Josh Update

Josh had his 18-month checkup yesterday and here are some stats:

He is in the 50th percentile for height and only the 5th for weight...but he is healthy and eats and is doing really well, so she isn't concerned. He's just a tiny guy.

We are going to be waiting for a call from the Phoenix Children's Hospital Urologists to make an appointment to take him down there to look at his testicles (sorry if you're reading this when you're older and I'm totally embarrassing you, Josh) because they are "retractile" (haven't fully descended). Not looking forward to that, and praying everything is alright and it's an easy fix.
*I just have to add another side note about how much I LOVE living in Bagdad and being so far away from everything.

Also, we (well, mostly Dave) have been concerned for a while because Josh doesn't EVER talk. He still just makes baby noises and grunts and stuff. The only word he can say is "dada" and when I tell him to say "cheese," he will imitate the sound. But he can't (I haven't figured out if it's can't or won't yet) say anything else and if we get him to try, he just gets frustrated. He doesn't even do the sounds of animals ("What does a doggy say?" etc.). He just does a baby grunt that sounds the same for everything.

However, I can tell he understands me and picks up on all the things I am teaching him. And the doctor isn't worried about him being slow or having any mental disabilities or anything. He just might have a speech problem. Ugh.

And what we don't know at this point is if it's just his personality or if he really does have a problem. He is pretty laid back about things (100% opposite of his brother) and it could just be that he has no desire to do these things, but the dr. is still concerned. She said that by 18 months, babies should be able to say at least 10-20 words or recognizable animal sounds, etc. Josh does one. That's it.

And we only have Sam to compare him to, who learned at a remarkable rate and by 18 months was already counting to 10 and saying most of the alphabet and colors. Sam has always loved learning and would love to spend all his day having me teach him things, read, do math, or watching Your Baby Can Read! videos. And then we have Josh who has NO interest in anything intellectual. He'd rather be playing or torturing the cat than sitting in front of any learning videos, and when I try to read to him, he gets bored and tries to get off my lap.

So it could be his personality, but either way...that kind of worries us. A group called Arizona Early Intervention is going to be calling us to come out here and meet with Joshua. They are going to be doing little tests and stuff to see if he actually has a problem. If he does, he is going to need to see a speech therapist. Again, yay.

Either way, things will work out and we will get it taken care of. Of course as a parent, I'm naturally a little concerned. I just want the best for my kids and no one wants their kid to have problems. But I do know it'll work out, and other than the hassle it's going to be, I'm not TOO worried.

I'll keep everyone updated.