18-Month Check-Up

Today Emrick had his 18-month check-up. There’s no big news really; he’s doing fine. His height percentile ranking has increased, from 1 to 7. I am a little skeptical of the 7 because I think they measured him a little long (they always do), but I’d guess in reality he is still at the 4th or 5th percentile, which is good. And his head circumference percentile is smaller, too. So his proportions are balancing out (somewhat).

The only “issue” that came up was something I asked about. Emrick’s soft spot is still not totally closed. It’s mostly closed, but you can still feel a definite indentation there. The endocrinologist, with whom Emrick had a second visit in January, had noted the open spot at that appointment and said she wouldn’t be concerned about it unless it was still open at 18 months. Well, here we are; Emrick is 18 months old and still has a small soft spot on his head. So I asked the pediatrician about it. He felt the spot and was not concerned in the slightest. He said he was “surprised” that the endo indicated that 18 months is when a still-there soft spot should be investigated. The standard, he said, is two years. Even then, a late-closing soft spot doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a problem. As an example, he told me of a patient he saw once who had an open soft spot at age four . He sent the kid to a neurologist who determined there was nothing wrong with the kid, that was just his head. So I am not worrying about it, not that I was really tempted to, since Emrick obviously seems to be doing just fine in every other respect. Plus, as Marcus pointed out, a big head like Emrick’s is bound to take a little longer to close. Perfection takes time, I guess. 🙂

But the BIG event of the day was what happened on my way to Emrick’s doctor appointment… I got a…

SPEEDING TICKET!!!

Aaaaargh!

This is my fourth traffic violation ever, but only my second speeding ticket, and my first Utah citation.

1998 — cited for speeding on Nohl Ranch Rd.

2001 — cited for turning right on red without stopping first at the corner of Sunflower and Bristol.

2008 — cited for a broken brake light on Bristol.

2012 — cited for speeding on Lone Peak.

As unpleasant as it was to be pulled over, I have to admit that Officer Utah was by the far the nicest police man I have ever encountered… I still cried, though.