She's a keeper!

Malia had her 15 month appointment this morning and it was a rough well-baby visit for a variety of reasons:

1) She woke up this morning at 5:30am to a massive poop. For reasons known only to her, she's designated her crib as the Primary Pooping Area. She only poops in her crib. It wrecks havoc on her naps but I suppose if a girl's gotta go, then a girl's gotta go. I had hopes of nursing her back to sleep... until Kael walked out of his room at 6:15am and kicked Truong out of the kid's bathroom so HE could poop. It was an odd morning to say the least.

2) She didn't eat breakfast. Since the kids were up early and the house cleaner was coming, I decided to take them out for breakfast -- alone. Bad idea. Malia was so distracted at Kael's antics and Kael was so amped up from waking up early, that breakfast was... well, not quite a complete disaster, but not very successful either. Let's just say I was able to doggy bag a lot of food, despite Malia wearing a good portion of it. Hopefully Kael will eat his lunch at school to make up for the lack of breakfast.

3) She's just an ornery kid. She knows want she wants and will let you (and everyone within a 2 mile radius) know what she doesn't want. She most definitely did NOT want the doctor touching her. She was fine with him in the room chatting with me but once he pulled out the stethoscope, she shook her head, said "nononono" and ran away. I pulled her into my lap and she proceeded to swat his hands away. When that didn't work, she tried to hit him. And when that didn't work, she used her powerful lungs to scream him away. It took both the doctor and I to bear hug her (me) and hold her head still (him) to get the exam done. By the end of the exam (10 minutes) she was so pissed, she was practically foaming at the mouth. It was the fastest exam I've ever gone through. Kael was the best kid (read: mellow) when it came to the well visits (he doesn't cry at all now). The only time he cried was when he got his shots and even then it was over when I picked him up. So this screaming banshee routine - I don't know what to do. When the nurse came in to give Malia her 3 shots, she didn't bat an eye. Well, she did give Stacy a suspicious look (or maybe it was the evil eye) but didn't try to run away or hit her. Since she was already "prepped" by the exam, she knew something was up once I got her on her back to receive the shots. Her kicking was fierce and her screaming was glass shattering. It was a relief to finally get her clothes on to leave. She did throw her shoes across the room to show me how mad she was.

So here are her 15 month stats (drum roll, please):

Weight: 16 lbs (definitely a keeper)
Length: 30 inches

It's not much by most standards but for Malia, it's phenomenal. She's gained 15 oz since her 12 month visit and the doctor is very pleased. She's hitting all her milestones in terms of development and she's obviously very active so we've accepted that she's going to be a petite girl. And given the appointment we just had, being petite in no way affects her ability to being heard.

Our next appointment is her 18 month in November. I'm looking forward to it. Maybe I can get Dad to take her....