Officially

(If you're just here for the photos/videos, scroll to the bottom.)

We went to the doctor this morning. First, the stats:

Weight: 24.75 pounds (can't remember percentile, but still on the small side)
Length: 34.5 inches! (75th percentile for 2-year-olds)
Weight-to-length: 15th percentile (a little higher than at her 18 month appt)

Doc says she's going to be tall and skinny like Steve and I. Doc is only half right about Steve and I--I'll let you guess which half. ;)

The good news: Adele is 100%, officially, ALL CAUGHT UP! YAY! She's totally on target for normal 2-year-olds in all areas, and even ahead of the curve in some (verbal). Gross motor is probably the only area where she might be on the back end of the curve, but Dr. Murphy said there's a pretty wide range of "normal" at this age so not to worry. For instance, Adele doesn't jump flat-footed and clear ground yet, and kicking a ball is sometimes walking into it, not deliberately moving her foot into the ball. So she'll be a talker and a reader and won't be top of the class for coordination/athletics. Uh, have you met her parents?? I was happy that Adele chose to actually speak at this appt, and even showed off some of her color-naming skills so Doc could see for herself what she's doing now.

The bad news: There is no bad news! Woo hoo!

The plan: Since Adele is now a typical toddler, we don't need to come back until her 3-year checkup. Keep her on whole milk, since she can afford to have the extra calories. Start watching for signs of "toilet-training readiness." Basically, keep doing what we're doing and continue life as normal. We can drop Ages and Stages (Tiny-K questionaire) at any time.

Two things I'm looking forward to: 1) Being able to stop counting her age in months. From now on, she's 2 years old (maybe 2.5 when November rolls around), not 24 months old. 2) Being able to stop adjusting her age. I think this one will be the hardest since I've been doing it for two years now. Always saying "well, she's really only supposed to be X months old." No more. You get no more slack from me, kid! ;) But in all seriousness, this is a day that all parents of preemies look forward to--the day when your kid is just the age s/he is, and not the age they're supposed to be.

Since Adele is healthy (physically, mentally and developmentally) I feel like that "preemie" period of our life is officially behind us. Once a preemie, always a preemie? I don't know. Right now it doesn't seem that way, but only time will tell what/if any issues arise from her early birth. What's different now, as opposed to last year or the year before, is that I'm not obsessed about what COULD happen. I'm just not worried. (Please don't let the other shoe drop now. Thanks!) I know I've said it before, but we're lucky. Blessed. Unusual. Not all the stories have happy endings. Don't think I don't thank God every dang day for what I've been given (and that includes all of you)!

And on that note, here are the pics I promised yesterday. I hope the slideshow embeds properly. Let me know if you want a link to the actual album so you can print any of the pics. (Grandmas? I'm talking to you!) There are videos at the end, too. Nothing exciting. :)

Edited to add: There are videos in the slideshow (the pics that look grainier than the others are video stills), but they're not playing in the slideshow. So here's a link to the actual album so you can play the videos (if you want). http://picasaweb.google.com/Adelevision/AdeleS2ndBirthday?feat=directlink Just click on the button with the little green arrow labeled "Slideshow" and the videos will play IN the slideshow.