18-Month Dr. Visit

Kole had his 18-month doctor's visit today - he now is with Dr. Ann Nelson of Arlington, in the same office as his previous pediatrician, but we thought we needed a change for a handful of reasons.
Anyway, Kole weighed 27 pounds 4 ounces, which is just about in the 55 percentile for his age (50 would have been a dead-even bullseye average) so he's essentially average and right where he should be for his age. However, his length (they still measure him laying down, foot stretched out, head to heel - not standing up) was 35-and-1/2 inches. This puts him above the 97 percentile. On the chart it's obviously around the 98th percentile. Either way, it means that only 2-3% of 18-month-olds in the United States are taller than him. In the doctor's words, "he has the body of a 3-year-old", but with his weight on balance, he's extremely normal and very healthy - just tall for his age. We mentioned what a ravenous, two-fisted eater he is - especially compared to his little friends Noah, Sara and Meisha. The doctor's reaction was, "he obviously needs it". She complimented him over and over again on his temperament as she examined him. He was curious of everything, but agreeable to all her prodding with a stethoscope, tongue depressor and little lighted ear-magnifying scope-thing. Then came the shots. He had to get Hep-A, D-Tap, IPV and chicken pox. Two of them were combined somehow so there were three needles total. The nurse would grab a pinch of fat on one of this thighs, poke and depress. One after the other after the other. He gave one small groan after the second ... but amazingly, no tears, no screams, no fit whatsoever. After the doctor had done nothing but rave about how big and healthy, well-behaved and wonderfully curious and temperamented he was, we were sure he was going to douse all those compliments out with a big bucket of rage. All he did was suck it up and make his parents look good again. ATTA BOY!
We will watch the development of his speaking. Right now his discernible vocabulary consists of "daddy" (not Da Da - a distinctive hard-E on the end, "Da-dee"), and a couple of times in the past week he has said "Bye" while waving bye. Kathy had a play-date at the house yesterday with Kole's pals Noah and Sara (whose moms Kathy went through child birth classes with), and as one was leaving, grabbing her purse and heading for the door, Kole waved and said "Bye!". The word is the recent addition, as for several weeks he will wave goodbye to me when I leave for work and walk out the door. So, some things are coming along. The doctor was alarmed by nothing and complimentary of everything. She reconfirmed that Kathy is doing everything right and is a wonderful mother.
Unforeseen illnesses aside, his next scheduled doctor's check-up will be when he turns 2.
Attached is the pic of him in his little gown they had him put on. Hilarious.

Kicking Off 2010

2010 was welcomed with a happy house. Kathy and I were able to go out to dinner together while Kole played with his neighbor friend Meisha. We were home by 8:00, Kole in bed by 9:00, Kathy and I watched a movie (Paul Blart the Mall Cop - pretty funny) then were in bed by the time Dick Clark counted down the Eastern time zone to midnight.
Kole was fighting a bit of a cough as he went to bed, one that made us consider taking him to a doctor since he was going on 5 or 6 days with it, and it was a very wet and phlegmy cough, but he appears to be on the rebound and mend. Overall, 2009 had lots of answered prayers and Kole was a very healthy boy, as were Mom and Dad, for the most part. We braved the Swine Flu scare of the Fall, which may have been the toughest time of all in hindsight. Otherwise, Kole has been introduced to more bruises and scratches as his mobility and reach increase, as does his mischief. He bravely scales chairs and couches and it has become somewhat of a favorite hobby. Only twice to my memory has he miscalculated the stability of his seating and taken a tumble onto the floor. Those are tough lessons for him, and even tougher for the parents. He has an amazing tolerance for banging into walls and tumbling off of toys.
His vocabulary is extremely vast, the problem is that we don't quite know what words he's saying. But, he can carry on an entire conversation, or sing an entire Itsy Bitsy Spider tune mouthing words of some kind in rhythm. 60% of his time spent awake and not eating, he is in a song of some kind. It's a great way to snap out of a crappy day ourselves, just hearing his happy babble around the house.
He loves going outside, and when you appear with shoes he will gleefully hop up on the couch and put his dogs out ready to be suited up. When you put one sock on, he'll sometimes grab the other and attempt to put it on the other foot. When his own shoes aren't on, he loves finding our shoes and putting his feet in them and sliding around the house.
He has graduated past pushing doors shut, and can now grab a doorknob and pull it shut. When a telephone rings, he immediately goes on a hunt for a phone. He has a great understanding for what things will bring scorn from Mom and Dad, but won't quite avoid them - instead just approaches them with caution. Just a few moments ago he approached the Christmas tree again, stuck out his finger and slowly crept it towards a shiny ornament ... all the while with his head turned directly towards me, as if waiting for the bark of disapproval. Once I fire off a stern "NO NO!" he seemed satisfied and merrily went on his way. I believe all the baby books and common sense label this practice "Testing the Parent".
He eats 2 scrambled eggs eagerly with both hands churning like a machine every morning and also loves waffles with syrup, plus Chef Boyardee ravioli (at 17 months old he once finished off an ENTIRE CAN in one sitting!), grilled cheese, and also luckily likes mashed up peas and sweet potatoes. We're normally taking a chance with anything else - including chicken nuggets and hamburgers. He'll gladly gobble them up some time, others he donates them to Maggie. One way or another, he eats like a horse and is still way above average length/height for his age and all appears very normal.
Potty training is not far away, and we've taken some of the prescribed early steps - including putting his training potty out; using the words and associating them with the act of the result (as he's leaning over the coffee table red-faced and grunting "Are you going poopie?" changing the diaper "Pewwie!! Kole made poopie!!", etc.); then maybe most uncomfortably, we are allowing him into the bathroom with us to observe and learn and make the connection himself. Nothing more amusing than letting your kid watch you stand there and pee while he looks up and down, up and down, in studied amazement. All the while, I have to keep a hand free to keep him from playing in my stream. During this entire process is a running play-by-play to further associate the verbal cues. It's a very humbling rite fatherhood, bear to cub : "Daddy's going to tee-tee in the potty! Let's go potty. Okay ... Daddy's going tee-tee ... into the potty. Okay, all done going tee-tee! Yeah!" then I clap and congratulate myself on being a good boy, and for remaining sprinkle-free. I always wonder what precisely is going through his head after he sees what he just saw.
There are days when I come home from work and Kathy is working a glass of wine and has obviously shed a tear or two - while the boy maintains a sly grin of innocence. As is par for his age, he can be a handful. But, Kole is as healthy and happy as can be. He associates well with other kids his age, and after a 5-minute grace period of hesitant shyness he quickly acclimates to any crowd in any setting. He's a voracious eater, a sound sleeper, and engages in toddler horseplay with unabated tenacity. He laughs 100 times more than he cries. He's as healthy as a horse. Some of all that can be attributed to DNA and the blessings of God, but the influence of a wonderful, strong, effective mother cannot be denied. Kathy not only refuses to give herself credit, but just as worse she is in constant doubt of whether what she's doing is the right thing. In my book, and in Kole's I'm sure, she is the Mother of the Year for 2009.
Looking forward to all of what 2010 has in store for Kole, Kathy and myself.

Scenes from Christmas 2009