18 months

Cole's latest milestone snuck up on us so suddenly that I didn't even make his check up appointment until 4 days after he turned 18 months old. I used to have his doctor appointments planned out well in advance, and that was when they were only a month apart.

Cole's new statistics are: 33" tall (75%), 24 lbs. (30%), and 19 1/2" head (90%). He is still built like Charlie Brown. He's tall and lean, and I hope he enjoys it while it lasts, because eventually he will resemble his not-tall, and not-so-lean parents.

I had taken the first available appointment which was at 9:40 in the morning, and I had to wake Cole about 2 hours earlier than his usually start to the day. He likes to sleep in which is something Tony and I fully support and encourage. However, I didn't know he would have a "test" at this appointment otherwise I would have scheduled it for a time when Cole is more alert. The doctor had a little kit ready for us with blocks and a doll. I realized that Cole was supposed to show that he can stack blocks, which he can do easily, but instead he arranged them in a neat row and picked them up one-by-one to study them. Next he was presented with a tiny 4" baby doll and miniature bottle. I know he was supposed to try to feed the baby, but he doesn't know what a bottle is, and instead he poked the baby in the head repeatedly. I have no idea what kind of notes the doctor wrote, but I found Cole's response to the test to be hysterical. I know he has the skills the test requires even if he didn't perform on cue.

The only part of the appointment that did worry me was Cole's reaction when the nurse returned. He knew! He knew immediately that he was going to get shots and he had a full blown panic attack. He shook and began to cry so hard that he held his breath and began to turn bluish. The nurse waited until he let out the big cry and took an even bigger breath before she gave him the shots, and she worked so fast she put the bandaids in the wrong places. Afterwards I scooped him up and he was quickly consoled and began picking at his looney tunes bandaids while I pulled on his pants. The whole ordeal went very quickly and he walked out of the doctor's office with dry eyes, but I'll never forget that look of panic and how I felt during that moment.

It's been a year and half of moments--happy and sad, fun and challenging, exhilirating and exhausting--moments with Cole that I have treasured.