Pip's Development Check!

I haven't written much about Pip just lately. Katie has been hogging the limelight. Pip has been trundling along, doing his thing, just getting on with life.  When you're nearly 11 months old and crawling and walking around the furniture there is an amazing world of smell, and sound and texture to explore (and put in your mouth!).

Today Pip and I went to see the Health Visitor for his 9-12 month Developmental Check.

Now, visits to the Health Visitor haven't really been something I get excited about because there has been so much focus on Pip's weight over the past few months and I've felt quite considerable pressure to perform some miracle at Bootcamp! There are also usually lots of tiny breast-fed babies around which highlights my little man's weight all the more, not to mention the looks and comments from the other mums (mums do NOT stick together when competing with their babies believe me!).

I was quite looking forward to this one though because I was excited to show Pip off to someone who would be interested in the all the little things I watch him doing every day (let's face it no-one else is particularly interested and I have bugger all else to talk about because this is all I do all day - except for the housework that is...and Pip is a bit of a genius...) and also because I'm starting to feel more confident that we are getting his weight under control.

When we arrived at the surgery I had to run the usual gambit of people commenting on Pip's weight. Why do older people think they can just say the first thing that comes into their heads I wonder?

"I bet he's called Buster!" was the first comment from an older lady who did then go "We like to say he's bonny" was my reply. "Oh yes, bonny, that's good" says she.
on to chat cooingly to Pip and elicit lots of smiles from the little man who had no idea how rude she'd just been to him.

"Oooh he's a fatty!" said one rather outspoken very old gentleman who was at the surgery with his daughter and her husband to talk about whether he should give up his driving licence....(I'm sure you can guess what I was hoping the outcome of his visit was, although I suppose you could say that there isn't much wrong with his eyes....just his mouth!)

Anyway, the very lovely Health Visitor came to greet us and take us up to the rather large room with lots of toys for Pip to play with.  He was down and getting interested in the toy box in no time flat - earning himself lots of ticks on the sheet (Well done my boy!).  Pip showed off all his skills very nicely: pulling himself up to standing and crawling around everywhere; making lots of babbling sounds (which echoed around the room brilliantly, much to Pip's amusement); displaying his attachment to me etc etc. He was a little star!  The Health Visitor commented on how sociable he is and how much he studied all the toys that he played with and how interested in his environment he was.  He passed with flying colours! (I'm so glad I made sure he had a nap before the visit!)

 Then came the getting nudey bit, which Pip hates with a vengeance!  He hates being on
his back for nappy changes at the best of times.  She checked his hips and decided, after one tiny concern that the creases on the front of his legs were uneven, that his hips were all fine. Pip had been referred when younger for an Orthopaedic review due to a clicky hip but the HV felt that his mobility was excellent so no cause for concern - phew!  I now just need to check to make sure his testicles are descended (Oh my woolly word!)  I can imagine a whole blog post about that one!

Now for the scales.  I almost held my breath....... 11kg exactly.  Pip has hardly gained any weight since he's been with us, only 1kg in 13 weeks.

To give you an idea of the issue Pip weighed 3.2 kg at birth and followed the 50th centile until he was 6.5 kg at 19 weeks (91st centile) and then wasn't weighed again until we had him weighed at 32 weeks where he weighed 10kg (upper end of 91st centile). No-one seems to know how he put all the weight on, and it seems that will remain one of life's little mysteries (although I have a theory) but the good news is that I no longer need to take him to be weighed.  He is still on the 91st centile but it's steady and is slowly coming down and is almost on the line to move down to 75th centile (at one point he was nearly on the 98th centile) so there is no need for him to be weighed until he's 18 months old.


*does a little party dance*

All in all I'm delighted.  Pip now is the proud owner of 1.5 chins which is a dramatic reduction from the three he arrived with. He's even got a cute little tushie now!  He's growing well and steadily, although he didn't exactly lay very still for his height check and the HV thinks she might have got a slightly shorter result due to his displeasure!  He eats well, sleeps well, does pretty much everything well bless him and, most importantly of all, is attaching well.  He knows who his Mummy is and he knows that he wants me around and voices his displeasure when he can't see me.  What's not to be delighted about?

With a big smile and a huge deep breath of relief Pip and I came home with his little HomeStart book bag with some new books for us to read.  We enjoy our reading time so we'll enjoy singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and I can re-embrace my inner Redcoat once again......













Comments

  1. Wahey! Great news. Well done Pip.

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  2. Glad your visit to the HV went well... well done Pip too!! Lovely to read that he is attaching well - enjoy your sing along!

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  3. Congratulations to you all - fab fab fab!

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  4. Health screening is mandatory for everyone. But in case of child, you should be extra careful about the child’s health they are more sensitive than us. The environment affects their health easily. Being parents you should be extra conscious about your child health.

    ReplyDelete

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