An 18-Month Old Well Baby!

I took Jackson for his 18 month well-baby check-up on Wednesday afternoon, and he did awesome! He was such a champ, that I rewarded him with a dinner date at Panera with Mommy :) Will anyone believe that he picked that particular dining establishment? LOL Anyways, Jackson made it through the entire appointment (having his measurements taken, getting checked out, and shots) without a paci!!! I couldn't believe it! I have only done the H1N1 shot on my own--Josh has been there for all of the others. Jackson did fantastically! He definitely let out a few sad howls, but once the nurse was finished, he sat up, whimpered a couple of times, and resumed eating his snack. Phew! Jackson definitely checked out as a well-baby :D We could not be more thankful for that! I think his rough week last week was due to teething :( Those silly teeth just affect everything!

We saw Dr. Kernan this time, and I must say she is our favorite. She was the one who checked Jackson out for the first three days we were in the hospital when he was born, and we just clicked. I have tried to request our well-baby check-ups to be with her so that we have a solid relationship with at least one of the doctors in the practice. We really like them all, so when we have to slip in at the last minute for a sick baby appointment, there are no worries. But, since there are so many docs, we want to make sure that we feel comfortable. Anyways, she was not concerned at all that Jackson does not have a rolling vocabulary yet. She said she is not a word-counter. Instead, she is concerned with is social interactions: does he mimic us, point to things, and just generally initiate interactions. He definitely does those things! Whew! We also talked about his eating habits and she did not seem worried one bit. She said that fruits and veggies have the same important stuff in them, so the fact that Jackson shovels in fruit is just fine. She said that veggies definitely have stronger tastes and it's totally normal for him to favor fruit. It is also not unusual for him to be uninterested in meat. Overall, I was so happy with how our appointment went! The only thing I forgot was to have her really look in his mouth and check out his teeth. I was hoping to find out if one (or more) tooth (teeth) had come in last week, and if she saw any more on their way. Oh well. Our next appointment won't be until October when Jackson turns two! I'm sure we will have a really fun next six months, but I hope they creep along!


Jackson's 18 month stats are:
***Height: 32.5 in (50th %ile)
***Weight: 24 lbs 13.9 oz (between 25th and 50th %ile)
***Head circumference: 19.5 in (90th %ile) Ahhh..that head. It grows at it's own rate, according to the doctor :)

Doesn't he look like a little magician?

The magician moonlights as a fireman :)