On Friday Ethan had his 18 month appointment. We saw a different Dr. in the practice this time and I felt much more comfortable leaving our pediatrician downtown than I did at Ethan's previous appointment at Central DuPage. I felt like Dr. Christiansen was much more thorough and more warm and fuzzy than Dr. Flannigan.The appointment was a couple weeks late, but we thought this would give him a chance to add a couple more ounces to his weight. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Oh, and the holidays had something to do with it too! Ethan is still a peanut, weighing in at 22 lbs. 7 oz. (8%) which is up a percentile from his 15 month check up. Ethan did shoot up in height though, measuring 33 inches tall (66%), up from the 33rd percentile at 15 months. So, we have a string bean on our hands, but the Dr. assured me that he continues to grow at a steady pace and that I should stop worrying so much. Easier said than done in my world! Ethan also had 4 shots and did very well, only about 2 minutes of crying and then he was back to his happy little self. A Thomas sticker makes everything better too! We did find out later that he must be allergic to an ingredient in one or more of the shots because he developed quite a bad rash that evening and into Saturday. Thankfully it was nothing serious and had disappeared by Monday.
We also discovered during Ethan's appointment that he has something called a hydrocele. You can read more about a hydrocele here, but basically a hydrocele is a swelling of either one or both testicles caused by a hole that allows fluid into the scrotum. The Dr. assured us that this is somewhat common in male babies and is nothing we should worry about, but something we should have taken care of in the next couple of months. Most likely, Ethan will have to have surgery to remove the fluid and seal the hole, but we will not know for sure until we see a Urologist at Children's in February (appointment is February 9th). We will keep everyone updated.
Other than that, Ethan is doing great! He continues to be a really good baby. No wait (and I can't believe I am saying this), he continues to be a really good toddler! Why oh why does time go by so fast? I can't believe we are going to be celebrating his 2nd birthday in less than 6 months. I try to cherish every moment, but unfortunately life gets in the way and days go by too fast! I still love his snuggles and every time he wants to sit on my lap and read a book. He is all boy and loves his tractors, trucks, trains and cars. He is fascinated by big machinery and loves books. I actually think love is an understatement because he could sit on your lap for hours and read books. He has to be on your lap though, there is no sitting next to you! He also loves to read to himself in his big red chair! He is always busy, busy, busy which keeps Matt and I on our toes at all times.While he is still not saying a ton of words (again something the Dr. told me I should not worry about until after he turns 2), he can recognize almost anything. He knows what a rooster, pig, sheep, dog, duck, and horse say and love to make funny faces and show emotion (see his "O" face above). He can point to pretty much all his body parts and knows where they are on mommy and daddy too! He still loves bath time and is getting more adventurous in the water....blowing bubbles, putting his face in, kicking, etc. Our paci (or 3 or 4) is still our friend at nap time and at night, along with several stuffed animals and 4 blankets. Again, the Dr. assumed that we don't have to do anything with the paci until age 2...whew!
Ethan has always been a good sleeper and that has not changed. Eating on the other hand pretty much stresses me out on a daily basis. He is just not a big eater. Does not like to try new things and does not like veggies. He is pretty much eating the same things he was at 15 months so I am gladly willing to take any suggestions one might have to broaden Ethan's eating horizons. He loves his milk, chicken nuggets, veggie burgers, raspberries, strawberries, cheese and any kind of snack you can imagine. That is all really! Oh, and he has a sweet tooth like his daddy!
I have said this before, but we just can't imagine what our life was like before Ethan. I know it definitely had more sleep, more date nights, and more down time, but I would give that up in a heart beat again to have such a sweet boy in our lives. He truly is a joy and we are blessed to have a such a happy healthy little boy. I can't wait to continue exploring this world with him and watching him learn new things each and every day. We love you so much!
3 comments:
Just a little encouragement about the eating: both of my boys went thru a phase about this age where they were not too interested. Seems like eating wasn't a priority because there was too many other interesting things to do. I used a book called "Feed Me I'm Yours" by Vicki Lansky. Its got some old school recipes for kids of all ages. Grilled cheese, sweet potatoes, applesauce (the natural no-sugar added), anything w/peanut butter & avocados (lots of that good fat!) were some of our other favorites. Both of my boys were continually in the lower percentiles for their weight; Josh even followed below the line for the first 2 years of his life. He is still smaller than lots of the kids in his class, but non the worse for wear! BTW - Ethan is a cutie-pie.!
Great update on Ethan, I cannot believe he is 18 months old. Reading your post makes me really excited to meet our baby boy! Can't wait to get the two of them together and have Ethan teach him a few things, especially about his love for reading, that's awesome.
congrats on 18 Months! Its sounds like Ethan is doing great. Caleb went through the not gaining enough weight stage at about the year to 15 month age. some of his docs worried more than others, especially when he fell off (below) the weight for height curve. I ended up adding something called bright beginnings that his dietation recommended. He had this in place of his milk, Its close to 240 calories for just 8 ounces. Its kind-of like a soy based pedisure, and it absolutley made him gain weight!
On the eating / liking to eat thing, I'd say he will when he is ready, Caleb didn't eat much then, last May it was like he all the sudden discovered food and he ate ate ate to the point his dietation was worried b/c he gained so much weight so fast. He eventually slowed down but he did skip from about 20% weight / 90% height at just under a year all the way up to just above 97% for both weight and height at his two year so...they can jump those cuves no matter what the books say :).
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