Pedi appointment

We had our pedi appointment to see what she had to say about Micah's weight today. He lost 4 ounces since last week (I knew based on his eating that he wouldn't have gained this week but I was at least hoping he didn't lose - but he did.) She looked him over and then gave us orders for the lab so we get to have blood drawn (5 different tests) and an x-ray to check for his bone age. If he bone age is low that's actually going to be a good thing she said because that means he's just growing slowly. She also said she commonly sees a slower growth in babies that get teeth later. She also noticed a little bit of fluid in his right ear but as he had some congestion she thought it could be from that. She went ahead and gave us a prescription for an antibotic just in case he spikes a fever, gets grumpier, acts like it's bugging him and has turned into an ear infection so we don't have to go back so soon if it does come to that - hopefully it won't though.

spiky hair and weight check round 2

After Micah showered this morning I played with his hair after fixing my hair. Beau wasn't too impressed. It's a little long to be able to spike it in the back and not quite enough in the front. 

We had Micah's second weight check this morning exactly a week following his previous weight check.... only this time instead of gaining 8 ounces... or gaining anything... he lost an ounce. So now we go back to see the pedi next week. My feelings are he's just super active. He's one of the busiest little ones in the Church nursery whenever we are there, always moving at home trying to keep up with sister. We'll see what the pedi thinks next week. 

Weight check

Micah had his weight check (bright and early at 8 am - meaning we had to leave the house before 7:30 which is early for Abby who is only awake at that time 50% of the time) 


He gained 8 ounces in the past two weeks. I'd say that's a pretty impressive gain as that's double the gain he had in the previous 3 months. 


The nurse just plugged his weight into the computer and plotted it on the growth curve and he's still not where he needs to be according to that. 


So we were given two options. 
1. Make an appointment with his pedi or the nurse practitioner and possibly end up with blood work to make sure there isn't an underlying problem (which isn't likely.)
2. Make another weight check appointment for next week, see if he's still gaining (which means another week where I try to stuff him as full as he can get at all times) then if he shows another gain it's likely we can just make his next appointment for his 15 month well check. 


I chose option 2 because I know how active his is throughout the day and there are days where he is just too darn busy to sit still and eat a good meal. I've added some new snacks that seem to be helping him put on some more weight so I'm confident that he's just busy busy busy and that's why he isn't gaining on the curve they want to see him on.  

Menu plan

With the lack of weight gain in the past 3 months on Micah's part (well I haven't gained any weight either for that matter but I haven't lost it at the rate I'd like to. Maybe I should take Micah's approach to eating and activity?) I've been paying a lot more attention to what he eats, finding lots of new things to try and analyzing (or maybe over analyzing!) everything he eats or doesn't eat in the past 10 days since his appointment. I read a post by another blogger with all the foods her little one eats and I'm now going to borrow the idea and use it here. 


So here's a run down of what he likes to eat. I usually feed him the same things we are eating, with maybe a few different things thrown in if he can't eat some part of what the rest of us are having.


{Breakfast}    
pancakes 
waffles 
toast (whole gain - occasionally made into cinnamon toast)
fruit 
yogurt (I've started feeding him Greek yogurt as it has more fat than whole milk yogurt) 
cereal (cheerios - not a favorite anymore though as he's tired of them!)
granola 
cereal bar (the more natural kind with no HFCS ect) - for mornings we are more rushed


{Lunch} 
these tend to be pretty basic most days
turkey 
homemade baked chicken tenders
pasta 
peanut butter roll up (peanut butter thinly spread on a tortilla rolled and sliced)
leftovers
yogurt 
yogurt melts
fruit
veggie
baked Alexis brand oven fries
raisins 
applesauce
cheese (he usually eats shredded cheese the best)


other things I've tried that don't go over as well: quesadilla 


{Dinner}
Pieces of what we are eating including: 
chicken
pork chops/tenderloin
steak
hamburger
meatballs 
pasta 
home made pizza
veggie 
cheese 
rice




