Olivia's 2 Year Check Up

I took Livi for her 2 year check up today. Yep, I waited forever to schedule it, so she's going a couple months late, but no biggie, right?! I also think the pregnancy brain must have kicked in because I got my family up and ready and to her "appointment" Monday morning 9am only to realize that I read my calendar wrong and I had it scheduled for Tuesday, only to find out that it was Thursday at 10:20am. Yeah. Not sure how I messed up the day and the time. Getting to her appointment today was quite the ordeal, nothing out of the ordinary, but fighting a 2 year old to get ready, get out of the apartment, get into the carseat, and then to find parking (which is near impossible at the office we go to).  We arrived late and I was greeted with a 12 page survey about my daughter's growth and milestones. Yeah, how do they expect us to fill those out with an active toddler running around?! I didn't finish it until we were already talking with the doctor. Olivia is a healthy toddler, thank heavens. She weighs 28 lbs and is 3 feet tall! She's in the 75 percentile for her height, weight and head circumference; her growth chart looks great, so we're doing something right. I guess her picky eating habits and occasional missed meal really don't matter that much. :) She was quite the busy body in the large room we were in - lots of toys to play with, a slick floor she liked sliding on (on her belly, yeah I wasn't amused), and a nook behind the examination table she found (she is all about finding small nooks and crannies to hide in these days). She did impress the doctor with her active and interactive play though!

She is right where she needs to be with everything but the number of words she spontaneously uses...which the doctor is attributing to her sign language. Although he believes the tests will come back normal, he is referring us to a hearing specialist to have some hearing tests done. If her words don't increase in the next 4 months, the doctor will then refer us to a speech therapist. No parent likes hearing that their child isn't hitting every milestone on time if not early, but thankfully, I've felt a lot of peace during this whole process. I wouldn't change teaching Olivia to sign, and I know that I'm doing all that I can at home to encourage verbal speech - we read all the time, label everything we see while we're out and about, and I talk to her throughout the day about what I'm doing and ask her questions about her day/surroundings. She loves to babble, so in her mind she's talking - and isn't it funny how as moms we can understand the babble? Gotta love being the interpreter. She had a vaccine and a flu shot today - I hate having to hold down my baby for shots, I have a serious needle phobia and seeing her cry only gets me more emotional/stressed out; thankfully, the nurse was quick. After a Cinderella sticker from the doctor and a trip to the park with Mommy, Livi forgot about the traumatic shots. Gotta love kids' short term memories.

We are so blessed to have such a healthy and happy girl. I can't believe how fast she's grown up in 2 years, it seems like just yesterday that she was 6 months old, just learning to sit up and crawl.  Now she's our "big" girl (she reminds us she's not a baby anymore) with fast feet and a sassy attitude. We sure love you Livi Bug!