Has she been cranky?

This was the question my pediatrician asked today as she looked into Olivia's ears. I think in doctor speak that translates to "hey dumb-a** have you noticed your child is in serious pain?" We were there for her 1-year checkup that I forgot to schedule in January because we were all wrapped up in ENT visits and getting her tubes.

When you get this kind of question, you know bad news is coming up. It doesn't help that your response is "well yeah, but she's always like that." And "you know, now that you mention it, she does put her hand up to her ears and shake her head when she's crying". I know, I know, with 3 kids I should recognize things like that by now but you have to understand I come from a family where you have to show signs of near-death to be taken to a doctor. Heck, when I was 12 I walked around with pneumonia for 2 weeks before my parents finally took me to the doctor. And that was only after I missed a lock-in at church that I had been looking forward to.

Anyway, it turns out that Olivia has a blister on her ear drum. It's some kind of infection that the dr. said is usually caused by staph (lovely!) or something else that I can't remember (once they mention staph, you don't really hear anything else). We have antibiotics and ear drops to give her and then she'll go back to the doctor in 10 days.

On the upside, she didn't get her shots. The dr. felt sorry for her because these kinds of blisters are usually very painful and she said she'd rather wait until it was all cleared up before she put Olivia through the shots.

As for her growth stats: Height - 32"; Weight 20lbs, 12 oz; Head Circ - 18 3/4"

If you type the numbers into the growth percentile calculator at babycenter.com, you'll see that she's tall and skinny with a big head. She takes after her daddy.