Law of averages

This morning was Zachary's 18-month checkup! He had great fun in the waiting room playing with toys and looking at the aquarium of fish (but of course not tapping on the glass; there used to be a great sign in there asking children not to be a Darla). But for the first time, he actively got upset and cried from the moment we brought him into the exam room. He was fairly hard to console; I'm not sure if he was remembering previous shots or was just unhappy to be taken away from the fish. He was occasionally distractable, and even gave the doctor a smile or two, though as soon as the stethoscope and otoscope came out, he was right back at the hollering. Somehow between the crying and kicking (and that was before the shot, which is ostensibly the last one for the next few appointments, hooray!), they managed to get his vitals:

Weight: 25 lbs. 1 oz. (25-50th percentile)
Height: 32" (25-50th percentile)
Head circumference: 19" (50th percentile)

So right down the middle for all of his stats. In addition to talking to Zachary (in between his tears of course), the doctor had some excellent explanatory reasons for his love of the same book over and over -- it's potentially a case of comfort through object permanence and routine. This makes sense, though it still won't stop us from occasionally hiding one of his books after we read it for him the tenth time that morning. Incidentally, his book preferences have changed over time; his favorites at the moment are a Doctor Seuss alphabet book (he echoes the 'H, h, h' when we get to that letter's page) and a fun book about mice and colors, though he also brings us some of his classics from time to time; Goodnight Moon remains a favorite bedtime volume.