18 Month Well Baby

You've come a long way, baby!

Today Mara had her 18 month well baby visit at Children's Hospital. We really shouldn't even call them well baby visits anymore-- Mara is 100% toddler now, there's just nothing babyish about her anymore!

We were seen by her regular pediatrician again, Dr. Katherine "Kiki" Traylor. Mara said Kiki for the first time (altho' it sounded very similar to cookie) and kissed and hugged her doctor when we ran into her in the hallway (Mara cannot just hang out in the exam room waiting for her appointment, not knowing she has an adoring public outside-- oh no, we have to walk the halls and they have find us to examine her). Kiki is the best baby doctor ever, she lets Mara wear her watch, and wear her lanyard with beads on it, and use her stethoscope and otoscope. And then when we got home, Mara pretended to be a doctor with her (real) stethoscope (from my days as a CNA) and Fisher Price otoscope. Dr. Mara looked in both of my ears and gave me a hug and said "YAY!" There had been much celebration today at her appointment and no shots. Celebration because for the first time she had increases in weight, height and head circumference...all at once. After the doctor measured her head again that is. The person who measured her head either did it wrong or read it wrong because at first it appeared as if her head had gotten smaller on the growth chart. Since I attested to the fact that she needed a bigger sun hat this Spring, we knew it wasn't possible and of course when the doctor re-measured it, her head had grown an inch-- being off by an inch is not a big deal except when it comes to head circumference!

Dr. Kiki was glad to hear that we had weaned Mara off formula and that she is mostly sleeping through the night (knock wood) and in her own bed in her own room, mostly waking for comfort. I explained to her that according to our licensing agency's policy, after 18 months we are not supposed to sleep in her room with her. I thought that would be a really difficult transition, but from the very first night that we left her door and ours open so that we would hear her if she woke up, she came and found us! She actually crawled into bed with us and we didn't even notice until we woke up. Such a sweet thing to wake up and discover a child snuggled between us, especially such a wee girl. It makes me realize how much we babied our boys, especially Hammy.

The harder transition is getting used to sleeping with my husband again! His new CPAP mask has a much better seal than any he has worn before so he sounds less like Darth Vader and more like a very quiet humidifier. It's nice to be sleeping in the same bed again-- hopefully it won't lead to any more little people who don't sleep through the night, because I am loving it. Our bed is a king-size Tempur Pedic mattress and we have it safely on the floor now with a flat screen TV for watching movies (and the occasional missed sitcom on hulu) so our bedroom is a refuge from the childish chaos in the rest of the house.

But I digress...Dr. Traylor gave Mara three books today, and told her she loved her! She is so sweet and we both feel such a strong connection with her. It's very good to have a baby doctor (and a mainstream pediatrician at that!) whom I adore. She wants me to call her and let her know how it goes on April 8 and 10, since we won't need to see her again until Mara is two years old! Can you imagine? Two! It sounds like such a long time from now, but I know it will be here in the blink of an eye.

One more thing...before I forget: I need to document Mara's Mongolian spots so that I have a record of exactly what they look like and where they are. Dr. Traylor recommended taking new pictures and I am also going to fill out a SOAP note diagram showing the location of all of them. I may even measure them and record the size. If it sounds like I am being neurotic, it is only because of a very unfortunate situation that recently occurred in Denver County. A foster child who was two showed up for a weekly visit with a scratch. When the bio parent brought it to the Case Worker's attention, there was no incident report (a document that foster parents fill out to record illness, injury to self or others, and other incidents such as property damage or truancy). With the lack of an incident report, an exam was conducted and bruises were found on the child. Whether or not they were the result of abuse or the child being two may never be proven, but as is often the case the child was removed from the foster home and the foster parent lost her license. The same thing could easily happen to us, and the thought of Mara having to endure separation from us until experts could confirm that she has Mongolian spots makes me sick. Someone who didn't know that she has Mongolian spots or what they are could easily assume she is bruised. I did not know what they were and I am a Massage Therapist! I assumed they were bruises and took pictures of them when she got out of her body cast. The bruises were consistent with her injuries. They are on her upper back, one of her ribs and her buttocks. There is also one on her chest, that I didn't even notice (even though I still massage her every.single.day.) until I saw pictures of her in a tank top with spaghetti straps on her fist birthday. I was painfully aware of stares at the swimming pool this Summer, but no one said anything. We get funny looks as it is. So this Summer, I'm going to get her and the boys those long-sleeved surfer type suits with bike-style shorts for the pool. We'll save ourselves some stares and time applying sunscreen!

That's all for now, will some pix of our three leprechauns and St. Patty's Day festivities as soon as I get my battery re-charged (figuratively and literally!!)