one year check-up

monday morning mason woke up crying at 4:30am. i knew that it was going to be a long day at that point. mason's appointment was set for 10am - normally his nap time. he doesn't take the morning nap all the time so on a normal day we would have been okay but not with a 4:30 wake up...

and since it was his one-year check-up there were going to be shots and a blood draw.

mason did fine during the appointment but was starting to fade toward the end. madelyn was so excited to be at the doctor's office that she was literally climbing the furniture - which led to her bloodying her lip. the doctor gave her some gauze with cool water to help stop her crying more than any thing else. we had to wait a while for the nurse to come back with the shots and mason was just crying by the time she got there. he screamed so much after the first shot that she stopped after the second to wait for him to actually take a breath. and we did have to wait a few seconds. once he got a breath and into his next scream, she gave him the third and last shot. thankfully, he calmed down very quickly, but i was not excited to take him down the hall to the lab for the blood draw.


here are the stats from his check-up:
height: 32-1/2" (98th percentile)
weight: 25lbs. 5oz. (83rd percentile)
head circumference: 49.6cm (99th percentile)
height/weight (aka bmi): 56th percentile

i really don't know what i was thinking not bringing a stroller for him. we usually don't wait very much at this doctor's office so it would be more trouble than it is worth. not so on monday! we had to wait what seemed like an eternity at the lab in a very crowded waiting room. mason did not want to be held at all either. and when i put him down he would take off - very out of character. he did sit still for about one minute coloring with madelyn. the good news was that he didn't cry about the needle poke but started to cry because it was just taking too long and he was done.

he fell asleep in the car right away. it was a fitful sleep day and things did not get better that night. i think he got up at 4:30am because he was starting to get sick and things were just amped up by the vaccinations. he is still fighting off some congestion and runny nose but slept through the night last night.

when he was awake on monday afternoon he was very happy and normal except for the runny nose. he even stood up from sitting without holding on to anything for the first time. now he can bend down and pick up toys without anything to hold on to for balance. he seems to really like being able to do this now.

we did hear back about his blood work yesterday and it turns out that he, like madelyn, was slightly anemic. we are just shocked because he eats raisins by the fistful, eats more meat than madelyn ever did (or does), and eats more than most adults. matt thinks there must be something wrong with the test because it just isn't possible that he isn't getting enough iron. oh well. i discussed starting him on vitamins with the doctor so maybe that will give him the slight iron boost he needs by his next appointment when they will check his blood again. love.