Paul Bunyon

15 minutes before Monito's two year well visit this was the scene I woke to as my phone beeped the alarm. Egads. I carries two heavy babes to the car and made the appointment.

Monito is off the charts for height at 38". His weight has gone up to the 99th percentile at 36.25 lbs. For comparison, his sister is 37" and 38 lbs. We are growing a giant.

Sadly, the pediatrician had no vaccination for the selective hearing that plagues Monito. Actually, it plagues me; he is just fine with it.

In other health news, Pequita's lead level was a respectable 3.4, which means we can relax a bit. Hoorah! She had a tantrum when I told her we wouldn't need to get her more blood draws at the hospital. Seems she will miss the chocolate pudding in the caf after the venipunctures. Oy.

Stick

She didn't cry at all during her blood draw to retest her lead levels. All the practicing, playing doctor and witnessing me get blood drawn a few times a week at the REs office has really paid off.

She is so grown up in some ways.

Lead, revisited.

Pequita had her two year old blood test for lead, and scored a 10.4. Any score over 10 buys you a one way referral to the health department consult. We had her retested a week later, and did Monito at that time too, since if she was spiking the odds were good that he might be too. She had gone down to 8.2, and Monito is at a lovely 1.3.

The health department nurse came with her lead-testing dudes in tow and told me a crapload of stuff I already knew. I hate suffering through someone's spiel when they are unable to edit or adapt it for a new situation. The testing dudes checked a couple pieces of furniture and surprised me when one that I thought was safe tested hot for lead. I have an appointment for them to return with a crew of consultants a week from Tuesday; Pequita scoring over 10 won us the lead lottery, and means we get a free house/yard test with the $12,000 machine which I'm totally excited to get. I want the issue resolved once and for all.

Monito's Ten Month Stats

A rip-snortingly hearty child, despite the two days of intestinal flu that preceded his appointment. Blowouts are easier when we aren't dressing him in layers and snowsuits, to be sure.

Monito is 31.5 " long [98th percentile] and 24 lbs [83rd percentile]. He has a lead level of 4.1, which prompted congratulations from the staff. I begged to differ and will retest him in three months instead of waiting a year like most folks. Hopefully once he is no longer crawling his level will go down. He is also a little low on iron, which is surprising. Summer is coming and with it the dark leafy greens that will make us all healthier. Until then, he's getting lots of white bean mush, white beans being the highest iron content of all the beans, according to my little How-Not-To-Kill-Your-Baby-With-Food book.

Today I take Pequita in for her 18-month checkup, and will ask about the deep rattly chest cough she is sporting. A little cough medicine for nighttime would be super, but my guess is that the suggestion will be to keep using the humidifier.

And for those of you wondering, yes indeedy, I did get both the chest cold AND the intstinal bug. Yay for Mommy.

Pequita's 1-year Stats

At her 12 month checkup, Pequita weighed in at 24 pounds (80th percentile) and measured 28.5 inches (50th percentile). If they leave us waiting in the exam room, it gets hot, so I open the door to get air and remind them that we are waiting with a baby. She had a great time running around. Her lead levels had gone up, from 8.9 to 9.5, = not in a way that is statistically significant. The doc was pleased to hear about us finding the likely source of lead exposure, and we'll re-test her in 3 months. He has high hopes that she'll have a markedly lower level then. Her exposure to date should have no significant effect on her development, other than the lowering of her I.Q. by up to 7 points. This whole episode has been and will continue to be a hard thing to endure. I am sick of all medical and plumbing professionals saying, "Boy, I've never heard of a clawfoot tub causing lead exposure." I can't believe that no one mentions this! Clearly, folks know about it:

http://www.slate.com/id/2172544/
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp13.html