18 month update

I still don't have pictures, but I wanted to post anyway. I've been fighting a sinus infection which is part of why I didn't get the blog updated over the weekend. Plus our power was out on Saturday from about 9-4.

Last Tuesday was Aaron's 18 month checkup. He was 26 lbs (around the 50th percentile), 33" long (about 75th percentile) and I don't know his head circumference, but it was at the 95 percentile. For height, he is hugging the 75th percentile curve pretty well, and she said if he stays on that course, he'll probably end up around 71" tall.

Unlike some of the exam rooms, this one had the light switch on the wall above the exam table, so Aaron spent a fair amount of the time we waited for the doctor (and some of the time while the doctor was in the room) turning the lights on and off. This is his favorite pastime and it was especially funny to turn the lights off while in his diaper at the doctor's office. Not so funny was having the doctor look in his ears.

Things went downhill from there. After the doctor left, the nurse came in for his shots. He got a flu shot in one leg, since it is that time of year, and then he got the DTap (the 4th, I think) and his first Hep A shot in his other leg. The leg with the flu shot was fine. The other one swelled up for a few days. He was also very fussy after his appointment and cried when I put him down for his nap.

On the plus side, the nurse gave him a book of shapes with fold-out flaps. It is part of a program they do. Starting at his 9 month checkup, he gets a book every time we go. I'm not sure at what age it is discontinued, but so far, he's gotten some books he really enjoys.

He has been jabbering more often, as if he is ready to start talking. And in the last week, he seemed to pick up a couple of new words, whereas he had been very slow to learn new words. His current list of words (and animal sounds is):

Mama
Dada
Papa
ball
duck
Ki - for Kim - his babysitter
dig (he can repeat it, but doesn't use it in context)
open (more like o-o, but he uses it in context)
star (possibly his favorite shape)
eat
bear (for teddy bears)
door (new in the last week)
key (new in the last week)
up (new in the last week)
hee haw (what the donkey says)
moo
baa
quack quack

Regarding his use of "open": Kim taught him to say "o-o" to indicate he wanted something opened - a box or a plastic jar. But he will also use it to ask you to take two Duplos apart for him or to tell you that you left a cabinet door open in the kitchen. In fact, he'll point into the kitchen and grunt and when you ask him "What? What do you see (or want)?" and he'll stop grunting and say "o-o" to tell you that he is pointing to the open cabinet door. Which you should close.

He is also very close to walking. The other night, he was standing against the wall in the dining room with Duplos in each hand. Then he leaned forward, away from the wall and balanced for a few seconds on his own. Then he seemed to realize he was on his own, and then he tried to walk to me - a few feet away. He took a step and a half before falling (I caught him) and we cheered him on so much, he kept repeating the act. Only he was so excited and laughing so hard, he couldn't really balance very well. But today, Kim took him to the indoor playground and he was doing the same thing there against a wall. And when they came home, she said he took a few steps in the dining room while he had a book in his hand.

He also seems to be going through a new phase on the social development front. He has never shown much stranger anxiety - in fact, sometimes I've thought he would happily go off with just about anyone. But now suddenly, when we are out at someone's house, he is clingy and cries if he can't see me - at least until he has time to warm up. Even this morning he had a melt down when Kim arrived. He might have the cold I had, so maybe he's not feeling well, but he's been like this on several occasions over the past 10 days and I'm starting to think it is a new phase. When we are at home and I want a hug or a cuddle, he shakes his head and pushes me away. When we go to someone else's house, he doesn't want to leave my side. I've always appreciated his independence, but I kind of like this phase. It's good to know that I am preferred over other mommies and children.

I'll try to post more pictures soon. One of the downsides of being sick is I'm way behind on work. I shouldn't even be writing this while Aaron is napping. I should be writing code.

Duplos

I meant to post more pictures this weekend, but I ran out of time. So here's one picture to tide you over until I have time to post more. I took this last Sunday a few hours before I discovered Aaron had a fever. He had just gotten up from a nap and was playing with his Duplos.

Budding Musician

Since Aaron enjoys music and has enjoyed playing on other people's pianos, I was inspired to pull out Thom's old keyboard and set it up in Aaron's play room (a.k.a. the dining room). It is often the first thing he wants to play with in the morning or after a nap.

Last weekend, my friend Mike was in town for work. He is a keyboard player and was able to quit his day job 10 years ago to make a living playing music (and giving piano lessons). I made sure to get some video of Aaron and Mike making music together.

I think Aaron could tell that Mike had abilities his parents do not have. I rarely get in much playing before Aaron pushes my hands off the keys or grabs my hand and makes me push the volume buttons instead. He showed much more respect when playing with Mike.

Roseola

This picture is from last Saturday. Thom was pushing him around in his wagon.

Sunday night, after Aaron barely ate anything for dinner, I discovered he had a fever of 102. We gave him some Tylenol before bed and assumed he had whatever I had been fighting off over the weekend. This is his first illness since being completely weaned, so he no longer has the benefit of my immune system.

He didn't feel well on Monday. In fact, he cried and cried when Kim arrived, whereas he usually goes right to her without a kiss goodbye to me. But he was clingy and crying and it took Thom to get him calmed down enough for Kim to take him for a walk.

After about 30 minutes of walking, he fell asleep, so Kim texted me that she was going to keep walking with him. She ended up walking around the neighborhood for 2 hours! But when he woke up, he was happy as a clam. He still went down for his afternoon nap and slept over 3 hours and was ready for bed early, he was so tired. And still not much appetite, but he fortunately was drinking enough water and milk to stay hydrated.

His fever spiked up over 103 Monday night, so we called the nurse line. He didn't really have any other symptoms, aside from being excessively tired and little appetite, so she just said to keep an eye on it and recommended two full droppers of Infant Tylenol (we weren't sure how much to give, but were giving about a dropper and a half). Every night we gave him Tylenol, I went in before bed to feel his head and make sure he wasn't burning up. I never had to give him a second dose at night.

Tuesday was a little better until the afternoon. He was fussy and clingy and his fever rose again. This time the nurse said that if he still had a fever on Wednesday, to call his pediatrian's office in case they wanted to see him, but she thought we could probably make it through the night with a dose of Tylenol. Having a fever as his primary symptom, we were told it could be an ear infection or possibly roseola. With roseola, the fever would break after 3-5 days followed by a rash, but until the rash developed, you couldn't tell if that was what caused the fever. It is one of those common childhood illnesses that most kids get before 2, but which I had never heard of until now. I'm sure it is the first of many.

Wednesday, his temp was down between 99-100, which didn't seem to warrant a call to the pediatrician's office. He seemed a little better, but still tired. At one point when I was out of my office, I saw him reclined in Kim's lap reading books. I took his temperature (with a temporal artery thermometer) which had been causing him to cry and fuss, and he didn't bat an eyelash, he was so comfy and tired. He napped 4 hours and when he woke up, his temp was under 99. He was still fussy and had no appetite last night, but he went to bed early and slept through the night. In fact, he's been sleeping remarkably well through this illness compared with his last one.

Today, he still has no fever, but he does have a faint red rash on his trunk, face and inside his elbows, so I'm pretty sure it is roseola. I guess we can mark one childhood illness off our list. I had to call my friend Biriz though because we visited her and Alara on Tuesday. We thought he probably just had a cold that was going around, and Biriz wasn't worried since they had just had it. Her daughter turns 2 this month and I'm not sure if she has had it yet. If she hasn't, she will probably get it soon since she was playing very close to Aaron.

I'm just glad my happy little boy is returning. He was so sad and lethargic for 3 days. In fact, when he started feeling better last night, he was throwing things gentley and smiling at me, since he knows we don't throw things in the house. I knew I couldn't allow throwing just because he's been sick, but seeing him being playful and funny again made it really hard not to smile back.