Michael had his 15-month well-child visit last Thursday. 32 inches long (75th percentile), 23.14 pounds (with clothes; I assume it's 23.14 pounds and not 23 pounds, 14 ounces, but it's a little ambiguous because they just wrote numbers and no units for any of these -- 50th percentile), and 48 centimeters (I'm guessing cm) for head circumference (75th).
Good weight gain, much to my surprise, because we'd been weighing him at home and he didn't seem to put on any weight, but the pediatrician said that less than 2 pounds between the one-year and 15-month visit is normal. I told her that Michael really hasn't taken to solids; if anything, he's regressed. He used to be a lot more adventurous than he is now (for instance, he used to love avocado, but he won't eat it anymore). He gets the majority of his nutrition still from breastmilk. The doctor ordered some blood tests because she was concerned about his iron levels. They were borderline low (but on the wrong side of the border). Not too bad, and his iron levels at his year appointment were good so there shouldn't have been any damage done yet, but I did order some iron supplements online for him since he's gotten so picky. And, to be honest, I'd gotten lackadaisical with making sure he's getting enough iron-rich foods. Immediately after the appointment, I tried to give him some sweet potatoes with blackstrap molasses, eggs, and iron-rich ``boy biscuits" (which I usually end up munching on because I think they're so yummy), and he threw everything on the floor.
Ben and I are struggling with that last part--he throws food on the floor now before he even tastes it. It's infuriating!
The pediatrician wanted me to start seriously weaning him from breastmilk, but I feel extremely uncomfortable with that. Her main concern is that breastmilk doesn't have enough iron and protein, so I'm really trying to focus on those things in his diet now. I'm also trying not to nurse him ideally for a few hours before his meals, although I've been having mixed success with that--sometimes he still tosses his food, although yesterday he did eat a substantial amount of sweet potato cheesecake on his own. (It's ``healthy" cheesecake! Cream cheese, sweet potatoes, egg, vanilla extract, some spices, and that's it. The egg and sweet potato both have iron, and there's very little calcium in the cream cheese to cancel it out. I love it and started making it in little single-serving glass jars using the ``water bath" method of cooking cheesecake that I sometimes jazz up with a buttery crumbled graham cracker crust on top. I was inspired by Martha Stewart but I didn't use that recipe exactly.) Ben and I are even trying to shove things in his mouth against his will, which is one of those parenting things I swore I'd never do.
I brought to the pediatrician's attention a letter I received from a study Michael participated in. They sent me a follow-up for his one-year questionnaire that I filled out in January, suggesting that Michael is developmentally delayed in speech, social skills, and related areas. The pediatrician asked me whether Michael has 3-5 words yet, and I was surprised that he should be speaking already and said "no." Does he say "mama" or "dada"? No. Does he point to things? No. Does he recognize his name, or the word "no"? Sometimes. She wanted me to get him evaluated by a speech therapist, although she said she's not really worried; he's probably just a little behind schedule, as some kids are, and it's not unusual. I believe Grammy's friend with training in this area is kindly going to take a look at Michael to see if we need to follow-up here in Austin with regular visits to a speech pathologist.
I'll love my little baby boy just the same no matter what, though! I don't care if he is brilliant or has autism (or both!). He's still my gift from God.
