15 Month Appointment

We went for Carson's 15 month doctor appointment today.  It went well for the most part.  At his 12 month appointment he was 17 lbs 5 ozs and at this appointment he was 19 lbs 1 oz, he gained almost 2 pounds!  That was really good although he is still in the 3rd percentile for weight.  He also grew about an inch since his last appointment and was 29 inches.  He continues to be in the 5th percentile for height.  So he is a little boy but that's okay!  He is growing!  

When we went for his 9 month appt, they took blood to check his iron levels which they do with all 9 month olds.  Well, his came back a little low and so they tested it again at 12 months and it was still a little low.  The doctor said this is normal for breastfed babies because they don't get as much iron.  Well, they checked it for a 3rd time to day and it was finally within normal ranges!  YAY!  I was really happy about that too which means no more finger pricks for awhile!

The only concerns at this point are that Carson is on the low end for how many words he is saying and how much he is talking.  But the doctor said it is nothing to worry about right now.  Also, although he was happy with the weight gain and that Carson continues to stay on his growth curve - he wants us to continue to give him lots of calories and even recommended that we put a little formula in his sippy with his milk.  I'm not sure how I feel about that yet, I may try it with the samples he gave me.  

That's about it.  Carson had 2 vaccinations today - the MMR and Hepatitis A.  He cried of course but calmed down pretty quickly.  His next appointment will be at 18 months!

Long Overdue Update!!

Ok I told myself I would update this blog regularly...and look at me, it's been 3 months!  Owell, life has been busy!  

Carson is now 15 months, I can't believe it!  He is just growing so fast and changing so much.  He is walking all over the place and trying to run all over the place!  He is becoming more and more independent everyday.  He still is not speaking a whole lot but can be very loud making noises.  His most common words are "look" and "dog".  From time to time he will say other words like "Mama" and "bye".  He is so active though, he doesn't have time to work on talking!  Carson loves to play outside and explore, I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of time outdoors this summer.  

Another MAJOR milestone for Carson is that he is FINALLY sleeping through the night!!!!  What a miracle, I never thought this day would come!  It is so awesome to get a good night's sleep.  He wakes up pretty early, usually 7:00 at the latest but I am not going to complain!  I really never thought he would sleep through the night, he woke up at least 1 time per night and often many more times for his whole first year of life.  He is taking 2 naps per day but I think he may be ready to start transitioning to just one nap per day.  We will see how that goes in the upcoming weeks.  

Carson has had 6 teeth (4 top, 2 bottom) for quite awhile now.  But I just noticed last week that his molars are coming through.  Both top ones have broken through the gums but the bottom ones haven't yet.  I am sure they will soon because they are very swollen at the moment!  Another thing about Carson is that he eats anything and everything.  I really haven't found anything that he doesn't like yet which is awesome!  His favorites are veggies (peas, carrots, black beans); fruit (blueberries, pineapple, grapes); cheese; turkey and ham.  He drinks whole milk and water throughout the day out of his sippy cup and then still gets a bottle right before bedtime.  I am going to try to phase that out this summer.  I just worry that he may not be getting enough to drink during the day which is why he still gets the 1 bottle.  Carson quit nursing when he was around 13 months, we just gradually cut back until he was completely weaned.  I can't believe we made it that long, it was very difficult in the beginning but turned out to be a wonderful bonding experience and one that I don't regret.  He has only been sick one time in his life so far and I like to think that that nursing him helped with that also.  

Another BIG change in Carson's life has happened this week, he now has 2 working parents.  Carson has been lucky to have one of us home with him his whole life so far.  I stayed home with him from January-August 09 and Justin has been home with him since August.  But Justin started a new job on Monday and that means we had to figure out what Carson would do.  My mom and dad are keeping him 2 days per week and then it just happened that a lady who has twins in Kindergarten at my school was looking for something part time.  So she is taking care of him 3 days per week.  He is at her house all day one day per week and she works at a Mother's Day Out 2 days and he will go with her to that on those days.  We think this is great because he gets a lot of one on one attention with her but also will get to be around other children, which we think is important.   So far, it has been working out great and he seems to be adjusting very well.  I am so proud of him!  And only 7 more weeks of school and I get to be home with Carson for 2 whole months!  I am really looking forward to doing a lot of fun activities with him this summer!

Carson has his 15 month doctor appointment tomorrow.  I am looking forward to finding out how much he weighs and hopefully he has moved up some on the growth chart.  But I know he is healthy and happy so that is really all that matters!  I will try to update tomorrow with how everything went.  

I am going to leave you with some of Carson's 1 year photos that we had made in February.  I think they turned out great.  Shannon Payne did the photos and she has a blog:  shannonpaynephotography.blogspot.com.  She does an awesome job!