Joe went in for his 12-month doctor’s visit on Wednesday. The doctor was quite impressed at his physical, social, and verbal development. Woo hoo!

Joe is right on target for growth, weighing in at 22 lbs and exactly 30 inches tall. Joe is at the upper end (and growing out of some) of his 12-month-sized clothes; he’s already started wearing 18-month-sized clothes. He wears a size 5 toddler shoe (tightly, we just tried on a pair of size 6 sneakers and they have just a little growing room). He wears a size 4 diaper.

The doctor thought Joe was well-behaved and good natured (which we already knew) and quite social for his age. Joe didn’t fight the doctor’s examination as we (and the doctor) had expected (but I have to give credit to Dr. Rich, who is an angel with the little ones). Joe only cried a short while at the end of the visit after four immunizations and two blood tests and quieted down almost immediately once he got his binky.

The fact that Joe is walking, and walking well, was apparently quite impressive. We can expect Joe to toddle for quite awhile longer. The doctor reassured me when I made a joking comment about getting Joe an inflatable sumo suit that the young human skull makes a fine helmet for everyday bumps and bruises. So no baby bubble for now, but I’m not ruling it out. Ha!

On a cognitive level, Joe is doing quite well and starting to respond to verbal cues (e.g., follow our commands), like “go get the ball” and “lay your head on the bed; it’s nap time.” Joe’s verbal development is just fine: he says repetitive phonemes, “dadada” “nanana,” just started “mamama,” and is also combining multiple phonemes. He’s also trying to mimic/repeat some things we say. And he’s starting to say “Dada” when Dan is around, though we’re not convinced he associates meaning with it yet. Joe also uses two signs: “more” and “change” (he likes a dry, clean diaper). Unfortunately, in the past week or so, Joe has also figured out how to express “no” by shaking his head back-and-forth. It’s mostly a game. At least he’s not saying it constantly, but I’m sure that day will come. Oh, and Joe is also whistling by pursing his lips and breathing heavy.

Dr. Rich did comment that Joe was very active and functioned “at a high rpm.” In fact, Joe was moving non-stop during the visit, playing with tongue depressors, tearing up magazines and books, and running back and forth in the exam room. He only stopped (or slowed down) when Dan or I held him. The doctor also commented that the speed with which Joe moves must require incredible childproofing in our house. Ha! Now we don’t feel so bad about corralling Joe in specific rooms. The doctor seemed impressed that we had the stamina and energy to keep up with him, but didn’t think anything was unusual in Joe’s behavior. Just a (high energy) boy.

It was good to hear from the doctor that Joe’s skin looked really good. I recently switched from petrolatum (aka “Vaseline or, in our case, Aquaphor) to a more natural solution for Joe’s head-to-toe eczema (raw/unrefined shea butter and we’re also trying a shea butter/coconut oil/kokum butter concoction). It takes a little extra work reapplying multiple times a day, but I feel better about using a non-chemical option, at least until Joe goes to school.

Now we need to transition Joe to cow’s milk and get him off the bottle. I’m a little worried about the milk since Joe had so much trouble finding a formula that didn’t upset his digestive system. The doctor didn’t seem worried and suggested soy as an option if we run into problems with regular milk. Once again, Dr. Rich did gently encourage us to “find a week” to work on Joe’s sleep patterns. (Joe gets up several times a night, and often ends up in our bed in the wee hours of the morning.) The problem is primarily me; I just can’t stand letting him cry, both because it’s wrenching and because I can’t sleep through it. I might have to suck it up and put in those ear plugs.