Elsa's Appointments

Elsa went to her three-year well checkup the same day Avie had her last visit, a week ago Friday. Jarrett took her, and I had mixed emotions missing one of her appointments for the first time, but I sent Jarrett with a list of questions to ask Dr. Owen, as well as strict instructions to record all measurements, etc. He was kind enough to comply with his crazy wife, and came back with everything I had hoped for.

Elsa measured 3 feet, 1.5 inches, in length (50th percentile) and 29 pounds (25th percentile). She was scheduled to receive her MMR vaccine, but after discussing Elsa's difficulties with the new baby in the house, Dr. Owen decided to hold off on administering it, saying that apparently the mercury in the vaccine could react and mess with her emotions even more. So I guess we will go back in at some point to do that, but am not yet sure when.

We are to continue giving her the gummy bear multivitamin and the vitamin D drop each day, but should not be concerned about iron, as she should be getting that from food. And that led to a conversation about her eating habits. Dr. Owen was a little perturbed with us over what we were feeding Elsa. Being as her weight is fairly low, my main concern has always been just to get some food down the child in hopes that she will consume enough calories. Yes, I would try to introduce her to new things and try to get her to eat some vegetables, but she has always been a fairly picky eater, especially when it comes to textures. I remember Dr. Owen telling me at Elsa's two-year checkup that we should be feeding her what we eat, but just making sure there is something on her plate that we know she will eat. This year it was just a blanket statement: The child should be eating what we eat. Period. She also said that if she is picky about vegetables, then we should make sure that is what we offer her first and that we should not give her anything else until she takes at least one bite of veggies. This has worked fairly well so far, much to my surprise. She usually will not take more than one bite, but at least she is trying the food. And she has been doing fairly well with eating what Jarrett and I eat, though I still cannot expect her to eat a meal that is too spicy. I guess we just need to take into consideration what and how we are cooking a little more. Sometimes it seems so much easier to just cook up some pasta and mix it with some butter and cheese. And that is probably why Elsa is the carb queen. We are also supposed to start giving Elsa a chewable digestive enzyme tablet and even some magnesium powder mixed into a drink at bedtime (though this one is a bit difficult to make happen).

As far as how Elsa is reacting to Aveline, a lot of it is normal, but if it continues for too long or does not seem to get better, Dr. Owen gave us the name of a woman in the area who practices homeopathy. Apparently she will try to recreate the situation that is causing the problem and then create a "remedy" for that issue. For our doctor, it was insomnia. Now she takes a sugar pill every night and is able to sleep fabulously. So who knows. At this point, Jarrett and I are holding out hope. Over the past week or so, Elsa has been taking small steps to being less anxious about the baby's cries and just becoming generally more accepting of Aveline. She has touched her, which is huge -- touched her arms and legs, stroked her head to feel her soft hair, and has even kissed her on the cheek (twice!). And she is not running to a room and slamming the door when Avie cries... or at least not every time. It is clear in talking with Elsa that she seems excited about Avie getting bigger and being able to play, so we are hoping that once we get out of this newborn stage and Avie starts smiling, cooing, rolling over, etc., Elsa will be more interested. Now that I finally cleared off the changing table and am using it again for Aveline, Elsa has already become interested in watching me change diapers and even talking to Avie during the process. So I think there is hope.

Elsa also went to the dentist for the first time last Tuesday, and Jarrett also took her to that appointment, of which I also had mixed emotions about missing. This time I even sent Jarrett with the camera! Her appointment was with Dr. Eaton, who our friend, Finnan, visited for his first appointment. I had heard good things through Alison about this pediatric dentist and Finnan's experience at the office, so I decided it was definitely worth a shot. Apparently Elsa did fantastic. Jarrett said much of that was owed to the hygienist, but that Elsa also did a good job listening and getting through all the various steps. They were even able to take xrays and give her a fluoride treatment. I was impressed. Of course, I am sure it helped that she was given bags of goodies and got to pick out toys and stickers. What did she pick out? A little plastic spider. And she loves the thing. She now goes around the house singing the "Itsy, Bitsy Spider" (or outside at the downspouts) for hours on end. The dentist said her teeth looked good, which I was a bit relieved to hear, having fear that even the watered-down juice I give her to entice her to drink more fluids might have damaged her pearly whites. He did say that her teeth were already pretty packed in there, and that how they look now is how they would like an adult mouth to look. But because there is not much space between her teeth, she will likely need braces at some point. And because it sounds like she got my small mouth, I am hoping she will not have to have all the teeth pulled that I did growing up. For now, I am not going to worry.