19 Months

I think we've reached the age where Adam knows what goes on inside a doctor's office. Or maybe it was just because it's a new place. Or maybe he's spooked that I was going to drop him off there and leave like I do at daycare. Whatever the case, Adam was in rare form today and cried through his entire check-up. :( He started crying at the weigh-in (which has never been scary for him before) and hated having his length measured. I knew it was going to be a struggle from then on. And we hadn't even gotten to his 3 shots yet.

We found a practice here that was recommended to us by a couple of neighbors and coworkers. I tried to get him in for an 18 month appointment, but with our late request due to our relocation and the school year starting soon, I couldn't get him in until now at 19 months.

I appreciated that his doctor took the time to review his transferred records and get a detailed family, social and development history from me. He also plotted out his past weigh-ins and measurements and was pleased with Adam's growth chart (still on the small size but a consistent weight-to-height growth trend).

The doctor was very patient and understanding with Adam's current demeanor. The first thing he did when he came in and introduced himself was draw a face on a tongue depressor and hand it to Adam. When Adam started to panic at the sight of the otoscope, the doctor started "buzzing" him and me with the light and then played "This Little Piggy" with the light. He even had Adam help sterilize his stethoscope. Of course, Adam still resumed his cries after these things, but I appreciated he was sincerely trying to calm Adam down and make it fun.

After checking out his eyes, ears, mouth and heartbeat, he checked his abdomen and then inside the diaper. This was where the doctor had his only concern. He told us to watch for a condition called Meatal Stenosis, which is relatively common and you can Google it if you want. Essentially we now need to monitor his urinary stream, and if there's any deflection or spray or reduced flow, we may have to see a urologist to have it corrected. Ok..so...um.. maybe I just shared too much information. Moving on...

His stats:

19 months, 5 days old

Weight: 22 lbs., 12 oz. (10th percentile)

Length: 32" (30th percentile)

I was caught off-guard when the Doc asked me how many words Adam says now. I had no clue. I mean, I had never actually counted them out before. I've counted his signs but not his words. He assumed about 30, which led me to start a list as soon as we left the office -- and he was just about right. I'll take that to mean that Adam is developing normal for his age.

His words are --

dog, apple, banana, broccoli, cereal, cookie, bread, help, juice, milk, bath, shoes, go, no, more, hi, bye, hot, cold, up, down, open, close, baby, sleep, please, Dada, Mama, Papa (Grandpa), airplane, Angie, waffle, and my favorites "Uh-Oh" and "Oh No!" (I know when I hear these last two from the other room I'd better check on things!) There may be more words, too, that I will realize and remember tonight when I see him, and there are certain sounds he uses that we know the meaning of but that are not actual words. He can also count to five (often skipping Three) and we're working on his ABC's. (So far we only have ABC.) I'll have to get video of that to share.

Last weekend, on his 19-month birthday, Aunt Kim and I took some pictures of Adam at the Horse Park in Lexington. Photographing kids is challenging! Well, for one, my kid is one of the most serious children on the planet so his expression is often pensive and focuses. Plus, he is only 32" tall (and shorter when seated) so it involves a lot of bending and squatting to get to his level. I'm glad we had two cameras going, and between the two of us, I think we did quite well on capturing Adam beautifully. Here are some of my favorites:

And I'm excited to have Kim take some family pictures of us once Autumn arrives. Adam at 19 months is such a joy!