Yesterday was Cooper's 9 month check-up with our pediatrician. Obviously, he turned 10 months old on Saturday, so we're a bit behind with this. It wasn't my intention to get behind with his check-ups, but with our doctor's office relocating and having to put off some of his early appointments, it's thrown our schedule off. Now that we've moved on to check-ups every 3 months instead of every 2 months, we're going to get back on track once he's had his 1 year check-up in June. (Due to vaccinations, there has to be x-amount of time to elapse between boosters and shots, which is why we couldn't just bump his schedule up once the doctor's new office opened.)
Anyway, I've digressed, per usual. The exam went really well. Of course the fun part of having a 10 month old while you wait in the waiting room and then again in the exam room, is that he's wanting down, down, down. So we ended up walking around the room multiple times before the doctor came in. Thankfully they have a big mirror in their exam rooms so that kept him entertained. They do have toys in these rooms, but, seriously? I'm not letting my kids play with toys in the doctor's office. What kinds of germs are on them? For Garrett, I usually try to bring some small toy for him to play with which is similar to what I know is already there so he won't be tempted to play with the germy toys. But I don't trust Cooper not to throw down any toy I might hand him, and do so repeatedly, so I was his entertainment. Thankfully our doctor doesn't typically keep us waiting too terribly long.
I'm not sure if I've shared this about our doctor before, but in case I haven't... While we really like him and he's very knowledgeable about what he does, it's taken us awhile to really connect. When Garrett was a baby, I felt like he criticized me at every turn and was constantly questioning me. I'm sure you're wondering why we didn't just find another doctor. To be honest, I thought about it, but ultimately didn't want the hassle. I've now figured him out and how he wants specific details when you're describing an illness or situation to him and that when he attempts to talk to my children, I'm not supposed to try and answer for them. We actually get along really well now and he's surprisingly complimentary of me at check-ups, mostly just saying that I'm doing a good job and doing exactly what he would want me to be doing. Had you told me he would have been this way back when Garrett was Cooper's age, I would have laughed at you.
The exam went well, he declared Cooper to be very healthy and doing great. The funniest part was when he was reviewing his measurements (20.5 pounds, 29.5 inches) he said that he was long and lean. Having had a child (Garrett) who has been in the 10th percentile for weight ever since he was 6 months old, I've considered Cooper to be a chubby baby. But he's actually in the 45th percentile for his weight, so I guess that really isn't all that chubby, just average. Both boys have been in the 90th (or higher) percentile for their height though. At one point, Garrett was 99th percentile, but I think he's dropped a bit from that.
To put it in perspective, at 10 months old, Cooper weighs a pound a half more than Garrett weighed at his 1 year check-up. And he's only 15 pounds less than Garrett is now.
At the check-up yesterday, Cooper got 2 shots, which he only briefly cried about, and then had a blood draw to check his lead levels (which is standard at the 9 month check-up, atleast with our doctor). He didn't cry one peep for the blood draw. The funny thing about that is that Garrett reacted the same way when he had his blood drawn at that age. The lab tech had drawn blood for 4 babies before Cooper got there and she said she was just telling the mom before us that some babies don't even make a peep when they draw their blood. Then Cooper came in and did just that.
It's hard to believe that the next time we go to the doctor, he will already be 1!
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