Check up!

We had a rather long lag between the time the doctor left us today and the nurse came back with his immunizations. He occupied himself under the exam table, sitting and reading. Unfortunately, the old P&S is too slow to capture that (and it didn't help that John decided he NEEDED to see the camera the minute I got it out). This is what it captured instead.

The visit went well. He captured the heart of yet another nurse, even giving her a kiss on the way out. It happened to be the same nurse who gave him his shots. He forgave her when she told him he could have a sticker. During the exam, Dr. T was impressed that John actually understood and did as he was asked when it came time to look down his throat. John opened up and even stuck out his tongue. As a reward John got to play with the tongue depressor that Dr. T did not have to use. Dr. T said that only about 1 in 20 kids his age actually comply. John's stats were like so: 27 lbs 12.5 oz (75%), 32 in tall (25%-50%), and 49 cm head circumference (75-90%). (His percentiles haven't changed since his last check-up.)

After lunch John wanted to climb around in the red chair. So, I took the opportunity to snap some pictures. This the best of the bunch, I think. It seems to work out that I get some pictures in the red chair about once per month. While his legs are barely reaching the end of the seat, I notice in this picture that he's now as tall as the back of the chair. I really love this spot in the house for taking pictures without a flash.

Every time we visit the doctor for a check-up they give us a pamphlet on the age he's at. One of the things talked about in this pamphlet was potty training. For a while now, John will sometimes tell you when he's poo-pooed and sometimes even when he hasn't, which I suspect is when he's tee-teed. And he's been interested in the potty because Mommy and Daddy use it. And for a long while, almost every time he gets in the tub, he tee-tees. Barbara had passed along a potty seat that they no longer need and last Friday when they were here she suggested just putting John on it every time before the bath. So that last couple of night's we've done that, but nothing has happened. And it's also a bit challenging in that you've got to get him to lean over to even make the would-be stream in the potty. The trusty pamphlet today suggested to put him on the potty with the diaper on to get him used to it. So tonight as we were getting ready to brush teeth, John said tee-tee. So we put him on the potty and let him sit until he was "done". And I don't think he tee-teed in the tub tonight. We'll see how this goes. I really don't think he's anywhere near ready to be potty trained, but I'd rather get him exposed early and hopefully we'll avoid any fears about it (and the bonus would be not having to change the bath water every night). I say he's not ready because only occasionally is he anxious to get that dirty diaper changed. Most of the time, he'll just go on playing.

We usually start our routine with a tooth brushing. When we first started this, it was pretty painful for all involved. John cried and almost made Mommy and Daddy, too (from frustration!). But it's gotten a lot better! We still don't look forward to it, but it's not the drag it once was. We each get a tooth brush and we've learned that it's best if John sits for us to brush. Some days he's real compliant and other days he's Mr. Fidget. Tonight he was pretty good for John.

-EBP-