12-Month Check-Up

Claire had her 12-month check-up on Thursday, and the verdict is ... she's huge. What a surprise. She weighed 26 pounds, 11 ounces, a full pound more than Elsa at 12 months! And they were basically the same weight at their 9-month check-ups! This on top of the fact that Claire's height has gone down—her length was 29.25 inches, which puts her in the 55th percentile this time (down from the 75th percentile at her 9-month appointment). I guess I'm not terribly surprised about all of this, since Claire took more than a month longer than Elsa to get some mobility. And given her pickier eating habits, I'm optimistic that things will even out by the next check-up. Plus, the doctor didn't seem terribly concerned about her weight at this point.

The doctor did however recommend physical therapy for Claire, because she still hasn't gone from her stomach to a sitting position, and because she still hates to stand. But I'm going to ignore that recommendation, for two reasons: 1) We already went through a needless ordeal when we took Claire to the orthopedic specialist, so I now think my doctor may be referral-happy, and 2) Since Bob made partner, we are now on a high-deductible insurance plan, so not only do I feel this is unnecessary, I feel it's unnecessary and expensive. Besides, the doctor told me she wanted the physical therapy to "strengthen Claire's leg muscles." As I told the doctor, Claire has plenty of leg strength—she can stand just fine, for as long as I care to force her to. She just hates it, and screams her head off. I make her stand on a regular basis anyway. I doubt a physical therapist is going to do much else, besides send us a gigantic bill. There may be some merit to physical therapy for the stomach-to-sitting thing, so if Claire still isn't doing that in a month or so, I'll give them a call. But I have a feeling everything will be fine by then.

Other than that, Claire got a clean bill of health. She now has 5 teeth and is working on several more. She's a happy, healthy girl!