Ian loves playing on my piano.
It is the place he runs to if he 'escapes' while I am trying to get him dressed.
Anyway, today was Ian's 2 year check up with the pediatrician. I can't begin to tell you how thrilled we are after that appointment!
Thanks to my wonderful friend, Katie, we found a great pediatrician. He has been very encouraging and helpful through some rough spots. (His associate was not nearly at wonderful. So, when Katie suggested switching to Dr. Sonny, I jumped.) Dr. Sonny was extremely happy with Ian's progress today. He commended us and told us to keep doing what we are doing. Since Ian didn't exactly come with an instruction manual, that advice is powerful. There are days that you feel nothing is working and you just don't know what to try next. And, there are days that it's all good and you never want those to end. Parenting is hard stuff and you just hope/pray that what you are doing is right. I go to bed some nights praying that the decisions I made that day, don't come back to bite me in the rear end 10 years from now. Do I screw some things up? You bet I do, I am human after all. Unfortunately, I guess you only get to find out what you did wrong when they grow up. That's a really long time to wait to see what you screwed up!
I think Ian presents Mark and I with 2 big challenges: 1) eating and 2) temper tantrums. Before I expand on those, let me just say politely *insert sarcastic chuckle*, please don't leave me comments with advice on either topic. And before any of you get your panties in a bunch: I am not directing that at any particular person. Just understand that he is my kid, I know what I have tried, what works and what doesn't. I'm relating this on my blog, because I want a journalization of where we are at during this period of his life.
EATING ISSUES
I have stated this before: Ian is not the best eater in the world. He does the typical toddler grazing, but manages to actually get very little food in every day. (Some days he eats like the world is going to end and there will be nothing left to eat if he doesn't eat it all right now.) And like a lot of kids, he will eat something today and not touch it tomorrow which drives me crazy! Fortunately, he seems to like most foods most of the time. He loves fruit and veggies. He will eat just about any fruit or vegetable I give him. But again, he generally will only eat a bite or two. He was the same way with his formula. It was a challenge to get all the ounces the Dr. recommended in him each day.
So you can imagine our surprise when they weighed him and told us he was at 20% on the weight chart. For those that don't know what I am talking about: When you compare an average group of children his age, he is 30% below the average toddler in weight. Now that sounds horrible, but when you know what the highest he has ever been on that chart was 12% (at six months of age and dropping ever since to his lowest of 6%), then you see why we were celebrating. Apparently we are getting enough in him each day even though he does his best to run it off all day and night long. The child never stops moving! He doesn't know the word 'walk', he runs from the time his feet hit the floor until he does to bed. But, even in bed he never really stops moving. I hear him all night long on the monitor rustling around in his bed. He must burn an incredible amount of calories each day. And, it's a challenge to get all those important fuels in him each day. Some days he will eat nothing and other days it seems he eats constantly!
TEMPER TANTRUMS
Ian is going through what I feel are typical 2 year old temper tantrums. He definitely has a temper and he has little trouble showing you he is unhappy with the world. According to the doctor, it's all very normal behavior. However, the doctor informed us that we were in for quite a ride with this little guy because he is 'very, very' smart. So, like most toddlers his temper tantrums are because he can't vocalize what he wants or thinks. His vocabulary and knowlege levels are quite amazing for someone his age though. According to Dr. Sonny his motor skills and knowledge are at a 3 to 3.5 year old level. That sounds wonderful, but I am not going to get too excited because as he grows that may change. In other words, he could be really ahead now and be right where he needs to be in a year.
The only other thing to report from this visit is the Chicken Pox vaccination. After research and discussion with the doctor, we decided to go ahead and have him vaccinated. There are a few reasons I changed my mind: 1) There is some concern (not proven yet) that some vaccinations cause autism. He passed his testing for autism at his last appointment with flying colors so that was not a concern. 2) I see no real reason to vaccinate against a pretty harmless childhood disease. However, according to Dr. Sonny they like this vaccine not because it prevents the pox but because the pox can lead to meningitis and encephalitis a lot of the time. Not only that, but they hope this vaccination will prevent shingles as people grow older. 3) We know of a child who died from the Chicken Pox vaccine. He had a liver reaction to the vaccine, suffered for a few weeks and died at the age of 3. That one was a tough one to get past in our decision to give Ian this vaccine. Finally, I decided that all things are processed through your liver and therefore, anything can cause a problem depending on your chemistry, etc.
The nurse came into give him the shot after the dr. left. (The dr. doesn't want to be the bad guy or have the children think he delivers the painful shots.) Anyway, Ian never cried, not one tear. He stood up, lifted his leg and said "TURT, TURT!" More than a week later, he is still showing us his boo-boo though. He is all about boo-boos lately, his and ours. You gotta love this stage when even a mosquito bite needs a band-aid! We still can't believe that he didn't cry after the shot. The nurses are not subtle or gentle when they give shots. They hold the child's legs down, you hold the arms and the give them the shots as fast as possible. Fast is good, but it seems they are jamming the needle in their poor little legs.
So, all is well at the 2 year check up (except for that pesky Chicken Pox vaccination) and we will continue on the path we are on.
