pediatric update

our long-time readers will remember that, according to the byzantine rules of llvj, pediatric updates trump weekend updates.

and because our check-ups almost always happen on mondays -- the day our doctor holds "early" appointments starting at 8:15 -- you may consider this our semi-annual preemption of the weekend update.

now, of course, astute readers may point out that given our recent posting history, delaying the weekend update is slightly more than a "semi-annual" event (it's more in semi-weekly territory at this point). but, in any case ...

today is the pediatric update.

and, as jennifer warnes and joe cocker sang, who knows what tomorrow brings ... perhaps a weekend update (that last part is not an original lyric, fyi). but no promises.

the overall report is a good one. jack is a healthy boy, developing normally. doctor dana was very pleased with him. she also stated, that in her professional medical opinion, jack is extremely cute. in mommy's professional maternal opinion, well duh ... don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows ...

anyway, the first order of business was the stats. height and weight. he "officially" weighs 29.5 pounds, which represents a gain of about 2.5 pounds from last time. this puts him at about 45th percentile for weight at his age.

height is a slightly more tricky ... and apparently more subjective ... measurement. jack's "official" height as of his 30 month appointment is 33 inches. those eagle-eyed readers among you may be thinking, "well, wait a moment ... at the last appointment in may, wasn't he 34.5" tall?" and you'd be thinking correctly and clearly.

mommy wasn't thinking clearly when they gave her this measurement, because otherwise she would have pointed out -- he *shrunk*!!!

after coming to this realization, and upon talking to a nurse later on, we have concluded that probably neither measurement was wholly accurate. 33 inches would put jack at a meager 3rd percentile on the growth chart for his age and simply comparing him to other boys in his class, this just doesn't seem right. plus, given his parentage, we expect him to be at least 7-feet tall by adulthood.

after the "measuring" (and we use this term loosely), the doctor came in to see us. jack was not so interested in her, or in her talking to mommy and daddy, so he headed to the treasure chest. doctor dana told him he could select one toy and he said he wanted to find a truck. sadly, no truck was found, but he did bring in about 9 racer cars, a helicopter, and multiple pairs of sunglasses. so much for choosing one. we did, however, only leave with one.

today, our discussion focused on three d's:

discipline

dentist

diapers

the short-takes (respectively)?

consistent, logical and positive

sometime in the next year

sometime in the next year

we agreed that the next six months may be quite challenging for jack and so we would not push him on potty training. plus, in mommy's opinion, when dealing with a newborn, changing a few jack diapers a day sounds much easier than cleaning up accidents, changing wet clothes and scrubbing out underpants.

mommy's proposed pediatric dentist was met by an enthusiastic recommendation by doctor dana and so we will probably make an appointment with him for next spring.

and, with discipline, she encouraged us to keep up with time-outs and 1-2-3 magic, expanding them as jack grows older and can better understand things like logical consequences. her take was: the good news/bad news is that jack is bright and very verbal. so, his emotions sometimes can't keep up with his brain, causing him a lot of frustration and anger, which we see him express. and, as with most things in child-rearing, this too shall pass ... (in about 18 years!)

to round out her recommendations, she gave us a green light on switching from whole milk to 2% (but no skim for our skinny minnie!), a red light on peanuts and peanut butter (we'll wait until he's 3), and a yellow light on switching from his crib to a "big boy bed." that one she advises doing at your own risk ... and having some way to gate him into his room. we're certainly not above the doorknob locks.

at the very end, jack got a flu shot and was as brave as could be expected. daddy hugged him as mommy dried his tears and the nurse put on a tweety bird bandage. both the injury and insult was soon forgotten.

as much as we love doctor dana, we hope that we won't see her again for a while ... at least when it comes to jack. she is, however, looking forward to meeting her new patient in just over 7 weeks!