The Lucas Family: 2 Year Check Up

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

2 Year Check Up

Today, I took Helen Claire for her two year check up with Dr. Cortopassi. Can you believe it is time for a two year check up?

Wasn't this just yesterday...

We started out the day on the right foot, in a pink outfit, which always makes for a happy Helen Claire. I wanted to take pictures, and I don't think she was really into it, but I did manage to snap a few before we headed out.

The office was really busy for some reason, and we typically never have to wait once we get called back, but today we did. Here's how Helen Claire spent her time...

literally climbing the walls...

She thankfully found the bottom tray of the table and played with it and tried to figure out how to make a chair out of the step stool part. Pretty much a little Jonathan, engineer wanna be. She would not stop until she figured it out, and then she was satisfied.

Helen Claire was so excited to see her Dr. Cortapassi and lit up the second he came into the room (she seriously loves him so much and will talk about him with the biggest smile on her face). He got lots of love while he did the check up, and everything looked great. He asked how she was doing since tubes, and we told him it was the best thing we ever did :)

We talked about Helen Claire's growth curve. She was 33 1/2 inches tall and weighed 24 lbs, 12 oz. (she was 20 inches and 7.2 at birth). That puts her in the 25% for both, which is on the small side, but is also consistent with her curve since she had RSV and lost so much weight. He was happy with her growth, but suggested keeping her on whole milk, rather than dropping down to low fat. Since she is not the best eater, but will usually always drink her entire cup of milk, she needs to keep getting those calories. We joked that she may be tiny, but she's mighty. She was talking the entire time and wanted to look at everything.

We also discussed development, and she is right on target. At this age, she should be able to walk up stairs, run, kick a ball, throw overhand, turn pages in a book, undress, wash and dry hands, and open doors (just to name a few). She is doing all of those things and has been for a while, so there was nothing to worry about there, thankfully.

I couldn't help but laugh when he asked about her language, because she had her puppy with her, and Dr. Cortopassi called it a kangaroo. She quickly corrected him, and told him, "No, this my puppy." She talked and talked about the puppy, and identified her body parts, including harder ones like elbow and shoulder. So, she is definitely at the 20 word mark, though we are still hopeful her speech clarity will improve with the tubes and better hearing. She also needed to be able to follow 2-3 step commands, such as "Turn around and bring me the blanket." She passed with flying colors on that one as well, and as I told Dr. Cortopassi, she's pretty good at giving 2-3 step commands!

We are on track with the potty, and Dr. Cortopassi basically said not to rush her. So, we are going to keep our plan of using it and wearing panties at home and not forcing it yet at school.

Then the nurse came for shots, and he high-tailed it out of there :) He said he needed to keep his place as the favorite :)

We left the doctor's office right after shots and got calmed down pretty quickly. Then... we had to go to a dental appointment.

Her first dentist visit went so well, so I hadn't even prepared her for today. I thought it would be no problem. I was really wrong. It was terrible! Last time, she got to sit up and the hygienist cleaned her teeth without laying the chair down. Today, the chair was laid down, and she panicked. She screamed the entire time. I was literally sweating when we left. Poor baby. I don't remember much about it, because I was just ready to leave. But, I do know her teeth were healthy, and she had no cavities. That's the important part...and that I took pictures in the waiting room before the meltdown.