Happy and healthy

We just got back from Ava's 15 month well-child appointment, a little late (she's almost 16 months) but that's ok. She is the picture of health. She weighed in at 27 lbs., 6 oz. (90-95th percentile), and was 32 inches tall (90th percentile).

Dr. S said that Ava is the "healthiest breast-fed baby she's ever seen." I don't know if she says that often or not, but I will take it as a compliment.

I had some concerns about Ava's bowleggedness (Jody says she runs like John Wayne) but Dr. S assured me that kids' legs don't straighten out until they are 4 or 5 years old, so nothing to worry about there.

We also talked a bit about her eating habits (or lack thereof) lately. She gave me a handout on decreased appetite and eating in toddlers which is perfectly normal. I just have to trust that Ava will eat as much as she needs and not force food on her. Easier said than done, but I am going to try to relax about it. She also said it might help to let her eat before she nurses, something I tried doing for a while and then got lazy on, so we'll get back on that kick again. There were some other tips on the handout that we will try following as well, such as letting her feed herself entirely and giving more finger foods. I just need to accept that mealtime is going to be messy and find some better bibs!

Oh! Also asked about when it's ok to start giving peanut butter. She said all docs are different, but she thinks right about now is fine. She suggested doing almond butter first (which we've been doing for a cpl weeks now anyway) and then peanut butter.

I shared with Dr. S that article I recently wrote about here that states: "The longer a mother breast-feeds, the higher the fat and energy content of her breast milk." She was very interested in it and thanked me several times. She said that this goes against what they had previously been lead to believe and she really appreciated me bringing it to her attention. Yay! Hopefully she'll share it with the other drs in the practice and maybe this will help them become more supportive of moms who choose to nurse past 12 months.

Before she examined Ava, Dr. S mentioned that between 15 and 18 months is usually the hardest time to examine kids because they just won't tolerate it, but she likes to still give it a try. Well, Ava let her do it with no protesting whatsoever. (Yes, I'm bragging.) She said that's the easiest exam she's had on a 16 month old in a while.

She asked me if Ava's watching TV at all. I told her no, but once in a rare while I will use it as a distraction - like I turned on PBS this morning so I could cut her nails. It worked well and she got a couple minutes of Sesame Street. Anyway, she said that was good. (Funny the things doctors latch onto to ask you about, no?)

The other thing we talked about was potty training/learning. She said it's good to have her potty in her play area, which may make her more likely to use it. She was doing good at going on it whenever I put her on, but has been regressing lately. I'm not concerned. She's got plenty of time to learn. She also suggested using a small reward for every time she goes on it. She mentioned giving her one M&M or one Skittle or something (What?? Does she not know me at all? LOL I told her Ava's never had candy.), and then she said maybe she could watch 1 minute of TV or get a sticker or something and that seemed a lot more appropriate to me. :)

We also got Ava's third DTaP shot today. Even though we aren't doing the majority of the vaccinations or delaying them (read why here and here), DTaP is one that we felt was important for Ava to have after she turned 1 and her immune system had been built up a bit. Hopefully we won't have any reactions. I'm not sure if it's coincidence or not, but the last two times she had vaccinations, we ended up in the ER a few days to weeks later for other illnesses. So of course, I am suspicious, but I'm also hoping it was just a fluke.

Anyway, hooray for a happy, healthy lil girl! :)

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In other happy news, I sold most of my maternity clothes (with the exception of a couple shirts I'm saving) today. I decided to get rid of them since a) most of them are clothes I wore to work and wouldn't be comfy in around the house and b) I'm a lot smaller than I was when I got pregnant with Ava so they probably wouldn't fit me if I were to get pregnant again anyway. I'm putting the money away as I save to buy the Olympus Evolt camera. ::insert Amy drooling all over the keyboard here:: ;)

We've got some fun stuff planned for the weekend. I think we might hit another pumpkin patch tomorrow (went to one last weekend and it was a lot of fun). Also plan to stop by the community garden for some clean-up work. I'm doing my first maternity photoshoot Sunday morning, then Sunday afternoon Jody, Ava and I are going to a farm for a hayride with a bunch of families. :)
Happy weekend all! :)