12 Months

(Hey Chubs)

(Grass eater!)

I have been so worried about Hunter's 1 year doctor visit. I was worried he'd be considered overweight or not hitting the correct milestones. But my main concern was vaccinations. I am definitely pro vaccination but not 6 at a time as the CDC recommends. It just seems like too many chemicals at once. Beyond that I was worried Hunter's pediatrician would pressure me to (or convince me to, hey I trust the guy) get the butt load of vaccines.

Luckily, the good doctor prefers splitting things up a bit. And he was fine with me pushing the MMR vaccine way back, all the way to the week before Hunter's 2nd birthday. So Hunter only got 3 vaccines today, then he will receive 2 at 18 months and 1 at 23 months. And he only cried for a bit until he saw all the lady nurses, then he quit the waterworks and turned on the charm, he's such a flirt. I feel confident that I made a well thought out and informed decision for my boy. I just want him to be healthy and happy.

The rest of the appointment went pretty well. As for height and weight, Hunter has stayed in the same 95th percentile for height. He's a tall dude. And he's 50th for weight and head circumference. He's nice and proportionate for now, but who knows what the next growth spurt will bring. As for milestones, he's doing reasonably well. He's said a few words like truck, dog, bye-bye but doesn't say them repeatedly. Sometimes he tries to repeat something someone has said and you can hear him sound it out. But mostly he babbles. The ped isn't concerned at all but I feel like I may need to focus a bit more on his language skills.

Hunter's doing pretty well with motor skills. He walks mostly independently now, he'll fall and crawl sometimes, but he'll just pull himself up and walk again. He just started waving a few weeks ago and gives "5" but doesn't really clap. He does some semblance of the movement, like waving his arms toward each other, but the hands don't touch. I have been super worried about the clapping because so many of our baby friends clapped at 6-9 months. But they also got their teeth. My ped reminded me that the milestones are an "average", some babies are early at some things and late at others. As long most milestones are met on time we're in good shape.

The last issue I discussed with Hunter's pediatrician is Hunter's eating habits. He does the pincer grab for foods but doesn't put them in his mouth most of the time. He's not a huge fan of most chunky foods. Some days he eats ok and other days he only wants formula. The ped seemed to think that Hunter's eating delay is probably connected to his late teething. He is getting better now that he has 6 teeth. Also, I feel like I need to start weaning the bottle but I can't do that until Hunter is eating consistently well. He drinks well from the sippy cup but the bottle is comfort, like breastfeeding. We've started weaning formula and he's drinking mostly milk now.

The pediatrician's conclusion was that Hunter is perfect and I need to relax. My conclusion, I'll relax when I'm dead.