Sunday, August 23, 2009

Avery's 18 Month Well Visit

Avery turned 19 months old today (well, I'm scheduling this post for another day, but you get the point). She had her 18 month well visit with Dr. K because he has been on a month long vacation in Jordan! Daddy went with us because Avery typically has doctors office meltdowns and my lonnng list of questions become a hassle to ask while holding a toddler who is going through a meltdown. Everything went just great. And although I seriously doubt anyone cares, I'm going to list the answers to my questions. As I've said before, this not only serves as a fun blog to share stories, but also stores Avery's medical records! HA! So here goes...
  • First things first: Avery Grace is now in the 25th percentile for weight (highest yet) at 22 1/2 lbs!
  • She is in the 50th percentile (highest yet) for height at 32 inches and 25th percentile for head circumference at 18 inches.
  • Paci problems: Dr. K said, once again, to take our time and since she usually only has the pa-pa while she's sleeping it shouldn't hurt anything. His own kids had it until age 3!
  • Bottle: Basically the same advice - One bottle at night won't hurt, although I think we'll shoot for Sept 1st to kiss the bottle good-bye forever!
  • Sleeping Through The Night (STTN): He laughed and said he's read every book available and still couldn't get any of his children to STTN. He said it just takes time. I am currently reading "The No Cry Sleep Solution" and will also read Dr. Ferbers cry it out book and hopefully come up with a plan so that we can ALL get more sleep at night! Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!
  • The fact that she is on Miralax every night does not concern him; in fact, he told me to continue and increase as needed. I will incorporate at least 1 fiber-rich food every day going forward (prunes, FiberOne bars, etc.) and hopefully wean her off (although he said it's fine if she does stay on it).
  • I am concerned that she only says about 10 words and doesn't combine any words yet - he is not. He doesn't recommend toddlers for speech therapy until Age 4.
  • We have to schedule an appt for shots - yuck!
  • She can stay on the Older Infant formula for up to 24 months. This will help her stay less constipated than whole milk.
  • The only foods necessary to avoid are popcorn, hot dogs and any type of nuts (but not peanut butter) because these are choking hazards.
  • She is teething w/ molars (we'll wait till' they break through to start sleep training!)
  • She doesn't need to see a dentist until age 3 or 4 unless there is a problem. (By the way, if anyone is STILL reading this - when did you take your baby to the first dentist visit?)
  • The little spots left on her face from the virus will fade over time and there is nothing more we should do about them.

Well, that about sums it up and if you're still reading this let me say WOW! Sorry this was such a boring post. Here are some pictures before the visit.

It was raining so she got to wear her raincoat for the very first time! YAY!

I have a fake smile and Avery isn't even trying...oh well!
Oh...annnd I figured out her tag was still on the raincoat a few hours later :)
On our way to see Dr. K...can you get a ticket for doing a mini photo shoot at a red light?
The best part of going to see Dr. K...
a good ole' fashioned Dum Dum sucker!

She decided she'd rather sit in mommy's lap than her chair,
I love it when she plops down in my lap without being asked to...
this was my best attempt at a picture of us, with me holding the camera...YIKES!

5 comments:

labride said...

About the sleeping through the night thing...my mom always tells people who ask her that I never slept through the night, and I honestly don't. She will just eventually stop bugging you during the night haha. Love the raincoat it is too cute! I have been dying for a yellow one for years.

Cristi said...

Cute picture of you (and the top of Averys head). Lovin all the posts lately! Have a great time at church today. Did you ever give Em that gift? Mom

Beth E. said...

I enjoyed reading your post! It brought back memories for me. I used to ask lots of questions at the pediatrician's office. LOL

My boys were much better sleepers once they were in their own rooms, and once I quit running in right away every time they made a sound or started crying. That's just what worked for us.

Pacifiers...our youngest had the hardest time letting go of his. We limited it to bedtime only. If he wanted his paci, he had to go to bed. That seemed to work well.

Constipation? I fed them baby food prunes. A fiber-rich diet should make a difference, though.

So glad to hear that Avery got a good report!

Penny said...

Sounds like she's doing fine, like all of your bloggy friends keep telling you! ;)
Mal took her paci 20 months, Sarah for 4 months and Shelbi for 2 1/2 years. Every dental visit they get asked, "Who did your braces?" even though they went to Dr. Bradford every six months and he had NEVER seen them with braces! LOL
About the constipation, keep pumping the prunes.
Mallory and Shelbi both started sleeping through the night AS SOON AS I took their pacis. Yes, for real!!! After about the third night of whining for it at bedtime, they acted like they'd never had one. They'd been getting up during the night constantly looking for that paci. I remember waking up to Mal "calling" hers in the middle of the night as if it were a puppy. haha
(She will probably deny this, but I promise it's true.) =)

The Four Week Vegan said...

She sounds perfect :) We used the Ferber method with ds #3 when he was 15 months and it worked wonderfully. This from a breast-feed on demand, bed sharing mom. I learned alot of things with that book the main one being they have to be put down awake, sleepy sure, but awake. There are a couple of reasons for that. This child is the best sleeper of all my children!

I took the kids to the dentist when they were almost 4.