Another Difference

Yesterday we took Colton to his 12 month appointment with the pediatrician (Dott.essa Maria Serenella Pignotti). At this appointment I was struck by some of the differences in medical care; well, at least pediatric well-visits.

First of all, we visit Dott.essa Pignotti at her house instead of at a practice. She officially works at a neonatal hospital but it's far away from where we live. So, naturally, she offered to allow us to see her at her home office - which is pretty close to where we live - after she is done working at the hospital. Therefore, our appointments are always at odd hours. Last night, for example, the appointment was at 7pm.

Another difference is that the doctor does not keep Colton's records on file. At our first visit she gave me a little green folder. She fills it out and puts things in it each time (weight, length, prescriptions, vaccination information, notes about child care, etc) and gives it back to us. It is our responsibility to take care of it and bring it to every appointment. The ever important folder is pictured below:

The actual appointment is fairly similar except for the fact that she does not take his temperature or look into his ears - basics at every doctor appointment we went to in the U.S. I asked her about why she doesn't look at his ears and she said that it is obvious that he doesn't have an ear infection - that we would just know by how he's acting. Hmmm.... I didn't actually think about her not taking his temp until I got home. He was warm so I took it and he actually did have a little fever - 101.5 degrees! Hmmm.... again.

Now, the biggest difference - pediatricians do not actually give children their vaccinations. Dott.essa Pignotti says that she does not want to give shots because then "the children won't like me." (She actually said the same thing about looking in Colton's throat...that's why she saves it for last in the appointment - so he doesn't get upset and cry the rest of the appointment.) She asked some friends of ours how vaccinations work in America and when they told her that every doctor has the medication at their office and gives the shots right then and there she said, "Why would the doctors have the medication?" Wow. Here there are public offices where you make an appointment and take your child to be vaccinated. It is free....if you can ever get in! She told me herself, "When you call, do not give up. They never answer their phone. Sit down with a big cup of coffee or tea to help you relax and just keep trying, it will take a long time." Great. After you actually get the place on the phone it can apparently be months before you can get in! And, for us, we have to make two separate appointments because he needs two vaccines that they don't give together. Lovely. Now, in Dott.essa Pignotti's defense, she did say if we can't get in to the public vaccination office she will give Colton his shots. We, however, have to call pharmacies until we can find places with the vaccine we need, buy them ourselves, take them to her, and she will finally give him his shots. All in all, we cannot escape a HUGE hassle. Bummer.

I miss our pediatrician in Orlando. Not that Dott.essa Pignotti isn't nice but everything is so confusing here, plus the language barrier makes it really hard for me to feel like I can ask everything I'd like to (plus understand the answer)! It's hard to trust in these new ways to do medical care, especially for my child. I have to keep reminding myself that there are plenty of healthy Italian babies so this system must work, too. I just miss it being easy. I miss a pediatrician who is less concerned with whether my child "likes" her than doing what she needs to do to make sure he's healthy (ie: shots, taking temps, looking in his ears.... the list goes on). Oh well.

The good news is that Colton seems to be continuing to grow wonderfully! He's already gotten much bigger since we moved!

At 10.5 months (the first time we took him to see this doctor) he weighed 19 pounds (8.66 kg) and was 30 inches (76 cm). Last night he weighed 22 pounds (9.98 kg) and was 32 inches (82 cm).

I guess the Italian food and lifestyle is agreeing with him. :)

Reflections

Colton, hours after he was born.

One of our first family pictures, Colton's 2nd day of life.

It is amazing how tiny he was!

6 months later, Colton was a sweet little boy who was rolling around the floors, learning to army crawl, and eating his first real baby food.

He also took his first "big boy baths" at 6 months.

Now, at 1-year-old, Colton is walking like a pro!

He's got a sweet disposition and is almost always happy...especially when he's playing.

But, on the rare occasions he cries, he really knows how to work that grumpy face!

It's been a couple of weeks since Colton turned 1 and I've spent a little bit of time reflecting over how much he has grown and changed this past year. When I think of how fast this year has gone I am reminded of how truly miraculous the growth and development of a child is. I'm amazed at what Colton has learned in so short a time, and I am loving to see how he is becoming his own little person with a big personality!

We moved to Italy when Colton was 8 months old. The three and a half months between that and his 1-year birthday flew by, yet he has become a different child! When we arrived in Italy Colton was just army crawling, as he had been for a couple months. The apartment hadn't been cleaned before we arrived and, since Colton was sliding around on his belly on the filthy floors, his clothes were caked with dirt! Since then, he has moved from army crawling to crawling on his hands and knees to cruising the furniture to all out walking! This big accomplishments are certainly not the only ways he's changed, either. He has gotten 4 teeth since our move, making his face look more boyish than babyish. He is beginning to master concepts that were lost on him before, like putting toys in their correct places or pressing specific buttons to get the results he wants (from his toys, not from us!).

Colton is also showing more of his personality. He is content to play alone most of the time, ever entertained by anything that rolls around the ground or makes noise and blinks brightly, but he loves to get our attention and grin at us as he plays. He also loves to be chased, jumped out at, and tickled. It is such a joy to hear him laughing. He is truly one of that happiest children I have ever seen. In addition to this, though, he has a little mischievous streak. He likes to begin doing things he knows he's not supposed to, but stops just before he actually does that "bad" thing just to be sure you're watching. He then gives you a sly little grin and continues doing the wrong thing. When you fuss at him for it, or any other reason, he's learned to screw up his face so that he looks like he's going to cry. After a few seconds he slowly opens his eyes to see how you're reacting. It's hard not to giggle at him when he does it - he's just so cute!

Finally - well, the last thing I'll post here....there are just too many changes to list them all - Colton is starting to talk! Now, he's not really using real words yet - don't get too excited - but he's starting to string sounds into what sound like sentences! He reminds us of Avery Downs, the daughter of some dear friends in Orlando. He does seem to be learning a few new words here and there, though. For example, when we feed him his food we'll say, "Mmmmm, that's good!" And he'll reply, "Mmmmmm, gooo!" We'd swear to you that he's saying good. :) He also is using sounds more to convey his emotions. When he sees us with food or really likes what he's eating he loudly says, "Mmmmmmmmmmm!" If we're eating a snack while he's awake he literally follows us around saying, "Mmmmmmmmmm!" until we give him a bite. Also, he has started saying, "Ooooooooooooooo!" When he's looking at something he's really excited about. Truly, it's adorable. :)

I know for most of you this won't be very interesting. Heck, if you made it this far I'm surprised! But to me, these are some of the most miraculous, beautiful, exciting, and fun things I've ever seen and I want to remember them all. We are so blessed with a happy, healthy baby boy. Already it feels like he's growing up so fast, but I'll continue to soak up every bit of time I have to know him. I'm thankful.