15 months-a check-up, shots, and a blood draw

First, let me start by saying that I am the worst blogger ever. Cold and flu season has hit us hard around here. Poor Emmy went from having the gingivo thing, to a constant drippy nose and cough, to thrush, which has made her totally miserable. On top of that, she REFUSES to smile at the camera, so pictures are few and far between these days. We are going to Tulsa for a friend trip this weekend and I am so so so excited to spend time with my two best friends and their kids, so hopefully there will be lots of fun pictures to come.

Now on to the post. Emily is officially 15 months old as of yesterday. We had her check-up with her pedi yesterday and found out that Emily had the start of an ear infection. Her very first, so we consider ourselves lucky and we caught it early, which is even better. It didn't really seem to be bothering her at all yet. I am glad we had the visit with the doc, because had we not, we probably would not have caught it till it was much worse. On top of that, since we are flying to Tulsa ::SQUEEE!!!:: on Thursday, the flight would have been HELL if she had a full blown infection. We got some antibiotics to clear it up and some drops to numb it if they start to hurt. Whew!

At the appointment the dr. pointed out that she is very happy with Emily's development. She knows WAY more than the 5 word milestone for her age, she is able to follow commands, she can stack blocks, she can eat with a spoon AND a fork (when she wants to), and even though it's not ideal, she is showing stranger anxiety, which is very common for babies her age. One area she is not super happy with, is Emily's growth. She only gained 13 oz. in the last 3 months (keep in mind, she has been sick for a good month now, with the sores and thrush), but she is just a tiny little girl in general. The dr. was not unhappy with the weight. She said it is what it is at this point, and she is not going to recommend we feed her more to get her growing. Force feeding becomes a battle and we don't want to instill bad eating habits now. Instead, we just have to accept that she will eat when she is hungry. What the dr. is concerned about is her height. Keep in mind, Zig and I are not the tallest people in the world. Zig is average, I am a little short. BUT, what she did say is that small kids usually stay at the same percentile or higher month to month, they don't usually drop to a lower percentile. Emily has only grown an inch in the last 3 months and dropped from the 20-25% to the 20th. The dr. just wants to keep an eye one it, but since this is the second time it's dropped, she decided to do a blood work up to determine if there was anything wrong. It could be a food allergy, thyroid, or even liver, or it could be nothing. We got the blood work done yesterday, and it was the worst thing I have ever done with my child. Seriously, I cry thinking about it and I NEVER want to do it to her again. In the end, it will give us piece of mind knowing the results and we just hope that it's nothing and that Emmy is just tiny. We should have results in the next day or two, so please say a prayer that all is ok.

Here is what Emily is up to:

*She weighs 19lbs 13 oz (5th percentile) and is 29 1/4 inches (20th percentile)
*New words this month are no (boo to this one, but she uses it correctly so I guess we can't complain), Emmy, which she said for the first time yesterday, Kiki, Avery (friend from school), night-night (nah nah) and hi. I am sure there are more, I just can't remember them all.
*If you tell her go night-night she will grab a blanket and lay down on the floor.
*Abby is still her favorite word and she has gone from saying it only to Abby, to all dogs in general.
*She has the softest sweetest voice.
*She has gotten very shy lately. If we are around a lot of people, she insists that I hold her and will cry if I put her down. The doctor said this is very normal. It takes her a while to open up, but when she does, she totally hams it up for everyone and is very chatty.
*She loves babies and other kids. She gets a huge grin whenever she sees them and proudly points out "baby" to us. I am actually excited about this, maybe Kody will keep her entertained on the plane. :)
*She is still in 12 month clothes in most brands, and 12-18 in others. She will be in 12 month pants for a while longer.
*I am pretty sure she will be potty trained before she grows out of her size 3 diapers.
*She smiles just like her mommy, when she was little. Scrunched up nose and all.
*She is very good about telling us she is "ahh don" when she is done eating in the softest little voice.
*Her signs have gotten really good and she uses them often. She isn't as good as saying please without being prompted, but we do remind her and she will do it usually right away. She also signs thank you, but we usually have to ask her to say it.
*She can point out her eyes, nose, belly, ears and hair.

I am sure there is a lot more I am missing. It's really just been a rough month. Here is to catching up and staying on top of things!