Five Year Check-Up!

First of all as much as I could live at Disney forever, it sure is nice to get back to normal! Riley's dinosaur friend in the front office was glad to have her back at school!

Right on the heals of our trip we had Miss Roo's five year check up! I knew she had her last round of shots for a long while, coming up. We discussed this as always in the 48hrs prior. She was pensive the whole morning and unusually quit. By the time I picked her up that afternoon to head to her appointment she was almost giddy. "I'll see you later, guys! I have to go get my shots! I'm going to get stickers and lollipops!" It was adorable, but not as adorable as when we walked into the doctor's office and she told the lady and the desk in her most excited voice "I'm ready for my shot!" The lady behind the desk laughed and insisted Roo give her a big high five.

Miss Roo is growing steadily, but is only in the 10th percentile for her age. Small for her age, but perfectly proportioned height to weight just like her mom. It's funny because she doesn't seem smaller than the other kids in her class. I only had two "concerns" going in: 1) Hemangioma 2) Vision. He checked her "baby button" and said it was breaking down and had become calloused. He recommend we put lotion on it at night.

Sidebar: A few days later Roo was in my room telling me a story: "One day I was trying to wash my hands and I thought the lotion was soap by accident! Ewww. I had to wash it off and start again! So Dun-Dun!" She did the funny-est gesture when she said the last part too. Super dramatic ending, hilarious.

He did agree with me that her eye was rolling in enough to cause concern just from observing her since he'd been in the room. He also did a simple exam and concluded "The left one rolls in significantly and the right one rolls in slightly as well." Yeesh. With both of her parents having vision problems and wearing glasses in childhood it was bound to happen. Unfortunately, the recent issues with Roo's now former school have fostered some serious trust issues for me so I do not relish the thought of finding a new doctor.

Then it was time for her last two shots until she turns eleven! She was raring to go. Dr. Jay told her that she could have 3 stickers AND 3 lollipops if she was brave and didn't cry. She was pretty excited. I pulled the long sleeve shirt she had insisted on wearing off her arms. I left it around her neck and turned a bit and said "Now you have a cape!" (we've always referred to getting shots as "getting your superpowers" in our house). She hopped up on my lap and I said "I know you don't need it, big girl, but I'm going to give you a gentle hug until it's done." She really didn't need the gentle hug. She sat still and only uttered a tiny "ouch" and immediately confirmed that didn't count as crying. "No Ma'am, it's ok to say ouch." She said ouch one more time and then it was over.

She hoped down and adjusted her shirt before I blinked. Dr Jay commented "Almost no one gets three lollipops, good job Riley." There was a quick high five as she had important business to attend to. She practically sprinted down the hall. She chose a Snow White sticker, Sofia the first sticker and a Sleeping Beauty sticker. Then she chose her three lollipops and humored Mom for a picture of my brave girl. As always I let her have a celebratory lollipop right away. She earned it.

Four Year Check Up

When I told Riley we were going to see Dr. J she said "woohoo." I told her this was a very important check up because she would get her "4yr old super powers" (vaccines). I had to reschedule from last week because of the surgery, but I bet they get that all the time since you schedule the check ups so far in advance.

Miss Roo is in the 19th percentile for height and weight. Inching right along on the old growth chart. We only had one visit in between check ups this year, not bad at all. She's a happy healthy girl. When the big moment came she climbed up in my lap. Dr. J told her there were lollipops and stickers for brave girls. I reminded her about how lucky she was to get her superpowers AND lollipops! Dr. J said you get one lollipop for each poke and an extra one if you're brave and don't cry. Three lollipops AND stickers, Riley was excited to hear that.

I told her I needed to give her a little hug. I held her around the arms just in case, but it wasn't necessary. The Dr and I kept even tones. One poke, band aid time, almost done. Last poke, band aid time, all done!! She hopped right down and headed for the lollipops. She picked out the three she earned and two stickers. She got a Despicable Me minion and a Pickalicious ballerina sticker.

The best part was she got to straight to school afterward and tell her friends all about it! It was adorable how excited her friends were overjoyed to see her. She'd never been late to school before. There were lots of hugs and smiles! It was heart warming. My big brave girl.

Huge thanks to my Mom for the ride and for running back to drop of her blanket. It was so nice to be able to visit with Riley's teacher for a minute. I felt beck to normal for a minute.

Check-up Time

Every so often (probably less often than I should) I check in with my regular doctor. The impetus this time was my impending birthday and some requests from the DMV. You see they've passed a new law that requires more frequent letters of eligibility for disabled parking permits. That is all well and good, but I don't think it will cut down on fraud the way they are hoping. The criminals will still cart granny to the doctor for a letter and then use her tag for their own ends. What's needed is more enforcement of the rules. I understand it's a question of resources, but the only way to change things is to start catching and punishing more cheaters.

From the stand point of someone with a permanent life long disability the requirement is pretty humorous:
Dear DMV,
I did NOT wake up without Cerebral Palsy this year.
Sincerely
Me
It reminds me of the time my high school demanded a doctor's note stating that my wheelchair could not go up the stairs before I could have an elevator key. Sigh.

Anyway, as it turns out I'm in pretty good shape. Reasonably sized, reasonable blood pressure, reasonable heart and lung function. My only compliant being more frequent migraines lately. Weather? Stress? Not enough sleep? He was most concerned about how tired I looked. I explained that I'd had a few pretty intense nightmares. We discussed them, but couldn't pinpoint an obvious cause. It could be that I recently started getting the paper delivered (for the coupons) and you can't ignore some of those headlines. Maybe it's because I've been watching my fair share of Twilight Zone since the New Year's Eve marathon. Darn it, Rod! It's really neither here than there.

I left with my letter for the DMV and a prescription for migraine medicine. I hope it will be another year and a half before I'm back in again. I like my primary care very much, but visits are so expensive especially if you're sick.

Three Year Check Up

My plan was I'd take Roo to her 3yr check-up and then to the toy store to spend the gift card she got for her birthday and pick out birthday presents. So many September birthdays. She was happy enough to go to the doctor when I reminded her there was a possible lollipop when she was done. Dr. J says she's on the small side of average at 28.5lbs and 36in. It had been a whole year since we'd been in, woo-hoo. Happy and healthy. She got her lollipop. She choose a pink bubble gum flavored treat.

Thanks partially to her lollipop she sat calmly in cart for our whole trip though the toy store. She choose a Tangled dress up dress and a Tangled doll for herself. She even got a free Tangled musical jewelry box. With birthday presents procured we decided to pick up grandma for a play date. Maybe it was timing? Or a lollipop so early in the day? Maybe not enough sleep lat night? In general 3 has been difficult. She seems much more manic these days. Melt Down.

Poor grandma was subjected to screaming the whole ride to our house and then Roo had to go straight to bed. I wrestled her to the potty and bed, promising her lunch would be waiting when she got up. I had to pull the car over and take her new doll away it was so bad. It's difficult because everything is the end of the world to her just now. I'm thinking we weren't quite caught up on sleep from our overstimulating weekend.

Mom and I looked at party pictures and ran to Target while she slept. I fantasized about not going home until after dinner. Poor Mike, did his best to feed and entertain her, but it's very hard to fix computer code without the ability to concentrate. I hurried home after the SOS text. She seemed better for a bit and even got her new doll back, but it didn't last. Her fits got violent and she was in bed by 7pm. Reset!

Three feels like a glimpse into what she'll be like as a teenager...gulp.