Big Snotty Baby

Amanda had her 15 month well visit today. She did awesome. Well, really, it's not a test, I'm not sure how you can do poorly, unless your kid can't walk, is grossly overweight and can't do any of the things they ask you about. Amanda did pretty well. Off the bottle, check. It helps that she was never on a bottle, but I get a check anyway. Walks, check. Feeds herself finger food, check. Communicates, check. I didn't say talk, she doesn't do that, but she communicates very well, even if it's not really with sign language. She's got us right where she wants us. Points to her body parts when you say their names...huh? Really, I'm supposed to be teaching her body parts. Actually, Charlie has been working on it with her, but me not so much. When I joked to the nurse that I didn't know I was supposed to do that, she asked if Amanda was my first. When I told her she was my third, she just laughed and said something like, "Yeah, you don't really do that by the time you get to the third. They'll learn it eventually." She is completely right!

So my baby who won't be a baby much longer weighs 24.5 pounds and is 30 1/4 inches tall. That's 42nd percentile for height and 73rd percentile for weight. Yep, just like mom and dad, short and fat. In her defense, both of her siblings were like that when they were babies and it all evened out. So I'm not worried at all, a healthy baby.

The thing I did want to talk to the doctor about was all her snot. I thought it was mostly allergies, and it turns out for once I was right, but what to do about it? Every time the weather changes or there's a big wind she has a non-stop runny nose and drainage for at least a week. She's already on Zyrtec, so what next? He recommended she throws back a little Benedryl as a chaser. That should do the trick. It might help her sleep better too. Hmm, not a bad idea. Really, I'll do anything to stop the snot because she seems so sad and her face is all puffy and she coughs like crazy when she first gets up. Also, her hair is just about the length of her nose so if you don't put it back it gets in the snot. In the morning her hair is actually stuck in the dried snot under her nose. It's so sad and she is so miserable as you try to get it out. Poor, poor baby.

I asked about seeing the allergist, but he wants us to wait on that. Of course. She doesn't really exhibit any of the symptoms for which he would send a baby to an allergist, but this isn't something I want to mess with. We'll see how the Benedryl goes.

Other than the extra chub and the snot, she's doing great. She's one big happy baby. Hopefully it will stay that way. I could use a break from the craziness.