4 yr old stats

Anna had her 4yr well child check up today. I have to say everytime we enter those exam rooms it never fails me to remember the days we sat there for the first few weeks of her life as we were dealing with a screaming baby with acid reflux, trying to get the doses right, getting the pep talks from the doc, trying to determine what was "normal". Wishing for the days when she turned 3 and 4 and we were past all that.

In fact as we sat in the waiting room today I could hear the woes of another mother who was saying she couldn't take another 24 hours straight of awake time like that again. Her baby was sleeping in the carrier. I wonder if she looked at me and Anna and wondered if we went through "the same thing." If she only knew! :)

Anna's 75th percentile for both weight and height, which the exact same trend she's been on since her first month of life. I think she's about 35lbs and 40.5" tall. That 75th percentile height is a nice severance when it comes to amusement park rides :) She likes to get taller so we tell her which foods make us grow versus which foods are just yummy to eat only. She gets it and she's pretty good at the balance.

While we were waiting she wrote her name on the little slip we give to the doc and the doc was pretty impressed with that! Yay for Anna!

She passed her vision and hearing screenings and this time they even took her blood pressure with a little blood pressure cuff. After the check up, the tough questions about strangers and safety and private things came and Anna answered them all like a big girl! Then came the shots. Two of them. First I told her how the needle will go into her skin like this, and how it is full of medicine that will help her not get sick. Then with a pinch I showed her how it would feel. I told her if she was brave (and yes it will hurt a little) she could get two stickers instead of just one. She knew what to expect and that it would hurt a little but that we all get them and we don't really like them either. She held my hand and here came shot #1. "You OK?" Nods yes. Ok then here comes shot #2. "You OK?" nods yes, praises from the nurse on what a big girl she is! Nurse steps out, and the sniffles come. Sweet little girl sniffles, and I could tell she was holding back. "My legs hurt mommy! It hurts!" I know, shots hurt me too, they hurt everyone but we take them to stay healthy and you've totally earned TWO stickers! "But I cried, mommy!" Ohmagawd, it's ok to cry! You've earned the stickers!

She's excited to find a Scooby Do sticker, one she's been wanting since she went last week but decided on Dora then. She picked a fish sticker as the next one. She put Scooby on my shirt and the fish on hers and she held back the tears till we got to the car. In the car she sobbed quietly between sips of apple juice and complaints that her legs hurt and I gave her some ibuprofen for the soreness before dropping her off at school.

She doesn't remember the shots she had so long ago and I don't even remember when her last ones were (before 3?) and even then she cried but never carried on too long or out of control. Amen to that.

We have a big girl.