18 Month Check-up

Today Amelia weighed in at 22 lbs., 2.5 oz and is at the 15th percentile - she is finally on the charts!!!! She measured 31" long and is at the 25th percentile. This is down from her year check-up, but otherwise her usual life-long percentile, so she may have had a growth spurt right before year check-up. Her head was 18" around.

She had to have blood drawn to check for lead and iron levels plus she had to have three shots (last DTP, Hib and first Hepatitis A). Poor girl - she seemed okay with it all just before the needle went in her arm to draw the blood, then her eyes got real wide like she knew something bad was going to happen. It was me, the nurse and an assistant holding her still and she cried and cried. At one point she looked at me for a few seconds straight and it seemed like her eyes were saying, "Can't you do something?" As soon as the nurse was done and released her arm, Amelia just curled up into me. It was so sad. She drank from her sippy cup and seemed to calm down easily but then we had to stretch her out for her shots (in the top of her thighs). She made it through that - but there were five of us total working on that one - three holding her while two nurses gave her the shots simultaneously (one in one leg, two in the other). I had thought that she was going to have the blood drawn from her foot so I left her socks and shoes off, but apparently that wasn't necessary. After I put them back on I let her walk out to the payment area - something I don't normally do because I'm terrified of all the germs. She didn't touch anything and was happy to be picked up after exploring a little bit on her own. She laid her head on my shoulder briefly and was just so sweet.


I usually keep her with me on days that she has shots but I couldn't do that today. Her babysitter was super about it and it turns out she had a great day - ate a big lunch, took a normal length nap (two hours) and was just as playful as she normally is. After supper I let her run around in the yard - our new thing - and she had a blast picking up pine cones. I love how she always tries to gather things all into one hand and arm! She had gathered pine cones with daddy last week and while it makes her arms and clothes a little sticky, the joy she gets out of it is worth a little soap and scrubbing. While we were outside, we saw the elderly neighbor outside so we went up and said hi. Turns out she has a cute puppy and Amelia had a blast playing with him. Between the pine cone sap and the puppy, I decided she needed a bath - so we had a rare evening bath (she usually has morning baths). While she splashed around I stood at the sink and spot washed and pre-treated her clothes - which also contained chocolate from the cookie the bakery lady gave her. It was an eventful day!

[picture dated 3/26/07]