{Snacks}
goldfish (I've started buying the garden veggie kind - makes them a little healthier right?)
Just Tomatos or Target brand freeze dried fruits
graham crackers 
fruit 
peanut butter on crackers
string cheese 
New things I've found and added: 
Plum Organics mishmash - basically pureed fruit like baby food but it comes in a packaged with a closable top that can act as a straw/squeeze thing so Micah can feed it to himself, it is healthy (fruit puree), easily portable. 
PlumTots fiddlesticks - easy for Micah to hold and eat on his own and he seems to really like them

I know the snack section seems pretty big compared to the meals but since Micah doesn't always want to eat his meals I do like to give him a snack in between when he starts to get fussy because I know he is probably hungry and because I need to get some calories in him. He's so active and so doesn't aways want to sit at meal times and eat that I need to feed him when I can so I try to make sure the snack options are pretty healthy as well. 

{Fruit}
strawberries 
apples 
grapes (cut in half) 
clementines 
pears 
watermelon
cantaloupe 
pineapple 
blueberries 
blackberries 


{Veggies}
broccoli - possibly his favorite 
green beans 
peas 
corn (not as nutrient packed as others but we all love it around here)
potatoes (regular and sweet potatoes) 
squash 
carrots 


Yesterday he ended up having an excellent day for him eating wise and ate a lot (for him) without leaving a big mess. See usually if he doesn't like something or decides not to eat it he'll spit it out of his mouth where it will then usually fall down into his lap or on the bottom part of his high chair. Yesterday there was hardly anything down on the bottom of his high chair. Today not as good. He ate a bunch of strawberries for lunch but no pasta or any of the Jammy Sammy that I bought for him to try (like a cross between a sandwich and cereal bar exactly not quite as bready - which he's not huge on bread so that's good - and not as sticky as a cereal bar with the filling can be.) Then dinner all he wanted to eat was the corn - no chicken, potatoes, crawfish.... 

climbing

Watch out! 

Micah expertly climbed up in the little chair that goes with the little table and then onto the table without a second thought. Like it was second nature - yet I'd never seen him do it before? How'd that happen? 

1 year well check

Micah had his 1 year well check today. It didn't go quite as well as normal. Normal they look at him, see how active he is and say we'll keep an eye on his weight. Today they decided we get to come back for a weight check in two weeks. Not sure what will happen at that point. 


Weight: 17 lbs (only a 4 oz gain from his 9 month appointment) 
Height: 28.3 inches (He did gain quite a bit here which was good because he didn't gain much in height between 6-9 months)

Presents

Micah was a little tired but enjoyed opening some presents. After he got his little hands on one of his toys though he was done opening more and ready to play again. Thanks everyone for spoiling this little guy so much!

balloons

Micah really enjoyed the decorations - especially the balloons! 

12 months

I can't believe that a year ago Micah had just joined our family as a tiny 6 lb 9 oz newborn. 

  Now a year later he walking, starting to talk, interacting and finally 'playing with all these toys' like Abby said he would when we would ask what she was going to do with the baby when he was out of mommy's belly. He loves to play with toys that he can hold in his hand and walk around with (and usually taste as he walks with them.) He also enjoys pushing around cars and trucks on the floor as he walks behind them. We discovered his love of balloon at his birthday party as he was thrilled to be able to hold onto the string and walk around with a balloon throughout the party.

  He's such a joy to have in our family. Most days he is such a happy baby, content to play and toddle around finding different toys around the house. Some days he can be clingy and wanting mommy but that's okay too - I love my cuddles from my little guy because big sister is usually too busy to cuddle much anymore! Though it does make it hard to get stuff done some days if he only wants to be held. Those days are usually because he didn't get enough sleep. 

