15-Month Doctor Appointment

I took Jackson to the doctor for his 15-month checkup this morning. He must have regular nightmares about this place because the moment we walked into the exam room he again started screaming his head off and didn't stop until we were driving away. He was throwing such a fit that the nurses and the doctor had to repeat themselves a few times just so I could hear what they were saying. Dr. G said it is totally normal for him to have a fear of the doctor's office and exam, but if this trend continues I will probably develop a fear as well. Other than the screaming, it was a great appointment. He continues to grow at a healthy rate. He now weighs 24lbs 7 oz (50th percentile), is 31.5 inches tall (75th percentile), and still has a big head (80th percentile). Here are a few more of his recent developments:
- He has a small vocabulary now..."car", "cat", "ball", "down", "diaper", "dada", and the occasional "mamamama" when he really wants to get my attention. He thinks he has an entire vocabulary of other words, but we have absolutely no idea what he is saying. He will babble complete sentences of nonsense and then look at us for a response.
- He can point to his (or someone else's) nose, ear, head and toes.
- His favorite past time is pointing to various objects and having you identify them for him. We have many conversations that go something like this "light", "spoon", "chair", "light", "chair", "light", "chair", "light", "light", "light", "light"...
- He loves to "help" with the laundry, will always come quickly when I am moving clothes from the washer to the dryer to provide assistance. I give him small light items and he places them in the dryer (most of the time).
- He also likes to help throw things in the trash can. Which is great until he starts to take all of the items back out of the trash can and hand them to you.
- We have completely eliminated all bottles, he happily drinks only from sippy cups now. And dropping those last two bottles was actually a breeze, don't know why we thought it would be so challenging. He now occasionally asks to drink from a water bottle, which typically just ends up in both of us getting soaked.
- He is a fairly good eater, only mildly picky. He loves most fruit, will tolerate most veggies. Thinks Cheerios are the best thing in the world. When he doesn't like something he will quickly spit it out of his mouth and turn his head away.
- We are trying to get him to use a spoon, but he can't really get it yet. He typically tries for awhile but then just dives in with his hands.
- He will occasionally tell me that he has a dirty diaper and would like it changed. Most of the time though he will run away from me and protest the diaper change.
- He is still an incredible sleeper, sleeping in sometimes later than we do on weekends!
- We have incorporated reading a couple books at bedtime. It's not really reading as much as it is identifying everything he points at in the book. His favorites right now are Goodnight Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We "read" for a few minutes and then he will snuggle up as he gets ready to get into bed.
- He has become very attached to Skipit (his dog lovie). He loves all stuffed animals and lovies, but has a strong bond with Skipit. He reaches for Skipit immediately when he gets in bed and cuddles.
- On a less happy note, we experience frequent temper tantrums now as he gets easily frustrated when he can't communicate what he wants or we won't give him what he wants. He also is known to bite and/or hit. Dr G gave us many pointers today on how to start incorporating timeouts and handling the tantrums. I also talked with his school to ensure they are utilizing the same techniques when he is acting out in the classroom. Oh the joys of having a "spirited" toddler! :)

Here is a picture of him trying Blue Bell ice cream for the first time last night! He LOVED it at first, but then I think he decided that the cold was weird.


Here is a picture showing his love for stuffed animals. He decided to cuddle with his Michigan Bear on the way to school: