On Friday, Aaron had his 2 year checkup. Thom and I both went with him. Now that he is a "big boy", he got to stand on the big kid scale with just his shoes off, instead of being stripped naked and placed on the baby scale. He was also measured standing up instead of lying down. He wasn't too sure about the thing that slides down the wall to the top of his head to verify his height (he watched it coming down and said "no head"), but eventually we got him to stand still.
He weighed in at 31 1/2 lbs and his height was 34 1/4 inches. The pediatrician later told us that put him around 50 percentile for height and 75 percentile for weight. The last time he was weighed, when we went to the ER a few months back, he was still under 30 lbs, which had surprised me since he seemed to be gaining weight every time I picked him up. I thought he'd be over 30 lbs, but didn't expect him to be over 31 lbs. She also wrote down Thom's height and my height, and I believe she estimated he'll end up somewhere around 5'10" or 5'11".
We met with Dr. S, a different ped than usual. I had wanted to get a second opinion about having his blood tested for lead. His regular pediatrician, Dr. C, had given us paperwork at his 18 month checkup to take him to get his blood drawn to check for lead. Based on the survey we had filled out at his 12 month checkup, I didn't think he was at high risk for lead poisoning. So I didn't see the point in subjecting him to a blood draw for no good reason and Dr. C had been too rushed and brought it up towards the end of the appointment so I didn't get to ask her more about it. I asked Dr. S about it and she also didn't see a need in our case. She said she's only had one kid come back with high levels of lead. And after all the toy recalls due to excessive levels of lead last year, she sent more kids for testing than usual and none had elevated levels of lead in their blood. So I'm comfortable skipping that test.
Dr. S told us we should take him to see a pediatric dentist and gave us two suggestions for where to take him. Our family dentist had said to start bringing him in around 3 but she said the new recommendations are to start taking kids to the dentist as early as one! But not to the family dentist - to a pediatric dentist. So we'll look into that. We wanted to take him to see one of us get our teeth cleaned first and since I have a cleaning in July, we might wait until after that to schedule his appointment. He's pretty good about his nightly brushing - first I take a turn, then he takes his turn, which is usually more about chewing on the toothbrush than brushing. Sometimes, if he is feeling generous, he'll offer Daddy a turn, too. Dr. S also told us we should start using a flouride toothpaste instead of the infant toothpaste we've been using.
During the visit, she also asked us some questions about his development. She started to ask about words and I said I'd counted at least 200. She said she just wanted to make sure he had at least 20. She asked if he was putting words into short sentences; he is. She asked how he was doing with sharing; he does pretty well if we tell him to share. Later she said she thought he was very bright, although I'm not sure how she could judge based on the information she asked for and what she saw. She thought since he was bright, he would go one of two ways on potty training - either he'll train early or he'll be delayed because he'll be smart enough to outwit our efforts.
Fortunately, Aaron only needed one shot that day - his second Hep A shot. It was painful for him, but he did pretty good. She told us to bring him back after October for a flu shot, especially since we'll have a new baby.
Also, because of the baby, she suggested that Thom and I, along with other primary caregivers, such as grandparents, get a DTaP booster if we hadn't had a tetanus shot in the last 5-10 years. She said they don't do straight tetanus anymore - they do the combined Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (whooping cough). She said whooping cough has been going around and it's a good idea to up our immunizations in preparation for the newborn. I'm guessing I'll have to wait until after the baby is born to get any shots.
I'd gotten in the habit of sometimes calling Aaron "my baby". He now tells me "no, no baby". He's apparently a "big guy" now that he is 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment