Our Little Janie got a clean bill of health today. The blood tests came back normal today so we are all relieved. Her hemoglobin and iron levels are normal and she doesn’t have thalassemia. What a relief.
First Blood Draw
Turns out Janie is still anemic. At her 12-month visit, her doc recommended adding more red meat and eggs to her diet. We even gave her chicken liver these past 3 months and it didn’t make any changes to her Hb level of 9.6. So, Dr. Kaplan ordered a full blood panel to rule out thalassemia, which is a blood disorder. So, we went to a lab at CPMC to get it done since we were in the neighborhood. Here she is waiting for her turn. Poor baby was happy as a clam and totally clueless of what was about to occur.
Once it was her turn, the phlebolomist Mila sat us down and instructed Mommy how to hold her. Here’s a sequence of photos that Daddy took.
“Hm. What’s going on?”
“Uh, I don’t think I like this.”
“Wah!!!!”
By the way, Mila was just looking for a vein at this point.
Here comes the alcohol swab.
She was not going to hold still and put up a good fight. In the end, Mommy held her body and left arm and Daddy had to step in to hold her right arm down with both hands. She screamed the whole time and Mila took 4 vials of blood!!! Poor baby.
15-month Check-up
Janie had her 15-month check-up this morning.
She loved the toys in the waiting room.
Here are the stats:
Weight: 23 pounds, 12 ounces (66th percentile) – Down from 67th percentile last month.
Height: 31.5 inches (81st percentile) – She’s getting tall! She was in the 47th percentile last month.
While we waited in the exam room for the doctor, Janie made herself at home. She’s always up to no good – even at the doctor’s office. Doc said she’s looking good but that she has a minor ear infection, which was the cause for her screaming the other night (almost made me take her to the hospital) and the runny nose/cough.
She also got two shots (one in each leg) today. Here is the before picture. She was hungry so I gave her a snack before the nurse came in.
Then WHAM! the shot went in. She was NOT happy. They also had to poke her big toe for a hemoglobin test and that didn’t make it any better.
Once she got her G-raffe and some snuggles from Mommy, she was all better. We took this photo for Daddy who was stuck at work for the morning.
12-month Check-up
Janie went to see the doctor today for her 12-month check-up. I was so blown away that she’s now at a point where I don’t have her on my lap in the waiting room anymore. She enjoyed the toys in the waiting room and in the exam room. She got a shot in both thighs and a toe stick for a blood test. Turns out she’s anemic and she needs to eat more iron. We’re gonna need to make some pâté and red meat for her!
Here are her stats:
Weight = 22 pounds (67th percentile)
Height = 29 inches (47th percentile)
Her weight and height have slowed down a lot and she’s now in the normal range (25th to 75th percentile). Our fatty baby is normal?! Amazing. I guess she’s moving and burning all the milk she’s drinking.
12 months
I can’t believe it’s been a year already. Our Little Janie is now 12 months old. Look at how she’s grown!! It’s funny is that this was one of the easiest quilt photos I’ve taken in a very long time. It was as if she knew it was her last one and I was able to get to to sit in the same spot as her first one.
She’s accomplished so much in her last month as a baby. Here are some highlights:
- Janie started walking!!!
- She started signing “more” and “all done” and follows commands such as “clap” and “one”.
- She’s learned how to click her tongue.
- Janie got learned some new consonants like /g/, /w/, and /sh/
- She claps along with songs now and tries to say parts of familiar songs like “Twinkle Twinkle”.
- We took her to the zoo for the first time.
- Janie had more play dates with Sophie, Sadie, and Theo including a fancy brunch.
- Janie learned how to snuggle her toys and people.
- Peek-a-boo is still lots of fun and she initiates it more often now.
- She learned how to climb stairs at Auntie Ranee’s house.
- Janie has been going to the Children’s Creativity Museum and bringing home artwork.
- She’s eating more solids.
- We started her on whole milk the week before her birthday.
- Some new foods this month include: almond butter, wheat bread, pho noodles, blueberries, beans, and oatmeal.
- Met her Great Aunt Jim from Thailand and her new friend Isla who was born couple weeks ago.
- Sleeps more consistently through the night and ranges from 9-11 hours.
- Rode on a plane and got her own seat.
Now that she has entered toddlerhood, it’s time to consider when to move to all whole milk, when to take the pacifier away, and when to start potty training. Oh goody.
Happy Birthday, Baby Girl. We love you!!
Two more teeth!?
I just noticed two more teeth coming in on the bottom. Yikes. Here we go again.
It’s a little blurry but you can kind of see one of them poking out on the bottom next to the ones that are already out.
Here’s a chart of all the teeth that she’ll have eventually. The ones coming out now are the lower lateral incisors (in yellow). So it looks like she has a complete set of red and yellow teeth now. Crazy.
9-month Check-up
Janie went to the doctor today for her 9-month check-up and she seemed to be more interactive with the doc this time around. Here are the stats:
Weight: 21 lbs, 5 oz. (87th percentile)
Length: 28 inches (65th percentile)
Here are her stats from her 6-month check-up for comparison:
Weight: 19 lbs, 13 oz. (97th percentile)
Length: 27 inches (88th percentile)
I had a feeling growth was slowing down since I haven’t had to pack up her clothes as often as before and now I have proof!
She also got her last Hep B shot today and she was super brave. There was barely a cry out of her and she got a bedazzled bandage too. Fancy.
Sleeping
Janie has been sleeping better these days. Thank goodness the teething is over for now and she’s over that yucky cold from last week. On Monday night (2 nights ago), she slept 11 hours! She woke up a couple times but managed to get herself back to sleep each time so that totally counted! Good baby! She’s also been turning over and sleeping on her tummy on her own. Yippee!
245 days
Janie is 35 weeks old today and we took a special photo with Senor Fatty Duck Duck in front of the Christmas tree. This week has been a rough one with Janie growing an upper tooth and then catching a cold.
We also had a visit to UCSF Neurosurgery for a consult on the flat spot on the back of Janie’s head and the doctor said that he would be fine if she starts sleeping on her tummy. So no helmet for baby! Phew.
So we’ve been trying to put her down on her tummy at night. She’s been a good sport about it but it’s been a little hard with her stuffy/runny nose.
8 months
Our Little Janie is 8 months old today! We’re 3/4 of the way to a year…crazy. This has been an interesting month filled with firsts and lots of restless sleep. Here are some highlights:
- Learned how to grab her feet while on her back.
- Had her First Thanksgiving and had her first taste of turkey.
- Starting to move out of her base of support – so close to crawling!!!
- Started screaming and squealing just for fun. Loves the echo of the garage and hallway.
- She grew a new tooth on the top and it was no fun for the whole family.
- Went to two birthday parties.
- Rode Caltrain for the first time and loved it.
- Has enough hair for pigtails now.
- Started enjoying Peek-a-Boo.
- Found her pointer finger.
- Tried green veggies and liked them!
- Picked out her first Christmas tree.
- Threw up for the first time.
- Got her first papercut. Boo…
What a crazy month it has been but we’re enjoying (almost) every minute of it. She just keeps changing on us and has really become a little person this month. Happy 8 Months, Baby Girl! Looking forward to our First Christmas together!!!