18 Month Checkup

Today was Caden's 18 month checkup. He officially weighs 28 lbs, 2 oz. and is 35.5 inches long. His weight is in the 75th percentile and has been for about the last year. His height, however, spiked far above the 100th percentile at this visit! Overall, Caden is healthy and growing as he should be. We talked to the doctor about how he puts his hands over his ears when he eats so she checked those out and said that his ears look perfect and look like he's never had any problem in them. So it must just be something he does out of habit. Everything else looked good too, though Caden definitely showed her his worst side today! He was trying to get out the door and throwing tantrums the entire time. He probably knew that his shots were coming. :( He had to get three today. He also had his blood drawn for a hemoglobin test.

Our biggest concern for the doctor was his lack of speech. She called a few people trying to determine if he should see a speech therapist or a developmental specialist. Because he is developing in every other way on schedule we're going with a speech therapist. Our first appointment is Tuesday, April 13th. I'm anxious to see what that will be like.

After our doctor's appointment we stopped at Target to buy a bike pump and some new sandals for Caden. Then we headed to the zoo! Farm Babies officially opens in April and we wanted to go since we missed the babies last year. It was a beautiful day to walk around and not too crowded yet that early in the morning, but the actual farm babies were kind of disappointing. Most were curled up sleeping and you could barely even see them. So we just walked around. Caden seemed pretty hesitant around the goats. It'll probably take a few visits before he's loving them again. The funniest part about our zoo trip was when Caden started following a little girl around trying to hold her hand. She was only a little bit older than him and didn't even notice, but it was hilarious to us and her dad. He's starting to make moves on the ladies!

We finished our morning with lunch at Old Chicago. Caden was holding up amazingly well after his traumatic morning and we had a great time. The food was delicious!

We expected Caden to be totally knocked out by nap time, but he didn't sleep at all. He must have known when his hour was up because he jumped out of his crib on his own... We both came running. He doesn't appear to have any lasting injuries, but we'll definitely be lowering the crib to its lowest level tonight.

And we finally got the bike trailer set up! Caden put up a HUGE fight when we put him in and tried to get the helmet on. There were neighbors out everywhere staring at us! The second Greg got going, though, he was fine. But the helmet kept falling over his face. I'm going to have to try and look somewhere else for a smaller size. The one I bought was a 3+ and its just too big. So anyway, Greg then went around the cul de sac a few times without the helmet and he seemed to enjoy it. This was his face when he got back, though - like he was in a total trance. I'm hoping to take him on a longer ride tomorrow.

Well, Caden's painful shots and lack of nap are definitely catching up with him. He's been crying for the last half hour straight. Looks like an early night!