Today Eli had his 18 month appointment! Probably as a result of some of the struggles during his first year, I am always anxious to hear the numbers related to his growth. So, I was absolutely thrilled to find that Eli has been growing like a weed. All of his percentiles increased, some quite dramatically. So as a proud (and relieved) mama, here are the numbers:
Weight: 21 pounds, 14 ounces (6th percentile)
Height: 32 inches (41st percentile)
Head: 18.8 inches (45th percentile)
We knew Eli had been growing, but we didn’t know where everything would fit in the percentile charts. Eli is drinking regular whole milk with nothing special added to it and continues to eat table foods…and we get to continue with that plan! She recommended keeping nuts and shellfish out of his diet until he is two due to risk of allergies, but we confessed he eats peanut butter daily and does fine…and she was thrilled and said he can continue 
We don’t routinely have shellfish, so that shouldn’t be a problem!
The only real concern, which I have been anticipating for weeks/months, is that Eli is not talking. I am far less concerned about this developmental delay than I was with the eating/weight concerns. Eli babbles and can sometimes uses “dadadada” and “mamamama” appropriately. He recently learned a few sign language terms, which help somewhat. He can follow simple directions and point to things that Matt and I say. I really do not believe hearing and comprehension to be the problem. Matt and I both strongly believe that Eli is stubborn. He may have to get incredibly frustrated before he’ll speak…and he may burst out in complete sentences for all I know! We’ve received a lot of encouragement from those around us not to worry about it. But our doctor has been concerned about his lack of words since he was 12 months and had already recommended speech therapy, which I declined, at 15 months, so I was anticipating a strong push that direction during this visit. We agreed to go to at least one visit with a speech therapist…and then we’ll decide what to do from there. I totally want to do what is best for Eli, but I also don’t want to over-react and have months of therapy when he’ll figure things out in his own time! So we’ll see what happens!
Otherwise, the doctor was extremely pleased with all other areas of development and we don’t have to return until Eli is two years old (and he’ll have a little sister by then!)!
