You Mean I Have To Feed It?

"When having a smackeral of something with a friend, 

don't eat so much that you get stuck in the doorway

trying to get out."

~Winnie the Pooh 

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Malea is quite small for her age.  It's not that she doesn't eat, it's more that she is constantly on-the-go, so I suspect she burns calories in a manner completely unknown to me.  It's a perfect example of how everyone is different.  Maddie was the exact opposite.  I highly suspect this will be the topic of many fights when they become teenagers.  

Because of Malea's very small size, this has led to quite an inquisition every time we visit the doctor.  If you have kids, you know how it goes.  You get the percentile info on the little chart and there's the curve to show how much they've grown.  Really, who makes this stuff up?  I'm the parent who has never much cared what "percentile" my child is in.  All I care about is if they are healthy.  

So, let me give you an example of the conversation at a typical doctor's visit.  

"She's not really gained any weight," nurse says.  

"Yeah, she's just our tiny kid, constantly moving,"  I reply.  

"Well, she is rather small for her age," nurse says.  "The doctor will be with you soon."  

OK, that's just the start of the verbal spanking.  Then comes the doctor.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love our pediatrician and would recommend him to anyone looking for a good doctor.  However, having one child where I was constantly lectured for her weight being too much, he's aware of my sensitivity to this type of conversation.  He always waits until the very end to bring it up.

"Now, she is rather small for her age, only the 25th percentile," he says gently.  

"I know.  She's still wearing 12 month clothing," I reply.  The response changes based on what I'd like to divert the attention to.  She's dressed cute, so this day we opt for fashion.  Then, here is comes.  

"What is she eating?" he asks.  

And this is where I always think I'm going to respond with the best shocked look I can conjure on my face and say, "What?  You mean I have to feed it?"  

Instead, I do what polite parents should do and list how well she eats every day and how her daycare report list says she eats most if not all of every meal served to her there.  The doctor, whom I suspect always gets at this point that it is a sensitive subject for me, often backs down.  He always pushes it off until the "next visit", where we'll "see how she's doing then."  Instead, next visit comes and it's like Groundhog Day.  

As you all know, we recently got a new refrigerator.  It's OK, it's starting to grow on me.  However, Malea loves it.  She can crawl right inside and stand on the ledge to see everything inside.  While she can't open the door herself, she knows when I have and often runs in just to stand inside the refrigerator.  So, doing what any mother of the year would do, I got hard evidence - evidence for the doctor that yes, in fact, we do feed our child.  Now if only I could have staged this photo...errr...took it when there was food in her hand.  

Aside from the size issue, I'm happy to report that Malea's head circumference is OFF THE CHARTS!