Thursday, September 25, 2008

Skadi 18 month well baby

This morning was Skadi's well baby exam. Her doctor called this the Tasmanian Devil stage and she wasn't kidding.

The actually called us back quickly so Skadi didn't have any time to play with the waiting room toys. This put a short lived cramp in her style. Of course then we got the requisite 15 minute wait in the exam room with her in just her diaper with no toys. Yeah, sucky mom I am, no toys in the diaper bag since I had just cleaned it out from our Idaho trip. Though it isn't hard to convince her that her shoes are toys.

The reason kids this age wear clothes is to keep their diaper on. I am convinced. Ok, too look cute too. But clothing at this age serves a very important purpose. Could not get the child to keep her diaper on. I finally gave up.

Skadi was diagnosed anemic a few months ago and has been on iron supplements since. She had her second blood draw last week - oh and by the way, not fun for a toddler... or mom. Her iron levels are on the low side of normal, but we are happy with this. Supplements will decrease to 3-4 times a week - basically every other day for the next three months and then a month off and blood work again. And a hope that her anemia is resolved.

Then the moment of truth... the height and weight check.

Height - 33" (86th percentile)
Weight - 24 lbs 7 oz (50th percentile)

Being a paranoid mom type, I couldn't help but notice that my daughter has lost weight in the last 6 months. Her stats 6 months ago have her at 25 lbs 2 oz and 3 months ago (apparently not blogged about) at 24 lbs 8 oz. She was a chunk once upon a time. Now? Not so much. She has really leaned out. She eats very well - better than her brother. So I am not going to worry about it. As her doctor put it, "this isn't uncommon for bigger babies as they enter their Tasmanian Devil stage".

Milestone-wise Skadi's vocabulary just suddenly took off. AB and I noted receently that even though Skadi had fewer words than Leif did at this age, she is much more communicative. She has picked up sign language very well at her Montessori school. Often times I have to go in and ask what a sign is. She signs "more", "again", "food", "drink", "all done" and "all gone" routinely.

Her vocab is growing and she has just started stringing two words together... though one of those words is very often "no". This morning it was "no no apples" as she didn't want to wear her apple polo shirt. She repeats a lot - we are pretty sure she said "hi grandma" a few times on the phone to my mom. And the other day we were amazed when in the daycare parking lot she pointed to one of Leif's best friends and said, "Niranjana" repeatedly. She even pronounced it better than Leif does! Though we are very shocked that she does not say "Leif" yet.

Some of her words are: more, no, hi, bye bye, hug, baby, swim, boat, plane, apples, fruit (which she has finally decided is not poison), mama, dada, cat, nay nay (horsey), cracker, yummy, baba (bottle), bath, poo poo, diap (diaper), and wipe. I know there are more but I am blanking.

Skadi is much more into toys than Leif ever was. She will sit and play Little People for awhile - whereas Leif is into interacting with people and currently his imagination. Our downfall is that we tend to forget she and Leif are different kids. The perils of the second child? I make assumptions a lot that she likes doing the same things, when she clearly does not.

TV does not interest her at all. (Leif could watch an entire Disney flick and be mesmerized at this point.) She likes to be held and she likes to sing songs, dance, swim, read books and play with her baby. Skadi's favorite song is "Row Row Row your boat". She wobbles back and forth singing "wo wo wo boat" to try to get you to sing with her. And yes, she does love boats and freaks out when she sees one. Her daddy's genes there.

Everyone says Skadi looks a lot like me. She has my hair, but her complexion is a touch darker (she has tan lines...) her eyes are still mix between blue and brown - I hope they stay that way. And she has her daddy's long black eyelashes amazingly enough. I think she has AB's families eyes.

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