Doctor Day

Today was the day to get all of the kiddos’ medical checkups out of the way. That meant that by 8 am, Alex was in the waiting room of the dentist’s office, learning to play a Sonic the Hedgehog driving game on the Playstation station there in the waiting room, while his brother was more interested in the spinning wheel behind the glass partition and making funny faces at us through the glass block. Was it only six months ago that Alex was more interested in the spinning wheel too? I don’t wish to encourage the video game habit this early on, but he did make a marked improvement in the few minutes we were there, which was impressive in its own right.

But I digress. Alex had a great tooth cleaning and check up. They use TVs in the ceiling to distract the kiddos, but since that is a damnsite better than a struggling kiddo or a drugged kiddo, I have no objection to a little Dora to make things go more smoothly and make visiting the dentist a positive experience! He was very patient for the toothbrushing and polishing after picking out a purple (of course!) toothbrush, and followed direction well. They did the red stuff and he isn’t getting close enough to his top gums when brushing, so they showed him why he had to work on that. They attempted x-rays, but he couldn’t quite keep the bitewing in his mouth. The hygienist says the x-ray attempt is mostly for the practice at this age in any event. The dentist said that Alex’s teeth look great, though perhaps a wee bit crowded so we have to be really good about flossing. We are already better about flossing Alex’s teeth than I am about flossing my own, so hopefully we can continue to improve on that front. In the meantime, no soft spots or visible cavities. He earned his SpiderMan tattoo.

We had a little time to kill between the dentist and the pediatrician, so we stopped at MickeyD’s (or, as Alex calls it, “Old McDonald’s”) for breakfast since our breakfast on the way out the door had been only cheese sticks and fruit. One Big Breakfast was enough to feed all three of us: Alex and Nate split the eggs, Alex had two pancakes while Nate had one, and I ate the sausage and biscuit, and we all three shared the hash brown. Add a yogurt and fruit parfait and we were set.

Then, it was off to the pediatrician for their (late, since they had been sick back when they should have ad them in June) respective 4 year and 18 month well baby visits. Except I can’t call Alex’s a “baby” visit any more, since he was treated to some very adult procedures: peeing in a cup, and getting his blood pressure taken (it was 111/67, pulse 123, Mom). Alex was fascinated by the whole peeeing-in-a-cup process, and asked intelligent questions about what was going to happen to his pee once we gave the cup to the nurse, which I answered to the best of my ability in an age apropriate way. I assisted him with Nate safely out of the way strapped to my back, and thanked God once again for babywearing (and specifically, my Ergo!).

Alex asked the nurse to please put us in a room with the “Ear Book” — a book by some drug company that explains what is going on in one’s ear when one gets an ear infection. She was so impressed by his knowledge of anatomy that she exclaimed “I will definitely find you an Ear Book!” But she must have forgotten by the time we got there, because our room didn’t have the Ear Book, and I didn’t feel right bugging her for one. But all rooms have an ear model, and Alex shocked the nurse by pointing out the ear drum and the cochlea. As usual, he asked me lots of questions about the various parts of the model and how it realated to his own ears.

The doctor asked me about Nate’s development, and I marveled again the backwards way that we do healthcare in this country, in that if I had known what questions she was going to ask ahead of time, I could have thought about them ahead of time instead of sitting there erring and umming and trying to count how many words Nate can say. Duh, of COURSE he says more than 20 words, but on the spot I had to think about it a bit. Nate made my life easier by quicly demonstrating that he knew more than 5 body parts and could sign Rainbow and Blue (thanks Rachel!). The doctor laughed and said, “Oh, he’s more than fine!”

Both boys had to get a Hep-A shot, and both had to get a finger prick to check their hemoglobin (Alex’s was fine, Nate’s was a wee bit low and so she prescribed a multivitamin with an iron supplement). Alex was a bit frightful of the finger stick, and downright livid about the shot — probably the first time he was aware enough of the whole process to express an opinion in advance. We had Nate get his shot first, and then I put him on my back again, even as he wailed away, so that I could help hold Alex as he wailed away. At this point I turned to the doctor and said “And I thought it would be easier to do them both at once why?” She laughed, but it was all over at that point, and both boys in the end weathered their shots just fine. And did I mention thank goodness for babywearing? Alex cheered considerably with the rare treat of a purple (of course) lolipop, though Nate was not happy that I wouldn’t let him have one like his big brother. We got to school just in time for lunch and naps.

The stats: Alex is 40 pounds and 40 and 3/4 inches tall, Nate is 25 pounds, 14 ounces and 33 1/4 inches tall. Both are pretty average on the curve, Alex at 50th percentile for height and 75th for weight, which floors me in that he doesn’t have an ounce of chub on his lean body (though I guess muscle does weigh more). Nate is 50th for height and weight. Both boys are healthy, and developmentally on or beyond target. We come back in January for Nate’s two year visit, and February for Alex’s Hep-A part two. Whew!