12-month check-up

We just got back from Will's 12-month check-up. Clean bill of health! The doctor said he was perfect- as if there were any doubt! He was 33 inches tall and 23 lbs, 8 oz. About a pound more than I was estimating- no wonder it's getting hard to carry him around so much! He's in the 90th percentile for height, 67th for weight and 96th for head circumference. He's a tall boy with a big head! Dr. Font said he's probably always going to be pretty tall. And he made a joke about him being very intelligent with that giant brain of his.

We got the clearance to start giving him any table food we want to as long as we take it slow. We've already been weaning him off of formula and onto whole milk. We're still mixing the two together to get him used to the taste of whole milk.

He had five vaccinations today, including chicken pox and meningitis. He cried while they were doing the shots but as soon as they were done and I picked him up, he was happy again. Overall he was a champ!

Developmentally he has hit just about every milestone he was supposed to. I had to fill out a questionnaire about his skills in different areas and the only area he hadn't completely mastered (for his age) yet is "communication." He doesn't use any other words besides "ma ma" and "da da" in any meaningful way yet. He has repeated some words (like "hi" and "yes") but he doesn't use them on his own with any meaning behind them. I guess many 12-month-olds have at least one other word that means something (like "ba ba" for bottle). He also doesn't point to objects he wants given to him, trying to communicate a "want." I like to think I'm just doing such a good job anticipating his needs that he doesn't have a reason try to ask for anything. :) But it's probably more likely that he just takes after his parents and is maybe just a little behind on communication skills. The doctor wasn't worried at all about any of it. Will mastered every task in the "problem solving" category quite a while ago so it's definitely not an intelligence problem.

Dr. Font was impressed that he hadn't seen Will since his 6-month check-up. The military doesn't do 9-month well baby visits but I guess they end up seeing most babies between 6 and 12 months for illnesses. But Will seems to be healthy as a horse so we hadn't been to see Dr. Font since last November. His next appoinment will be at 18 months. He'll have more vaccinations at that time. Cheers for a healthy boy!