12 Month Stats

Violet had her 12 month well-check Friday and she came through with flying colors. She weighs 23 lbs, 14 oz (90th percentile) and her height is 30.5 inches (again, 90th percentile). She got three shots and boo-hooed big time. It's interesting to watch these appointments change as Violet becomes more aware. It used to be that she took everything with ease (until the needle stick). Now she starts crying the minute the nurses open the door with their tray of evil needles.

Who's number one?

At this check-up, we learned that Violet should be weaning from the bottle (score, two feedings down, two to go!) and ride in a read-facing car seat as long as possible (already knew that). I got to answer a proud yes to the questions of pulling up, standing, cruising and walking. And when I asked if I really needed to go buy fancy shoes at stride-rite,  the pediatrician (a woman after my own heart) assured me that she bought all her kids' shoes at Target, no need to drop 40 bucks on a pair Violet will wear for a month. Whew!

Who needs to buy shoes when you have free hand-me-downs?

I also learned I should be brushing Violet's teeth. Uh-oh. Can't wait to see how that goes down. Because forcing her to do things in the past (ie: take a breathing treatment, hold still for eye drops, let me wipe her hands off) has gone down so well.

While at the appointment, I asked the doctor about Violet's language skills. See, while she babbles constantly, I still haven't been able to distinguish a first word. Alas, I'm afraid this line in the baby book is going to remain blank. (Who am I kidding, I don't even have a baby book for her! This is my baby book!) While I have no doubt she has said lots and lots of things, I just haven't been able to interpret them. Her first word might be "yes" or "this", both sounds she makes a lot while pointing at things or answering a question. But truth be told, I just don't know. Maybe it's a first-time mom thing. Maybe I'm setting the bar for her first word a little too high, expecting it to come out clear as a bell. But I'm holding out for something that at least sounds like English. However, speaking aside, what really matters is her receptive language development - how well she can listen and understand what we're saying. And Violet definitely has that down. She can follow commands, whether it be "no" or asking her to bring me a book or point to my nose.


So all in all, I give Violet an A-plus for this go-round. We head back in three months. It's funny, Matt was reminding me the other day how I used to live for Violet's check-ups to find out how much weight she'd gained, if she was developing okay, what we were supposed to do next as far as feeding her, what milestones she had hit. For some reason, the stats don't seem as vital anymore. I mean, I can look at her and tell she is a healthy baby (perhaps a little too healthy around the midsection, if you ask me). But it's still fun to get the official a-okay from those in the business who know what they're talking about.

Look at my belly!