One Year Wellness Visit

Brian and I took Oliver to the pediatrician on Friday for his one year checkup. The appointment was scheduled during what should have been nap time so I was a little weary of how he would behave. But he was in a great mood the whole time. He played with everything in the waiting room, was all over the exam room while we waited for the doctor, and only cried for about a second and a half when the nurse gave him three shots at the end of the appointment. He was smiling and waving bye-bye to everyone as we walked out.

At nine months he was:

Weight:  21 pounds, 13 ounces (70th percentile)

Height: 28 1/2 inches (55th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18.5 inches (92nd percentile)

At a year:

Weight: 24 pounds, 3 ounces (70th percentile)

Height: 29 1/2 inches (45th percentile)

Head Circumference: 19.2 inches (97th percentile)

He’s still got a huge head!

They asked us all sorts of questions about his development. Can he stand up on his own? Yes, if he’s so motivated. Can he walk holding onto things? Yes. Can he wave bye-bye? He can wave hello so, yes. Does he say “mama” and “dada”? Dada - yes, mama - sometimes. Does he say three words other than mama and dada? Three?! Um, maybe? He says “da!” for dog, “ba!” for ball, and “kkkkk” for kitty. Apparently that counts, though, so good for him! He’s right on track.

We then talked about temper tantrums. For the past couple of weeks, Oliver has been throwing fits when he doesn’t get his way. He will make himself limp and scream. It’s crazy. He almost always does it at home so we have at least been able to avoid the public tantrum but we were at a loss at how to deal with them. I’ve never really been clear on what time of discipline is appropriate at any given age. The doctor had some great advice. She told us that the “terrible two’s” are actually a misnomer and that the “terrible” behavior usually starts closer to the 12 month point because that’s when kiddos start to get their own opinions about how things should work but they don’t yet have the vocabulary to tell you what they want or that they are upset. She said that by the time kids are two they should have the verbal skills to express their wants and the fact that they are angry. In the meantime she suggested we try a couple of things to deal with the tantrums we’ve got going now. While we should ignore the behavior as much as possible, she also suggested that we tell him that we know he’s angry so that he knows that we understand what he’s trying to tell us by screaming. So, for instance, if he’s playing with something that’s not a toy and we have to take it away and he screams, we should say something like: “You are mad because I took away that stick but sticks aren’t toys.” Sounds like great advice but we’ll see how cool and collected we are during the next tantrum. I’m just glad to know that the tantrum behavior is normal this early.