at least he is a very polite child when he isn't smacking you in the face.