Eleanor's Two Year Stats

A few weeks ago I took Eleanor in for her latest immunization shots. Due to some rigmarole with finding her a new clinic after her last "doctor" was so "awesome", she was quite a bit behind. So one month before she turned two she actually got her 18 month shots. I will still count this for her two year stats though. Oh well, I'll try harder with the next baby.

Eleanor did very well on this visit. We ADORE Dr. Jonathan Gold, if you are ever in need of a new pediatrician, I highly recommend his whole office. Clean, nice waiting room. Super efficient staff and wonderful nurses. And he is just fantastic. He's like a doctor out of a story book. Sorry to be so effusive, but let me tell you about her last doctor. It's a bit of a tale, so skip the next part if you aren't in the mood for a long story. Seriously, it's kinda long.

Horrible story

Dr. Keith Scarlett. Ugh. I couldn't understand a word he said, due to some hearing/speech problems and a heavy Carribean accent. He was constantly shouting commands to his assistant who wrote everything down. He would also start talking crazy-fast into this tape recorder when out of the blue he would randomly ask you a question. It was impossible to know when he was talking to you versus his recorder or assistant. Then he would be annoyed that you didn't respond! But in my defense, he also had a lazy eye and would be looking a foot to my left when speaking to me. Super awful communication problems. I brought Eleanor in with a cold (her first unnecessary trip to the doctor) and he didn't even look at her. Didn't look in her ears, listen to her breathing, anything. Just asked a few questions and started shouting the diagnosis to his assistant. "Bronchiolitis! B.R.O.N...." Yes, he would spell every big word out for his nurse(?) and his tape recorder. Very odd, and very thorough. Makes me think he has seen the wrong end of a lawsuit before. His office was dirty and disgusting. All his furniture was ancient, like from the 70's and not in a cute retro way. Even his free drug posters were ages old. Apparently pharmacy reps haven't been by in about ten years. The "artwork" on the walls were old posters of Porsches in frames that had black stains on them. I took a picture on my phone to prove I wasn't in an episode of the Twilight Zone. (Sadly I can't get pictures off my phone.) I also waited in the exam room for over 45 minutes with a cranky, sick 11 month old. Then both he and his assistant acted annoyed that she was wanting to grab their clipboards off the hooks on the wall. They actually yelled at me to stop her. Holy mother, give me a break! But the worst/best part of it all was the scale. How much do you suppose a baby scale costs? For a fancy medical one, maybe $100-2000 dollars? Maybe $50 off Craigslist? I really don't know. Maybe they are tens of thousands of dollars. All I know is that they didn't have one. No baby scale. No. Instead the nurse (who was wearing jeans, high-tops and a studded rainbow belt but no lab coat or scrubs) had me step on this giant carnival scale while holding Eleanor. She wrote the number down in pen ON HER HAND and then held Eleanor while I stepped on alone. She then did the subtraction in pen ON HER HAND to see how much Eleanor weighed. I swear I am telling the truth. I only say that because if someone told me that I would say, "Noooo. That can't be true." But yeah. It was bad. Did I mention that Dr. Scarlett's office is also one of those "Medical weight loss" clinics? Along with being a family practice, and pediatrician's office? Anyhow, Eleanor was prescribed antibiotics (which surprise! didn't work) and told to come back in two weeks. We did, had a similar examination, a second dose of meds and never went back. I changed my insurance plan just to get another doctor for her. No other doctors were accepting new clients on my old plan. Anyhow, you can understand why we are extra in love with Dr. Gold now

Back to her appointment. See how clean the rooms are? Nice and sterile. They even put Eleanor in a teeny tiny gown before her examination. Probably unnecessary, but truly adorable.
Check her out!

And like all hospital gowns, not quite enough coverage in the back.

Statistics (mainly for my records)

So- Bragging ahead, her 2 year statistics are: Height: 33 & 1/2 inches. Weight: 25.6 pounds. And her head circumference is 48.8 centimeters. I know! How often are we moms bragging about head circumference? Eleanor is well above her age group for language and above average for most every thing else. She can communicate in 8+ word sentences, "knows" her ABC's and can count into her teens. I'm not sure who taught her to count, cause we sure didn't. She says the funniest things to us and makes us laugh daily. She can jump off the ground with both feet (and says "I jumpeen!") and finally likes to dance. She wasn't really into it as a younger baby like a lot of kids are. She loves her neighbors, especially Ala (Angela). She does well in nursery, did better when it wasn't at 1PM. Loves to look at books and be read to. Loves to watch movies, her favorites right now are Mickey Mouse Club House, Ice Age, Nemo, Monsters Inc, Toy Story 1,2 & 3, The Incredibles and anything Elmo. She loves Sesame Street, calls it "sunny day" after the song. She loves songs and music and can kind of sing quite a few songs. Twinkle Twinkle, I Am A Child of God, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Popcorn Popping and a few others. Her favorite foods are chicken nuggets, hot dogs, fruit snacks, eggs, bananas, peas and any type of berry. Sadly that is almost all she eats. She is getting better bit by bit. She wears size 18M to 2T and likes to take off her pajamas if she isn't sleepy. She is very comfortable socially and around most strangers. We couldn't be prouder of our little girl. I wish we could say we do really intensive exercises with her to get results, but I am more and more convinced that she is just a smart cookie and luckily we aren't doing too much to derail her God given gifts.

A few of our favorite Eleanor quotes:

I peek in on her after her nap and she says "Hi mommy! You still wake?" (I do take naps, but...)

In the bath she was pouring water back and forth between two cups saying "Here doo doh. Doen mate mess!" (Here you go, don't make a mess.)

Carrying all her Toy Story figurines around in her large red laundry tub saying "Hode on dies" over and over. (Hold on guys.)

I was popping Clayton's back and accidentally scratched him so I said "Sorry babe". Eleanor was "helping" rub his back so she starts saying over and over "Sawee babe, sawee babe." Weeks later I was popping his back again and she took a turn rubbing and started saying it again. How did she remember that?

"Otey tow!" (Holy cow.)

Was watching Monsters Inc when something made her laugh. She shouts "I happy! Eleanor happy!"

One day while running errands I needed to feed both of us some lunch so I ran through Fazolis to get something for me so I didn't have to eat McDonalds, which I planned to go through next for her. I get my pasta and put it on the passenger seat and start to drive towards McDonalds when from the back seat I hear the saddest little voice say, "Fin fies... me hab one?" (French fries, me have one?) I love that she was hungry and thought I wasn't sharing.

I hear her saying "Where's Eleanor?" a few times. I go and look and she has her Woody doll on her head with his legs covering her face, "hiding".

I was sitting on a massage chair and she came and sat on my lap. She sat there for about 30 seconds before she started giggling and hopped off saying "Oooh! I shake!" Who taught her "shake"?