Big Girl Lucy

Today was Lucy's 30-month well-baby checkup. First, the stats. She is 37.5 inches tall (86th percentile) and weighs 29 pounds (53rd percentile). She is very healthy. The doctor found nothing wrong with her.

Although she is physically big, I was most impressed by how mature she was during the exam. She had a few troubling moments, but she did better than I expected. She ran to follow the nurse into the exam room and suddenly thought better of it and went into tornado drill pose, which she does when she's socially overwhelmed. I told her that the nurse has a measuring tape, and that got her up and into the exam room quickly. The girl does love to measure! She played with the measuring tape while I answered many, many questions. She eventually tired of the measuring tape (it was that many questions) and handed it back to the nurse. The nurse then gave her her stethoscope. Lucy put the ends in her ears and proceeded to listen for the exam table's heartbeat. About the time the questions were done, Lucy was done with the stethoscope. Then the nurse said it was time to take Lucy's clothes off. Lucy disagreed. She said, "No off. Me wear shirt." Generally, when out of the house, she's right to keep her clothes on. I asked the nurse to leave just in case Lucy didn't want to strip in front of a stranger. (Being pregnant, I no longer have any shame.) Eventually, I convinced her that it was OK. She was going to be measured once her clothes were off. That seemed to help. She was still apprehensive until after her height and weight were checked. Then the nurse gave her a sucker and a sticker. And then the nurse poked her finger and took blood for a lead test, which came back normal. Lucy was upset for just a few seconds. She was still eating her sucker and was kind of proud of the bandaid she got to wear on her finger. The nurse left us to wait for the doctor. I read Lucy some books. Then she wanted to get down and explore the exam room. She scooted around on the doctor's squeaky chair. She pointed out the different things in the room that are used for washing hands and how to use them: soap, sink, water, (paper) towel. We had started another book when Dr. Mike came in. She seemed happy to see him, then hid for a few moments, and then was fine when I offered to hold her. She submitted to most of the exam without protest. She didn't want to open her mouth, and Dr. Mike never saw inside her mouth for more than a second. She didn't like having her belly rubbed, and she found it weird when he took off her diaper and flexed her hips. That seemed like a reasonable response to me. :) He pointed out that she walks on her toes some, which isn't necessarily problematic. There's a condition that makes it uncomfortable for some kids to walk flat-footed. Lucy walked flat-footed in front of him, too. I pointed out that she might have been tiptoeing on a cold floor. She also tiptoes on unusual textures. The condition he described also comes with constipation. Not a problem. Lucy had already pooped twice today before a 1:00 appointment. She did very well.

We go back for another checkup when she turns 3.