Stats from Elliot's 18-Month Visit

February 20, 2014 (almost 19 months)
Weight: 22lb 14.5oz (28th%)
Length: 30.5" (2nd%)
Head Circumference: 49.5"
Weight/Height Ration: 68th%

So glad little buddy is gaining weight! Not sure why he's so short - waiting for Ryan's tall genes to start kicking in here! His weight to height ratio is GREAT, and after all that "failure to thrive" nonsense in his first year, his weight is very solidly back on the chart. Praise the Lord!

As with the last visit, the biggest concern was his speech. Or lack thereof. I think he is officially our slowest speaker. (Sam was officially our EARLIEST speaker...and hasn't stopped since.) Both Jacob and Lily were also speech delayed, and both were seen by Early Intervention, with a prognosis that they were just slow...or lazy. Only EI probably phrased it better ;)

Dr. Craig said most babies are expected to say about 50 words by the time they're 2, but with Elliot's late start, she said she'd be happy if he's saying 20, so long as he is also putting at least two words together. We shall see.

We talked again abut his possible allergy to fried egg whites - he's fine with baked eggs, since they're cooked at a higher temperature. She said we have to wait until he's 3 to test any further ourselves, although if we wanted to take him to an allergist, they could test him there. I wish our insurance was better so I could try that out! But for now...we wait. Better than the last doc who told me if I really couldn't wait to test out egg whites once more, make sure I do it in the parking lot of the ER!

I told her about his stubborn and persistent nature - which she just attributed to him being 1 1/2, but Mama knows better. He most certainly started having very strong opinions much, much earlier than any of the other kids. His persistent nature (remember the part about him being born 12 minutes after we arrived at the hospital?) is mirrored in his sisters - definitely not in his brother, Jacob the Quitter.

I mentioned his few signs: all done and up/down (both are very frequent), milk and more (infrequent/inconsistent, though we have seen them unprompted a handful of times). He points a lot, though oftentimes when you give him what he's pointing at, that's not what he wants at all, so we keep trying until we realize maybe he just likes pointing - who knows!

A couple other things I wrote down to tell her:

• He loves playing hide-and-seek - no better thrill than being sought and then jumping out with an incoherent yet loudly excited, "Bjhdjf a jasdfj!" (Here I am!)
• He is a good helper. "Elliot, can you pick that up for me? Elliot, put that back! Elliot, can you put your toys away?" Except of course when he doesn't want to listen. See that part about him being stubborn, above. One of his favorite games with Lily is taking the toilet plunger out of the bathroom (a no-no), finding Lily, and happily obliging her cheerful, "Elliot, can you put that back, please?"
• He loves cars. He sleeps with cars, carries them around ALL DAY, throws them, drives them everywhere (sound effects included), rolls them down the ramps Jacob builds him, and shrieks like a Nazgul when he can't reach one, has one taken away, or can't find the one he's looking for. Not that we always know which one he's looking for. See that part about him not speaking, above.
• Lastly, he LOVES his siblings. LOVES with the most emphasis possible. And it is very, very mutual. Lily delights in taking care of him, and Jacob has no greater joy than entertaining him and making him giggle. This stage where Elliot is endlessly entertaining to the kids is wonderful. They think everything he does is hysterical, and he is more than happy to put on a little show. I am also looking forward to Elliot being a little older so the boys can really PLAY together - they are going to be thick as thieves, those two. Samantha is still up in the air about her little brother. One day she likes him, another day they just bother each other. He pulls her hair, she knocks him over. At 3 1/2, she doesn't have the maturity to realize that he is treated differently because he is a BABY, not a threat. She gets mad and yells when he does a snatch-and-run with her toys (which is of course why he always does it), while Jake and Lily just roll their eyes and laugh, "Oh, Elliot!" and gently take it back (or more likely let him keep it - spoilers!). 

Overall, Elliot is a sweet little boy. He is silly and serious all at once, with some new-found charm mixed in. He is thoughtful and smart, though not very communicative. Half the time, I don't know what he wants, because he hasn't figured out an alternate way to tell me - or maybe I'm just not that good at reading babies...even after four of them.