Marta At 18 Months

Yesterday was Marta's 18-month birthday, and to celebrate we went in for her well-baby check-up (she did get a sucker at the end, so not such a bad party). For those of you who don't like when parents brag about their kids, you should stop reading now. She was a Big Girl, and I was proud of her.

The doctor walked in and she said, "Mama," because she was caught off-guard and was nervous. He said, "Is that your mama?" And she pointed at him and said, "Dr. McGeath." He laughed, and said, "Did you see the fishies on the wall?" And as he pointed toward the wallpaper mural of sea life, Marta turned to it and showed him, "dolphin," "starfish," "bubbles," "fish."

She then proceeded to tell him all about her family, his office, her clothing, HIS EQUIPMENT (as in, "Ears! Ahhhh! Heart!" as she pointed to each of his tools, without prompting), and a variety of books that were in reach. A good human being, the doctor laughed and said appropriate remarks of praise, such as "You are so smart!" and "I should be more specific when talking to you!" (Me=Beaming)

Usually my kids clam up at the doctor's office, not showing off the skills I know they have. But yesterday Marta named colors and counted to 10 and said clever little phrases like "Shake your body!" to the doctor. (It's from a song. She sang it. It was adorable.)

He took a look at the myriad bumps and bruises covering her body from her daredevil tricks and wrote "Safety" on my take-home growth record. He told me what to look for in case of concussion, because she has a habit of bonking her head, which he sensed with his doctor reflexes/sensed by seeing the 17 bruises about her head. He laughed as she spun in circles for way too long, refusing my attempts to stop or even slow her, and watched as she climbed on every surface of his office, with me constantly pulling her down, trying to keep her in one place while we chatted about the horror of the benches in downtown Petoskey that city officials have decided to place in the middle of the streets downtown. Permanently. Ridiculous. Anyway, Marta's stats are:

Weight, 24 pounds, 2 ounces, 50th percentile

Height, 32 1/2 inches, 75th percentile

Head, 18 7/8 inches, 80th percentile

She has four mean molars coming in, which I've named Meanasaurus, Molarsauraus, Biteasaurus and Ouchasaurus. She's hurting from them, and the doc thinks we've still got a bit before the bottom two are fully up. Poor baby.

And when I left I made the appointment for her 2-year checkup. Two years! I can't believe it's been so long since I gave birth to our baby, but at the same time, it's such a relief to have her a toddler, doing adorable things, a moving part of our family instead of a new baby needing full attention for sustainability. She is a tornado, a dictator, bubbly and joyful. She makes us laugh just by looking at her, so full of happiness that it's making her hair curl with pure delight of life.