Annie's 18 Month Appointment

I just can't believe that Annie is truly 1 1/2!!!! Time flies so very fast!!!! So, today we had our scheduled doctors appointment with Dr. Anne Stephens. And the whole thing went really well. Here are the stats: Annie weighs 26 pounds and 2.9 ounces (the 75th percentile). She is 31 5/8 inches tall (the 50th percentile) and her head circumference is 19 inches (the 90th percentile). I had five major things to talk to Dr. Stephens about: 1. Does Annie have a possible lazy eye as a result of her eyes not looking symmetrical in pictures? (Answer: No, her actual eyes are fine while the lids and surrounding areas may not be entirely symmetrical, which has nothing to do with that particular problem.) 2. Annie had two cysts below & behind her ears about a month ago (they are gone now), is that something to be concerned about? (Answer: No) 3. When Annie wakes up either from a nap or from nighttime sleep, especially if the wakeup is sudden, sometimes she has "tremors" where her hands shake involuntarily for short intervals, is this something to be concerned about? (Answer: No) 4. Annie had 5ths Disease last month, and I wanted them to record that fact so that someday if she's ever married and pregnant, she won't have to worry about it. 5. Please note that Annie is walking!!!





Annie's behavior at the appointment was just wonderful. While last time Annie wanted to show Dr. Stephens that she could say "doctor," this time Annie wanted to show Dr. Stephens her game of "WHOA"! So as I let her down on the floor to show Dr. Stephens how Annie could walk, she would walk, say "whoa," and then purposely fall down. The most amazing thing about this was that Dr. Stephens made sense of a few Annie-words that I didn't know. Before Annie starts her "whoa" game, she constantly says, "ach-iss." At this, Dr. Stephens raised her eyebrows and said, "Yes! Watch this!!!" Wow, . . . she always notices something that I don't. What a great doctor! (And another reason why it's always great to have a pediatrician with kids of his/her own.) The bad thing about this was that Annie was putting her hands and semi-naked body all over the doctors office floor (something I never would have allowed Leia to do). *sigh* I think even Dr. Stephens was surprised I was letting her do this, . . . but the main reason was that I wanted her to see that Annie could walk and didn't need to be tested. . . . And then I ran to the sink (before Annie sucked her thumb) and washed her hands really well. Another point of interest is that Annie's ear tubes still look wonderful! (It has been 10 months, which is still within the 6-12 month period, but JUST within it, . . . so I was interested.) Anyway, Dr. Stephens said that Annie is right on track both with verbal ability & motor skills. Yay!



I have to end with something really funny. Annie's shots went very well. Um, as well as an 18 month old can take them, anyway. Annie only cries for about 10 seconds or so. Anyway, I was holding Annie after her shots with her red-faced and teary eyed. Gail, our nurse, came over, touched Annie's arm and said, "Don't worry honey, it's all over." And Annie said, in her most angry and frustrated voice: "BYE!!!!!" Ha!