Okay. Don't remind me. I know I waited a long time, but even though school is out during the summer when Erin has her birthday, I never remember her well visit. Bad mama!
This past week, Erin had her well visit with Dr. Liang. This was not an easy visit since Erin was also getting her flu shot - not something any child looks forward to having. My friend Lisa would tell me that I should have taken my camera out & snapped some pics, but I didn't. Usually I don't document the annual visit but this one just struck me.
Erin hit the American charts! Finally! She weighs 41 pounds & is in the 3rd-5th percentile. She is 44 inches tall & is in the 10th percentile. We've always known that Erin is petite & will never be the jolly green giant. Dr. Liang seems happy with Erin's progress. However, for the first time ever, she threw a caution out for us.
We have to work with Erin on her eating habits. She isn't eating enough. Although she eats well sometimes, on the whole, she needs work. We have to limit her juice to 4 ounces a day & bring her dairy intake back up to 3 servings a day. She also has to start eating some more veggies. Dr. Liang made a point of telling Erin that she has to try each vegetable that David & I put on her plate.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not as worried as it sounds. Erin avoids red meat at all costs but that's not so bad. Her idea of eating steak is taking one bite. Ha! Then again, she can pound down a half a bagel with cream cheese & eat lox by the pound. She is a carb girl & loves her French toast, waffles & pancakes. Fruit? Don't put it out unless you want Erin to stand there & finish the plate. Veggies? Nope. Corn is her speed. She told Dr. Liang that she once had a bite of broccoli & really liked it. When Dr. Liang asked her if she'd eat it again, you would have thought that she had 2 heads from the way Erin looked at her. What!? I'm supposed to eat more than one bite!? No way!! Not gonna happen.
The good news here is that Erin has been eating lunch every day. She eats pizza at school each Friday so I know she'll eat that. Also, she loves their chicken & potatoes. Other than that, I pack her lunch - peanut butter & jelly, nutella (sometimes with peanut butter & sometimes with banana slices), cottage cheese with sour cream, cheese sticks, yogurt with granola, fruit, pudding, goldfish, dried cranberries, mango, pretzels. Her drinks are usually a bottle of water, a fruit juice bag or some iced tea. Most days her lunch bag comes home empty.
Viv has given us the idea of having Erin drink the V-8 Fusion drinks. Each 8 ounce serving is a serving of veggies. She loves the banana strawberry flavor. Today was the first day she even noticed the veggies on the label. Thankfully, she didn't stop drinking it. Even so, we only give it to her every other day. Like most juices, it's high in sugar.
So why the worry? Her doctor believes that if Erin keeps growing at this rate, she will end up approximately 5 feet tall & about 105 pounds. Because Erin is so small, the worry is that she goes negative in her growth pattern. She is the smallest one out of her travel group sisters even though she isn't the youngest.
I say that we'll see what life brings us.
6 comments:
It sounds like you have a plan of action. I agree with you - see where life takes you. I have two very different eaters on my hands: one who is tiny and is a finicky eater and one who loves to eat and is very muscular.
I think you are doing a great job with Erin's meals. Nutella and banana slices? Now who wouldn't LOVE that????
Oh my goodness, I love V8 drinks! :) Elise isn't too far away from Erin in weight (42 pounds). I'm always amazed at how lean her body is, there is just no padding anywhere.
And I agree with Sandra, her lunches sound yummy!
Looks like Kerri is going to outgrow her godsister! At her 5 year old checkup, Kerri was 44 inches tall and 45 pounds. No idea where she is at in the charts, but as long as our kids are healthy, who cares what a chart says.
It does sound like you're on the right track. It can be tough getting those veggies in when they'd much rather have the sugar. Sera loves her chocolate, but I'm grateful she loves broccoli, too. Now if she'd eat as much broccoli as she does chocolate.
You can also give Erin Juice Plus which is fruits and veggies. Rachel doesn't eat veggies either. We keep trying, but usually are unsuccessful.
If you want samples of Juice Plus, just let me know and I can bring to the lunch on Sunday.
Leah eats anything, but with our first 2 kids we learned to disguise the veggies to get them to eat them. Eventually they got used to the taste and ate them OK. Then they became teens and soda became the most important food group.
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