12 Month Pedi Appt

Alexis had her 12 month pedi appt yesterday. I get really excited about her pedi appointments; I love checking up on how she's doing and love being able to ask her pedi whatever questions I may have.

Well, there was another round of vaccines, she was also supposed to get the chicken pox vaccine but they were all out so she will have to wait and she also was supposed to do a skin test, but because Monday is Memorial day they wouldn't be able to check back in 3 days to see the results, so we will have to do that at her 15 month appt. Alexis got a fluoride treatment done on her teeth. Alexis also had to have some blood drawn to do a lead test. She was such a trooper, like always. She hardly cried during her shots and her blood being drawn. Hopefully she will grow up to be like her mommy and enjoy having blood drawn and getting shots lol I know weird but it actually tickles.

Stats:
Well Alexis weighed in at 17 lbs 1oz; She was 14lbs on her last visit. I was hoping she would be 18 lbs but I knew that would be a stretch. She is 27 inches long. Her weight and height are under the 5th percentile. The pediatrician said that we can switch to whole milk and start having her do three big meals a day. She let me know that I should make a dental appointment for Alexis now and also she thinks that we should start giving Alexis more fatty foods, because of the whole being below the 5th percentile thing; she told me to drizzle butter and cheese on her veggies and that if I give Alexis pancakes, which I don't, to put lots of butter and syrup on them.

Here is a sort of rant about this...
I understand that she is under weight. She was premature 3 1/2 weeks and weighed 4lbs 6oz, so yes she is small. I've always felt that as long as she's eating and growing, even if it's slowly and at her own rate, that i am happy if she's healthy. Derek and I both have our own parenting style when it comes to her feeding, that I'm sure lots of other parents do; We don't give her sweets, juice, or anything that isn't of nutritional benefit to her. Alexis has never had juice and she has never had anything fried. Alexis' first taste of sweets, was on her 1st birthday with her cupcake and it was a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and she took a couple of bites. Nothing against parents who want to give their kids juice and sweets, but there is no nutritional benefit, ya she might like it but there are other ways that I can make her happy besides giving her some sugar.

That being said, that doesn't mean that she'll never have sweets; We may start giving her watered down juice when she's 1 1/2, more likely 2, but for now we see no reason too. This is why I feel like this whole weight obsession is crazy. I know she is healthy and is eating right and she isn't starving, so what if she's small for her age? Derek and I do not want to encourage obesity, I feel very strongly about this because Derek seems to have a fat gene and I don't want to encourage that and neither does he, especially if it passed on to Alexis; Maybe she will be lucky and get my families crazy metabolism, except I didn't get that wonderful metabolism, I actually have to work out and eat healthy. I used to be a stick before I hit puberty, and then came the hips and butt lol maybe Alexis will be the same. Though it looks like she already has the butt ;)
Honestly, had Alexis been on time she would have barely been 5 lbs anyway. I was a 5 lb baby and all of my brothers were at the biggest 7 lbs, so why should Alexis be expected to be bigger, just because the average child is bigger?

So we don't feel like feeding her pancakes with syrup is the best way to go about it. We will put a little bit of butter and cheese on her veggies and we will continue to give her baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, tortillas, rice, beans, watermelon, pineapple...etc. We think she can continue to gain weight in a healthy way.

On another note, Alexis is lifting herself up to stand! She is holding on to things to lift herself up, but that means she is getting closer and closer to taking her first steps! She crawls all over, she has gotten really fast. Alexis is pure perfection and I love her so so much. I still can't believe that 1 year and 12 days ago I had the privilege of bringing Alexis into this world. I look at Alexis and see so much of myself and it makes me so proud and happy to be able to be a role model and inspiration to her and I know Derek feels that same way. But it is a little bit different for a mom ya know?

Love my little mini me :)))