Olivia’s 16 month appointment was last night.  Dr. Friedman had to leave unexpectedly so we had the pleasure of seeing Dr. Geddis. She is WONDERFUL!!!  We last saw her when Olivia was first home from the hospital so of course it’s been forever.

Olivia weighed in at 22 lbs, 8 oz which is a 2 lb, 8 oz gain in 4 months.  She measured at 31″ tall, which is 2.5″ taller than she was in July.  Her head measured 47 cm.  Olivia is in the 25th percentile for weight, 50th for height and 75th for her head.  Great growth and definitely staying on track for where she’s been.

Dr. Geddis was amazed at how well Olivia has done. She was so happy to hear that Olivia eats everything in all food groups.  As long as she can feed herself, she’s a happy girl and will eat it.  She asked if she can climb (yes), kick (not sure - I assume so), and pick things up with her pincher grip (yes).  We talked about her speaking: I can understand 5-10 words which Dr. Geddis said is perfectly normal for a healthy 16 month old, never mind a cardiac child.

Olivia got her DTAP vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis or whooping cough).  She is now done with typical vaccines until she’s ready for kindergarten. Of course because she gets synagis and flu shots, etc, this won’t be the last one.

Dr. Geddis was thrilled to find out that Diana (Olivia’s daycare provider) speaks to her exclusively in spanish. She felt we’re giving Olivia a huge boost in life by exposing her to both english and spanish. Olivia understands both so it’s not going to hinder her language skills.

I had a few questions:

Ears: Olivia has very dry skin behind her ears. Dr. Geddis recommended putting a lot of moisturizer after bathing her.

Teeth: Olivia’s eye teeth have not come in yet and I was starting to become concerned. Dr. Geddis said they usually come in after the molars and she wasn’t concerned.  I was aware that some cardiac children have problems with teeth missing so I wanted to check to make sure.

Diaper rash: Olivia’s been getting diaper rash on and off. Nothing terrible, just red bumps. This is normal and we’re to continue using balmex.

Talking:  Everything is normal here.

It was a great appointment and we don’t have another appointment with the pediatrician until March 20 when Olivia will be 20 months!  Now let’s all hope we can keep her healthy enough to make it that long!

Pictures

We took the girls to get their pictures done on Sunday.  I had forgotten how difficult this age is to get them to just stand there and smile! Olivia was very fiesty and didn’t want Maddie holding her hands or anything.  We ended up getting the pictures, but I was sweating … it was HARD work!

We also visited Santa but Olivia would have NOTHING to do with sitting on his lap. She saw him, screamed NO and put a death grip on my arms.  We did get a beautiful picture of Santa and Maddie taken and once someone remembers to bring it home from his office we’ll scan it and post it.

A gentleman stopped me in the mall after we had the pictures taken. He said “I assume these are your daughters?” And I said “yes”. He said “They are very beautiful. I was watching them in the picture people.  You are very blessed.”  I’ll admit I got a bit teary. I touched his arm and said “Thank you so much. You have no idea how truly blessed we really are. Merry Christmas” and we walked away. I figured he didn’t need the whole story but his words made me smile.

Olivia’isms

She is really starting to show her personality and let you know what she does and does not like.  For example: she has started to not like being buckled in the car seat so she’ll arch her back when I put her in.  Nothing a little tickling can’t fix.

She is starting to repeat words you say.  She can now say apple and Olivia (although it’s hard to hear “Olivia” from what’s she’s saying but she’ll point to herself and say it when you ask her “who’s this?” and point to her).

She went through a few weeks of separation anxiety where she would cry when we left her at Diana’s.  This week she’s been happy to be there so it could have been related to her not feeling well.  She had a stomach bug a few weeks ago (November 17?).

She has been quite clumsy lately!  She banged her head good a week ago Monday and it left a nice sized egg on her forehead. She bit her lip TWICE on Thanksgiving.  And on Friday she somehow ended up face first into the coffee table cutting her eye and giving herself a nice black eye just in time for pictures.  I’m ready to wrap her in bubble wrap.

Maddie’isms

Maddie came out with this last weekend and I couldn’t help but jot it down.  “I smell like a rose and that’s why they call me Maddie Rose”. Arnie and I were laughing hysterically.

Maddie’s urine culture showed no more blood so we’re just waiting on the results of the test for calcium.

Disney

Well, tomorrow Memere, Maddie & I are on our way. We return late Sunday evening. I will update again when I return.