Thursday, March 4, 2010

My Second Home

Yep, I went to the pediatrician again today. This time for Lily's 4 year check-up. She was precious the whole time. Loved, loved, loved getting weighed and measured and having her blood pressure and pulse tested. Had a ball at the eye test. Chatted up a storm with Dr. B. Could not have been cuter. Her health is wonderful. She weighs 36 pounds (between 50-75%) and is 40 1/2 inches tall (75%). Such a long way from the 7 lbs 14 oz and 20 1/2 inches at birth! She got two shots and barely flinched. Dr. B and the nurse went on and on about how most kids bawl and she was so brave and so strong. So of course on the way home her arm "just hurts" and "it's worser than a boo-boo." She dragged this on all night. By making such a big deal out of how strong and brave she was, she must have thought she was missing out on a chance to be dramatic.

On Monday I took Imogene to see Dr. B for her weight check. We did a blood-workup (Stop me if this sounds familiar, it does to me, perhaps I'm repeating myself). The results were back today and everything was normal. No thyroid issues, no celiac disease, no basic metabolic red flags raised. And even better, she did not show a milk or soy allergy. That's not to say that she doesn't have dairy or soy sensitivity, but she's not allergic. So tonight she had a little bit of pizza with cheese on it, and a little bit of a cheese stick. She didn't seem to care one way or the other, but it was still fun. Of course Lily wouldn't eat the pizza, but the lack of variety in her diet is an issue for another time! So we don't know what is causing Imogene's slow weight gain, but we know what's not.

The one "dark" spot this week is what we learned at OT Wednesday. We've wondered a lot lately if Imogene doesn't have all the awareness she needs in her mouth and tongue. Amy the OT gave me some things to look for over the past week. What I noticed is that Imogene doesn't seem to notice how much she has in her mouth sometimes. She chokes way more than Lily ever did, and has always had a problem keeping liquids in her mouth. So we did a test on Wednesday and gave her a chew toy covered in lemon flavored spray. Basically Imogene did not notice at all that there was a sour flavor to the toy. So she has some oral desensitivity. There are things we can do to help her 'wake up' her mouth - rubbing her cheeks, giving her these special chew toys before she eats, giving her foods with lots of spice and texture. Amy didn't seem to be super concerned, but it's definitely an issue we'll be working on through OT.

Forgive me if the blog goes quiet for a few days. I have a house to turn into a castle for a certain 4 year-old's princess birthday party and I've done next to nothing to be ready for the 9 little girls coming over on Saturday afternoon. Wish me luck, and maybe send some fairy dust. Oh, and call my fairy godmother while you're at it.

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