January 28 2008

Well Levi has passed the 18 month mark now and had his doctor's appointment and checkup this morning at 8:30 am. We planned to leave the house by 8 am since we had about 7" of snow yesterday and weren't sure how the roads would be. Well we didn't have any trouble and got there early. Levi busied himself with the toys in the playroom while I filled out the developmental form. We went back to the exam room, with Levi walking the whole way. He is doing much better walking in his shoes now that he has worn them a few times but he is still much better barefoot.

He weighed in at 22 lbs 4 oz, and the nurse measured him at 30 1/2" but the doctor looked at that later and thought it couldn't be right so he remeasured him and then he was almost 32" long. His head circumference is 18 3/4".

The doctor asked if we had questions, so I asked about his rough skin, the doctor looked at it closely and said there was no chance it was ringworm, which I didn't think so anymore, but that was a relief. It is probably eczema, which I have a little bit, and Dr Tom recommended that we slather on a thick unscented lotion 2x a day for a couple of days to see if that does the trick. Otherwise he checked out as a healthy young lad. He DOES still have the heart murmur but Dr Tom said it sounded louder, which should mean that it is closing on its own. If he still has it at the 2 year check-up we will be referred back to a cardiologist again.

Before he left he brought in a book to show us the specifics of Levi's heart murmur which was very helpful. He has what is called a VSD - ventricular septal defect. The hole is in the muscular part of the wall, which Dr Tom said is the type that should heal/close on its own. So I am not worried about that for now. However if he needs surgery at any point he would have to have a preventative antibiotic beforehand.

He was calm and pretty quiet during the exam. However he had no fear of Dr Tom and even smiled a few times. This is the age when a lot of kids have stranger anxiety and he exhibited none of that. Dr Tom thoroughly checked him over and asked us some questions about sleeping and eating habits, behavior issues, etc. It was a good visit.

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Now onto other updates. I have told some of you already that he is really enjoying climbing onto everything. He has a rocking horse and he really enjoys that, making clip-clop sounds when he rides it. He can mount up and dismount by himself. He also will push or pull the chairs out from the table or computer desk and throw himself onto them and then pull himself up until he is sitting (or sometimes standing) on the chair. He is very proud of his ability to do this. He can also pull himself up onto the toilet when the seat is down, and then he can stand up and reach the cold water handle to turn the water off and on by himself. He likes to do this while we are in there brushing our teeth together. Lately he is also getting up onto our padded footstool in the living room (I think it is a vintage vacuum cleaner case). He likes to get up there and sit straddling it and eat his Kix or Cheerios and drop them down to the dogs (much to their delight). He can also frog-hop from there onto the sofa.

He is growing up so fast. It is strange to have him walking so much now. Tonight we went to the mall to find Matt some pants and he was having a great time trying to run away from me around and through the mens pajama bottoms section. Ha ha! Round and round and laughing, he enjoyed that.

He isn't really talking much. He says Dad or Dada on a regular basis when he wants Matt, and he says Mama sometimes, but usually it's sort of a "nang-na" when he wants his mother. Well! He says Woof and clip-clop for the animals and Vroom! for cars and Mmmmmm!!! when he is hungry, or enjoying his meal, or wants food. He knows to run over to the cupboard and point up at it and say Mmmmm when he wants a snack.

Monkey?

Time for an update on Levi. He has turned into a little monkey, climbing up on everything! He pulls himself up onto the chairs to reach the computer or the table, climbs up on the toilet to get to the bathroom sink, he investigates everything and loves new adventures. He is walking really well and bringing us books constantly to be read to. His favorite books are "First Words," and the "Cars" and "Thomas the Tank Engine" series. He still loves bath-time, and will let me brush his teeth (usually). He is wearing size 18 mo clothes but some of his pajamas are getting a little snug.

Garbage!

Today I had some trash and Levi came over and took it from me so I told him it needed to go in the garbage can. What does he do but walk clear around into the kitchen, open the lid and throw the trash away!? I couldn't believe it, so Matt and I tested him on another piece of trash. Sure enough, the same thing happened. We would cheer and clap for him when he put it in, so then he went around the house and found his baggie of graham crackers and took that and threw it away too. He started clapping and looking at us and we had to decline and say "sorry, that wasn't trash." What a fun little kid he is turning into as he grows!