Ellie had her 15 month check up a few weeks ago.  She’s a whoppin 19 lbs, which puts her in the 3rd percentile.  However, she’s 31″ tall which is about the 95th percentile.  She’s a regular Long Tall Sally.  I still have her turned rear-facing in the car, but Brian has yet another car seat in his car so she can ride face forward.

She started at St. Peter’s daycare in early August.  After an initial rough week or two, she’s doing just fine now.  We’ve got our routine down for drop off and pick up, and they are accommodating to my schedule.

She has a particular squeal when she sees Molly.  She can say “All done.”  She can squish her nose, which is so cute.  She knows a few body parts, like ear, eye and teeth.  She can use signs to say “more,” “all done,” and just recently “please.”  She still has only 6 teeth.

Ellie likes to play with whatever Sam is playing with.  She like cars or things with wheels.  Ellie is a Daddy’s girl and loves to rough-house with him.  She’s all ears.

We went back to the doctor recently to get a check up on her ears.  There was still a little residual fluid from the last ear infection, but otherwise, looked good.  She weighed 16 lbs 4 oz.

Today, we went to the pediatric cardiologist to check up on her congenital heart defect.  She still has the ASD.  It’s very small (5 mm), but it should have closed up by now.  At this point, the only thing we’ll do is continue to get a check up by the cardiologist so he can monitor it.  Other than that, there’s no reason to treat her any differently.  If, by some reason, she is in the hospital one day and needs an IV, we would need to caution the staff that she does have a heart defect.  There’s a very rare chance that oxygen could enter the IV, and because the two chambers of her heart are connected, could make its way to the brain.  I can’t remember the name of that condition, but it’s bad.  At any rate, she’ll most likely have day surgery (by cardiac catheterization, not open-heart surgery) when she’s about 5 years old to close the hole.  The doctor said the device used to close the hole is made perfectly for her case.  Apparently, the hole in her heart is in the center of the wall separating the two chambers, so there is plenty of room on all sides to insert this device.

If you didn’t want to know all the details, I’m sorry.  I’m recording all this information because it’s fresh.  I know that in two years time when we go back for a check up, I will have forgotten all these details.  Like most blogs, I use this place as a record!

She was a sicko last week, so I was glad to get to the doctor on Tuesday.  Turns out, she has an ear infection in both ears, just like her big sister!  She has had a low grade fever, but other than that (which I attributed to teething), she hasn’t shown any signs of infection.  She’s just so happy!

We started baby food (squash) last week and added sweet potatoes this week.  She’s getting much better at eating with a spoon, but I just don’t think she’s going to be a big eater.  She’s now at 15 lbs 10 oz, which is near 40th percentile.

Samantha chimes in just under 40 lbs and 40 inches.  That’s about the 97th and 92nd percentile.  The doctor forecasted that to an adult, which equates to about 5’8″ or 9″.  I don’t think she’ll be that tall, so I’m guessing she’s just an early bloomer.

She got a flu shot and a meningitis vaccine.  I was hoping to get out of there without any shots!

UPDATE:  One thing that I forgot to mention is that one of her current sayings is very funny.  ”Oh! Hey!  That’s a good idea!” She’ll say it for any reason at all.

He still hears a murmur, but he said it was faint. Maybe she’s still growing out of her ASD. We head back to the cardiologist in a few more months.

She got 5 vaccinations. Those are never fun, so she was a little grouchy. But she was soon back to her normal happy self.

Lately, she has started laughing and grabbing for toys.  She can pretty much hold her head up now, but she’s still a little wobbly. She loves watching and listening to her big sister. She is such a happy baby. She’s talkative, playful and content just doing whatever.

She is really loving her fingers and thumbs right now, so I needed to capture it.

So, on to her check-up. The doctor said everything looks great. In general, she’s about 60th percentile in growth. Her language development is not where it needs to be, but I think it has drastically improved in the last month or two. He doesn’t seem to be alarmed to it. She got a HiB shot (had a nationally shortage for the last year, otherwise she should’ve had it at her 12 month appointment), a flu shot, and a H1N1 flu nose mist. She’ll have to go back in a month and get the booster shot for the H1N1.

We have enjoyed a few weekends at home after a busy April. Catching up on little things makes me feel better. I’ve been decorating a little bit. I feel like I’m horrible at decorating a house, so I’ve been trying to put my style into the house just a bit. Not a moment too soon, since we’ve been here for nearly 6 years…

Samantha had her 18 months checkup last week. She’s growing well and very average. Everything was right on, except for her speech. She’s not saying as many words as is normal at this age. I’m not worried about it because the girl “talks” constantly and I know words will come in due time. The doctor is not worried about it because her “receptive” language is good. She really does understand exactly what we say. She knows most of her body parts and all sorts of other everyday words. However, her lack of words may be due to the fact that she has yet another ear infection. The doctor said it’s time to go to an ENT and get tubes. Having constant ear infections can make sounds muffled, so she may not be hearing properly, therefore her speech will be affected. I’m not totally convinced that it’s the right course of action, but we at least need to give it a try (going to the ENT that is). They might have other options for us.

In other news, we are smitten with a new house. We’ll see if it works out for us. More news on that later.

I have also seen evidence today that she is chewing on her crib. I knew the day would come, and frankly, I’m surprised that it took so long. I don’t know how long it’s been going on, but our gently worn crib is hanging in there nicely.

And lastly, she is imitating our sounds amazingly these days. She has learned to say “mmmmm” when she picks up a toy cow and “aaaaaa” when she picks up a toy sheep. Also, she makes a kiss sound “mmm smack” if you give her a kiss.

Samantha had her 12 month doctor’s visit and a photo session last week. There should be some photos for your viewing pleasure in Samantha’s library. She had a good doctor’s visit – including 4 shots. She has to go back in a month to get her flu booster shot. She was 20 lbs, 2 oz (which means we can turn the car seat around – barely – yay!) and 29.5″ long.