The Number Field

We took Elena in for her two month checkup today. In the spirit of the upcoming NFL draft , we'll get right to the measurables. She weighed in at 13 pounds, 8 ounces * , and her height was measured as 23.5 inches. She was wiggling during the measurement, so she's probably a bit taller than that. Her weight remains above the 95 ^th percentile, while her measured height has slipped towards the 90 ^th percentile. I don't keep track of her head circumference, but it's in a much lower percentile; the doctor said that gives her more grown-up proportions.

There's no Wonderlic Test for infants, but Dr. Duong commented several times on Elena's interactivity, and on how much she liked to look at faces. Although Elena cried a little bit when the doctor was using her cold stethoscope, afterwards she made up for it by smiling while demonstrating her reflexes. After showing us that Elena still has many of her primitive reflexes, like stepping, grasping, and startling, Dr. Duong mentioned that we have to be careful with our expectations. She said that since most people tend to be visual, we'll naturally compare Elena to other babies her size, even though most of them will be much older. Instead, we need to remember that her development will track with age, not size.

Elena was tired after her appointment.

While we were on the topic of her size, we asked about how long Elena would be big for her age. We don't expect her to be big forever! The doctor said that Elena might be about nine months old before her weight and height percentiles start to drift toward the ranges predicted by our sizes, although that's a very inaccurate estimate. She's had some children make it to three years before their size started to trend towards their long-term ranges.

Our appointment concluded with Elena's first series of vaccinations. We're proud to be in the common-sense majority of the population that chooses to follow the recommended vaccination schedule. Even though no mother likes to see her baby stuck with needles, Jenny did a good job of being strong. The nurse administered the vaccines quickly, and then Elena screamed it out for a little bit. She calmed down when we started driving home. By the time we got home, she started to cry because she was hungry, not because she was in pain. We'll track her over the next few days for any side-effects from the vaccines, but she's sleeping peacefully now and seems to be suffering from no adverse reactions.

Elena practices motor skills during tummy time as well as camouflage skills.

Also, we've suspected a little acid reflux as a cause of some of Elena's fussiness. The doctor told us that since Elena was so big, we could start mixing a little rice cereal in when we give her a bottle (which is usually once a day); we're going to try that, and see what happens.

* For those who have been keeping track: although Elena's birth weight was 11 lbs. 6 oz., she dropped to 10 lbs. 6 oz. by the time of her two week appointment, so her weight gain over the past six weeks has been more than three pounds, for an average of a half pound per week.