Hannah’s birthday was sandwiched between three doctors appointments.

Friday afternoon she had her first non-BAER hearing test, which ended up being a total bust. There was someone sitting in the room with us to monitor Hannah’s facial reactions to the sounds but Hannah was more interested in that woman than she was to any of the noises. After the test, the audiologist confirmed that there’s still fluid in both of Hannah’s ear. Once again she referred us to the ENT and said the end result will be tubes if the fluid doesn’t clear up. We also had to make a quick stop at the lab for blood tests. The phlebotomist surprised me by finding a vein quickly and not making Hannah cry to hard, then he was in such a rush to get us out of the room that he left the rubber tourniquet tucked into Hannah’s sleeve and almost forgot to tape the gauze on her arm.

Monday night after work Hannah had her big 12 month pediatrician checkup. I made sure to take lots of notes because I knew I wouldn’t remember everything. Here are some of the highlights:

Length 28 3/4”

Weight 18 lb 6 oz

Head circumference 17 1/2”

The main topic was Hannah’s eating and weight gain plateau. I take full responsibility for the delay in getting Hannah to eat thicker foods because it was too scary watching her gag over a puff or piece of mushy bread. Our pediatrician wants to transition Hannah to 3 meals and 2 snacks a day and have her off formula and bottles by 15 months. We’ll start giving her whole milk in a sippy cup and try foods like pastina, eggs, and fruits/veggies steamed at home. The Dr. even suggested mixing olive oil and butter into the food to increase her calorie intake.

The fun part of the focus on eating will be getting Hannah to feed herself. Since she’s completely against holding her own bottle I thought it would be hard to get her interested in holding the spoon. Turns out she loves to feed herself…then throw the spoon on the floor and cheer for herself. We’re also supposed to put food on the highchair tray and let Hannah play with it, with the goal of some of it ending up in her mouth.

Tuesday morning was another follow up with the ENT. Hannah’s ear infection cleared up but could possibly be the reason for the fluid in her ears. Thankfully she said we can give Hannah through the Spring to see if the fluid disappears before making the decision for tubes.