annual checkups

Yesterday was the older kids' well check at Dr. Hoekzema's office. I was a bit nervous for them since last year's round of shots didn't go so well (Ella had what was near a full-on anxiety attack.) We spent some time preparing ourselves and talking through expectations of the visit. In general, the kids are very good with doctors and dentists and follow directions well. They seem to enjoy the attention. They were measured, weighed, poked and pushed on. They are fond of the eye and ear instruments and liked getting their blood pressure taken. The best part was the eye exam. In the hallway outside the exam room hung a poster with the letters of varying sizes to measure how far patients are able to see. Ella did well since she's very good with her letters. I was a bit concerned though as she had trouble with some of the letters on the fifth row, which I was still able to read at the 20' distance. Her eyesight measured 20/40 but the doctor said he was unconcerned since she is still of preschool age and he gives some slack for performance anxiety.

When it was Simon's turn, he bounced out in the hall, proud to be treated like a big kid just like sister. He stood behind the line and rattled off the letters. As they got smaller, he got less confident and kept answering "I dunno" whenever the nurse pointed to a smaller letter. So she decided to switch to the poster with shapes rather than letters, thinking it might be easier for him. The shapes were kind of weird though...there were recognizable things like hearts, circles and stars, but there were also plus signs and a strange flag with stripes and one star. The bigger shapes were easy and he would say, "Star, circle, moon, another star, sailboat" etc. But as they got smaller and harder to see, he started to answer, "Dot, another dot..." That got us cracking up.

After the exams were over, it was time for shots. Ella got two and Simon got one. They did amazingly well! Simon didn't make a bit of a fuss...at the end of the shot he said, "Ow ow ow." And that was it. Ella got nervous as the nurse approached her and started to pull away and cry out, "No no no!!" But I hugged her and helped her to look away and she made it through without shedding a single tear. And then we all went out for kiddie cones at Ted Drewes.

The kids are healthy and growing. In fact, we're off to buy Simon some new pants and shoes today. His pants are literally three inches above his ankles. How do I keep these kids from growing up so fast??