2.5-Year-Old Claire

Claire had her 2.5-year check-up last week. She is 36 inches tall, which is the 55th percentile, and 31 pounds, 13.5 oz., which is the 80th percentile. That's down from the 88th percentile six months ago! Wow! And she continues to be shorter and lighter than Elsa at her age. (Elsa was 31 pounds, 14.5 oz.—at her two-year check-up!)

I asked the doctor again about these strange dark dots on the bridge of Claire's nose. They appeared on her nose about a year ago. At first, I thought she scratched herself, because the dots are in a straight line right across her nose. But they've never gone away. Dr. Anna looked at them at her two-year check-up, and now that she was looking at them again six months later and still had no idea what they were, she decided to refer us to a pediatric dermatologist.

We saw the dermatologist a few days later and the verdict is ... they're blackheads. Blackheads? Who knew two-year-olds could even get those? Oddly, the dermatologist said her son had the exact same thing at Claire's age—at the exact same place on his nose, and also in a straight line. She gave us Retin-A to get rid of them. Yes, my two-year-old is on Retin-A. I'll be sure to save some for 12 years from now when she gets her second round of blackheads.

Other than the blackheads, Claire is doing so well! She has been just about perfect with the potty-training—she's wet the bed one time in the past few weeks. Other than that, not one accident! She's also talking more and more clearly, says long sentences at least 6 or 7 words long, knows all her colors, can count to 16, and she recognizes most of the letters of the alphabet.

And one more thing: Recently, when I picked up both of the girls from the playroom at the gym, the playroom ladies said, "She colors SO WELL! It is amazing!" Of course, I assumed they were talking about Elsa, since I'm used to hearing things like that about her. But no, they were talking about Claire. They said her coloring abilities are just incredible for her age. So maybe we have another little artist on our hands! As you can see from the photo above, she does do an excellent job of coloring on her own hands. : )