12-Month Checkup

Joey LOVES blueberries!

We had Joey's baby-wellness appointment last week.  He now weighs 21 lbs, 10 oz.  He is 30.89 inches long.  This puts him in the 25th percentile for weight, and 75th percentile for height.  He is growing right on track with how he's been progressing this past year. 

He likes to pull his lips down while he makes noises. 

He does it all of the time!  He especially likes when adults imitate him.  That really gets him smiling!

The doctor told us that he probably is lactose intolerant after hearing our stories of diarrhea after consuming milk-based formula.  She told me to actually just put Joey on soy milk.  We can try whole milk, but soy milk would be fine.  I told her that Joey has no interest in cheese or yogurt and she actually suggested that maybe he knew milk products upset him so that's why he stopped eating it. 

She also was pretty surprised at how active and busy Joey was.  He was all over that exam room!  He even learned how to climb while we were waiting for the doc!  Great.  I'm totally excited about this new stage.  (there is 100% sarcasm in those two statements!).  

Joey also had been waking once a night, so the doc said to stop feeding him in the middle of the night.  He can deal with a wet diaper.  He should be sleeping 12 hours straight.  If he wakes in the middle of the night, let him cry.

The doc also said to start reading and singing to him a lot now (check!).  Even though he's really busy, try to do it as much as possible. 

After the exam, we had to go and get the dreaded vaccinations.  I was really freaking out because this was the vaccination appointment to get the MMR, chicken pox, and a bunch more!  Michael and I still hadn't made up our minds on the chicken pox vaccine.   We both had chicken pox when we were kids and we were fine.  The doctor did say that kids that get chicken pox have more issues than kids with the chicken pox vaccine.  Even though a kid does have the vaccine, they can still get chicken pox...just a lot more of a milder case.  We decided to go ahead and have Joey get the vaccine.  Joey started screaming as soon as the tech and I laid him down onto the table.  He really, REALLY hates being laid down on his back and held down.  He screamed and cried a lot louder once he got the FIVE shots!  Poor little man.   

In addition to all of his vaccinations, he then had to go and get blood drawn to test his iron levels.  That was just a finger prick, but the tech had to squeeze Joey's finger a bunch to get enough blood.  Joey was in a pretty crappy mood after all of this!  He was also cutting a few molars, so he was very pleasant to be around.   Luckily, Joey only had  fever after the shots, and that went away within a day.  So glad that we have at least six months until the next shots, and then he doesn't get anymore until he's four years old!  Whew!