  At 12 months he still has no teeth but still manages to eat okay - though he does chew/taste a lot of food and then it falls out of his mouth. We're hoping that maybe eventually getting some teeth with help solve that little problem! He's too independent in that aspect to let mommy feed him much anymore and 1/2 a container of yogurt that used to be his favorite is the most he'll usually sit and be content to be feed. Other than that it has to be food that he can pick up and eat himself. Aside from shellfish, peanut butter and honey he is eating just about everything that we eat. Some of his current favorites are broccoli, corn, green beans, grapes and chicken. He isn't too picky but he loves variety. He gets tired of foods if he eats them too often and will fuss about having to eat them again.

   He also loves to be outside. He and Abby could spend hours outside. Micah enjoys it when we open the garage and Abby will ride her bike (or trike, or car) around the driveway and Micah will explore the garage and the toys we have in there. Gigi showed him how to ride in the little car that Abby loves and now Micah loves that too and will let you know he wants to go for a ride by trying to climb in all by himself (though he isn't big enough yet to get his leg over and into the car.)

{Mastered Skills}
• Imitates others' activities
• Indicates wants with gestures


Micah's got these skills done well. He totally imitates others - especially me. He will wave if he sees someone waving (or even if we open the door to leave or to see daddy come home he'll wave then as well!) He also will take a stick a drag it around the kitchen when I sweep or mop, and he loves to put on a hat or headband like Daddy, Mommy and sister do.


{Emerging Skills}
• Takes a few steps
• Says one wordbesides "mama" and "dada"


One step? Yup I think we've got that covered. Micah's been full on walking for over a month now! There's no stopping him. As far as words go he says 'hi' in addition to mama and dada. 


{Advanced Skills} 
• Walks alone
• Scribbles with a crayon
• Says two wordsbesides "mama" and "dada"


He totally walks alone. I haven't really tried to see if he'll scribble with a crayon because usually if he manages to find one of sister's crayons it goes straight to his mouth  - maybe I'll try and see if he's interested soon but I think he'll still just try to eat it. As far as words go - at times I think he's said bye-bye but he hasn't said it in a week or so. 

cake!

Happy Birthday Micah! 

Glider game

We played a game to see who could launch their glider the farthest. Beau measured and set out some distance markers and marked how far the planes got as they were flown into the yard. The kiddos (and everyone else) really seemed to enjoy the game and the glider planes. I'm so happy they flew! 

the food

Personalized label water bottles

The cake table

Cupcakes

Micah's smash cake topped with a sugar cookie - I tried to make marshmallow fondant to cover his cake and while it did cover it okay it just didn't smooth quite right. I'm not quite sure what I did wrong but oh well it still looked decent - tasted great though! 

The kids meals - peanut butter sandwiches (cut into airplane shapes like the cookies) and a bag of chip - packaged like an airline meal. 

The adults had ham and turkey sandwiches, chips and there was also fruit to go along with. It was all yummy! 

the birthday bash

The decorations for Micah's airplane party turned out so cute! From the banner to the suitcase favors - I loved planning the decorations for his party! 

The baggage claim area for the suitcase party favors

The paper lantern 'clouds' with flying airplanes hung over the table. I love how this turned out! 

The big birthday boy!

We started off the big ONE year old's birthday with a birthday donut. We might have put a candle in it and sung happy birthday had we had a candle but instead we just sung happy birthday. He dove right in and enjoyed it. No need to worry about giving this itty bitty too many calories - he needs all he can get - not to say he needs all the sugar though! It's his birthday though so a little extra sugar is okay on his birthday. Mommy says so.  

Then he got dragged around on some fun errands like shoe shopping, oil changes and grocery shopping. What a way to spend a birthday! He also rebelled in his newfound one year oldness by only taking 1/2 his normal nap (in the Beco while we were out at the shoe store) and not wanting to take the second half at home. 

This evening we opened a present from Mommy, Daddy and Abby. Big sister even helped me wrap and decorate his present.

She also helped him unwrap it. I think she might have been more excited than he was. Micah just wanted the stickers his wrapping paper was decorated with! 

Then we finished off the evening with special birthday cupcakes! Yummy! 

Birthday week continues though as his big party is Saturday!