My little boy.

Looking deprived? I don't think so. 

Hugo got his 12 months injections today. The jabs are always preceded by a growth check: weight, height, head circumference. The results are then logged into his health book on growth charts. The charts compare him with other children and more importantly with himself.

Hugo's growth rate has slowed down between the last injections at 6 months and today's. Rather than being an average baby in height and weight, he would now be considered fairly little.

This doesn't come as a complete surprise. For the last few months, I have been making mental notes to myself that when standing next to other babies his age, Hugo seems little. Babies just a few weeks older than him seem to tower over him.

The fact that he is little for his age doesn't worry me, nor does the fact that his growth has slowed down over the last few months. He has been very physically active in that time and more recently, he has been ill a lot. According to the doctor, it isn't uncommon for the charts to drop a little around that time for precisely those reasons: more exposure to illness and increased activity levels.

Besides his size, Hugo is thriving and reaching milestones. He is eating what seems like pretty large amounts of food everyday and he has been sleeping better than ever. I just don't think he is deprived in any way. His beautiful chubby thighs don't exactly scream, "feed me!"

And yet, it is impossible not to worry at least a little bit. We have another appointment in two months to monitor his growth and be sure he isn't dropping on the charts any more. In the meantime, we'll just keep doing what we do and hope this is just a temporary slump. We'll hope he picks up again, grows out of all of this clothes and that this isn't hiding anything more serious.

Until then, I'll just enjoy the fact that he is still light enough to carry comfortably and small enough to snuggle tightly.