Average Kid?

We went to Ava's one-year doctor's appointment yesterday. She is a very healthy, developmentally ahead-of-the-curve, baby-girl (who detests most health care professionals, with exception to Aunt Tracy :-)).

She weighed 20 lbs, 11 ounces (with a... folks, trust me here... FULL belly of rotini pasta). I sent the rotini with her to day care, thinking there would be extra for another meal and she ATE IT ALL! (I think this kid must be part-Italian, with the amount of pasta she can consume). 20 lbs, 11 oz puts her in the 44th percentile for her age. I was shocked by this. She looks like such a big girl to me, that I thought she would at least be in the 75th %. I can't believe that the majority of babies out there are BIGGER than she is!

She measured 29 inches tall, which puts her in the 50% for her age. I thought she would be taller (again, she seems like such a big girl to me!). Her head is 18 inches around. No ear infections. Reason to celebrate! So, she's right around average for both height and weight.

She can now drink whole milk; the doctor gave the okay. So, suffice it to say, we made it a YEAR nursing. That was my final goal (after many shorter-term goals), and I am SO proud to say we got that far! It wasn't easy, especially at first. The first weeks seemed super-rough. As natural as breast-feeding SHOULD be, it isn't (at first). But, after the first month or so, things got much, much better. I am SO glad that we've been able to give her that leg-up as far as her health is concerned. And how much money have we saved by nursing instead of formula-feeding? Based on Web sites I've seen, anywhere from $1,400 to $3,163.86, for the year. Crazy!

Developmentally, Ava is doing some things in the 18 month category (crazy, I know). She can throw a ball, occasionally kick a ball, put things in containers, says more than 3 words. (I forgot the other "criteria" for 18 month babies). She is doing everything on the checklist in the 12-month category.

She got three immunization shots. Poor thing! When we came home, she should've gone down for a nap, so I put her in her crib. I listened to her babble to herself in her crib for at least 30 minutes, before I went up to get her. Obviously not ready for a nap! I thought she would be whiney and hurting from the shots, but she was just the opposite. Playing, giggling, playing peek-a-boo (a new favorite pasttime). What a happy girl! She crashed and burned later and didn't want to wake up, so we let her sleep it off.

We're so thankful for her health! We pray this message finds you happy and healthy, too!

With love,
Shelly