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.

All in a Day's Work for the Amazing Miss Roo

Riley had her 15mo check up today, oddly enough the day she turned 16mo. It's so strange to see the pediatrician at 12mo and then at 15/16mo. She was only rarely experimenting with walking last time we saw him. This time she was running all over the room. As an added bonus she'd also pulled down her skirt and was stepping out of it when the doctor came in.

I had my back to the door and was filling out some paperwork they gave us at the front when I heard "Why, hello Riley you've got no pants." Sure enough I looked down to see her smiling up at me in all her diapery glory. Good first impression I'm the mom who had all the surgeries wheeling in with Riley in my lap. It would be nice to at least look like I had things together.

Toddlers are great for keeping you modest. Dr. J was pleased with her growth. Her weight has apparently "tapered off." She's down to 18lbs 9oz below average for her age, but her height was exactly average at 33in. I guess it's her destiny to be tall and thin, my little ballerina.

He claims her infamous bump is stable, but I don't know how he can tell under all that hair. I know I should thank my lucky stars for such a healthy girl, but I miss life before hemangiomas. I only had about a week or so with Riley before those bumps appeared and it's likely they will never cause a problem and be gone by kindergarten, but Mike loves to do Internet research (especially when I ask him not to) and I'll be more comfortable when they're gone.

Today's poke was the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella). I'm so glad this was the second to last of the 'shots every visit' appointments. I had some passing anxiety about shots without nursing during and after. It was the second time in a week I really missed "the magic boob." What could I console her with? It worked out that I was reading her a book in my lap (No, No Yes, Yes by: Leslie Patricelli)when he returned ready to do the deed. I continued reading and gently restrained her while he gave the poke. She started to cry so I shut the book so I could hold her. Isn't that amazing about toddlers? Even when you're the one who held them still while they got a shot or whacked their head pitting them in the car they still reach for you to be comforted. I know that won't last.

Through her tears Riley insisted, by opening the book right back up and pointing, that I continue. She had a valid point we hadn't finished the book. After we were done reading the book we made our way into the hallway where sobs had been replaced by inconsistent whimpers.

Dr. J's staff were kind enough to walk me out to the car which was such a help because I wanted nothing more than to get this tired (Thanks daddy for rescheduling this appointment during her nap time) cranky baby home fast. The wheelchair was folded and loaded, the baby was buckled and we were on our way in less than 5mins from arriving at the car (that's great time for hobble-along mommy).

As we pulled out I looked in my "child view" mirror and saw my pretty girl smiling in her big girl carseat and pretending to drink a cup of tea. The resilience of childhood should be harnessed!

Finding Time to Cry

Everything has been building. The stress, the tension, the pain...I've been "taking it easy", but it's rare that I have a moment that I'm willing and able to have the catharsis, I clearly need at this point.

The universe has been nudging me in that direction. Last night at 10:00 there was a horrible noise out front and Michael ran out to find his car side swiped. Talk about adrenaline, phew. Then I woke up at 4:30am with a low grade fever drenched in sweat. I had trouble time getting back to sleep and then Riley was up at 6am. I was exhausted and I had to get Riley to her pediatrician for her 6mo check up and more shots. Like clockwork when we hit the 4hr mark after her appt she was a seriously cranky girl. At about that point I got a phone call that my high school friend and neighbor's 1yr old had passed away. As I sit, raw nerves absorbing all this the pouring rain begins and my pain increases exponentially.

Don't worry this isn't an entirely "woe is me" post. I wrote about my friend's loss on one of my mommy boards and someone who read it went to give her son one more kiss and found him tangled in his blankets. He had turned blue. He's ok, she saved his life with that good night kiss. I held Riley while she slept for over an hour tonight.

I'm so grateful for all that I have, especially Riley. I'm just a little black rain cloud, the rain will come. I just hope I'll feel relieved instead of weak and stupid.

Aftermath

My poor pumpkin. She was in really good spirits just a little sleepy until about 3:00pm. All the sudden there was no happiness in Riley's world. Poor thing, just cried and cried and when I tried to nurse her she'd spit it all out because she didn't want milk just comfort. I realized my arm was sweaty where she was laying. Stupid shots gave her the low grade fever which was making her scream.

Tylenol and a bath later Riley was still a fussy-saurus. We rocked and sang to no avail. I decided to let the swing do it's magic. Apparently, the swing only had 6min worth of magic to spare today. Poor Riley, poor me...

4month Checkup

First of all I had no idea that babies get shots at every appointment until 18mos. I'm kind of glad I didn't dread these shots for two months. Ironically, she wore her "Super Happy Girl" onesie to the appointment.

She weighs 12lbs 4oz which 50th percentile and is 24in long which is 56th percentile. Not bad for a 5lb premie on breast milk alone.

She was very excited by the scope he used to check her eyes and thought he was funny in general. She didn't even flinch at the first shot and was done crying about the second one by the time we got to the parking lot. Smiley Riley, what a trooper.

He also gave us (his words) "the yellow light" (as in proceed with caution) on solids. Deep breath mamma, baby is growing up. He even said we don't have to start with baby cereal which is a relief because she only gets one bottle a day and I don't want to mix her one bottle with that tasteless sludge. I think we'll start with a couple spoon fulls of bananas in the evening and see how it goes.

Also, the mysterious bump on the back of her head is another hemangioma between her skull and her scalp. It's apparently as harmless as the one on her belly and should break down around the same time. Sounds pretty icky to me, but it's very common and harmless. I know it's shallow, but I'm glad it's not on her pretty face.