Check-ups

I finally got around to taking Alice and Robert to the doctor for their check-ups. Robert got 3 shots, Alice got none. She'll get 2 next time when I'm not lugging/restraining/wrestling dear little Robert. This was a strange check-up. Alice still hates the mechanized blood pressure cuff (she gripped me with octopus limbs and buried her face in my chest, shrieking, pleading, and sobbing for mercy while Robert just hung out in his diaper watching the craziness unfold), but she had no problem with the old-fashioned stethoscope and hand bulb method. Good to know that for next time.

Alice passed the hearing and vision screenings, but that's entirely uninformative because the medical assistant practically walked Alice through each "correct" answer. Grrrrrrr, I hate that. She not doing ANYONE any favors. Argh. Alice didn't like the hospital gown, and certainly didn't like the doctor until she learned that there would be no shots that day. Then she wouldn't stop talking. Dr. Beck concluded that Alice was a bright child with well-developed language skills. When she heard that Alice could sound out letters and count to 39, she even recommended a few private schools for gifted programs. Honestly, I laughed out loud. Alice knows these things because we work on them, not because she's gifted, and I'm saving that $12,000 a year price tag for undergraduate work. Yeah.

Alice is 50th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight, just like she's always been. It's strange to have a 40-pound, 41-inch, 4-year-old. Lots of 4's. Lots of personality. Lots to say to anyone who makes eye contact with her. She'll talk about anything. Dr. Beck heard about her new sandals tripping her at the library, her naughty friend Nadia at preschool, the craft we did the other day, Robert's breakfast, and something from a story we read last week. 

Robert entertained himself during Alice's exam by squirming in my lap, climbing on stools, pointing at magazine racks, and perfecting his stink-bug crawl (hands and feet flat on the ground, butt in the air). He got faster and faster with each attempt, working himself up to a sweaty giggle. I think there was a pacifier involved, too. I chickened out and brought it along...no telling how two kids are going to fare in a long dual-check-up, y'know? Alice left the room when it was time for Robert's shots. Sensitive girl. Robert got kicking mad during the third shot, and belted out angry, throaty screams that seemed a bit mature for such a little guy. He angrily ripped off those Snoopy bandages as soon as he could see straight again. He's got a temper, this one. While Alice was in the hallway waiting for Robert to calm down, a nurse came by and gave her a heap of Disney princess stickers. Alice decided to share her stickers with Robert since he didn't get any. She judiciously stuck them on his back so he wouldn't rip them off *sigh*

Robert is growing well. He's 75th percentile for length and 90th percentile for weight. Though only 13 months old, Dr. Beck tells me he doesn't need whole milk anymore. Ha ha ha! Yeah right. I will work on his vegetable intake, though. I've been gettin' lazy in that arena. His noggin is 50th percentile, which is neither here nor there, but it makes his body look even larger in comparison. His first set of molars is in. He's slowly transitioning himself to one nap instead of two.

While Dr. Beck had Robert on the exam table, Alice was climbing all around and playing with him. She was right in his face giving kisses and stroking his cheeks. He loved it. Dr. Beck worked around it. As much as I haven't enjoyed Dr. Beck in the past, I think she's getting better as Alice gets older. Maybe she just does better with preschoolers and elementary age kids? I dunno.

I thought it was a pretty decent experience. I wonder, however, what Dr. Beck's impression was of the whole fiasco. Neither one of the kids sat still at any point during either of the exams. Both were climbing and talking, vocalizing for attention from me. Both were screaming at the top of their lungs at some point. Was I the picture of a harried housewife? I can't remember what I was wearing or even if I had brushed my hair that morning. Now that Alice is wont to spout details of her life at random times to random people, what will those details sound like out of context? I suddenly find myself concerned about the impression I'm giving people as a woman and as a mother. Will they hear her and look at me and know that everything is okay? Or will they worry for her?

I've thought a lot about outward appearances lately with all this house selling stuff. People get a feel for our home and family in just a few minutes. That impression is important. Paramount! I never used to care. Now I want to sell our home, but I still don't want to care what other people think about it. It's a confusing place to be. I've put a lot of work into "keeping up appearances" lately. That's not usually something I do, or value, but I love the way "keeping up appearances" for a house sale gives me the permission I need to finally make things beautiful. Working on appearances has shown me that I actually care about appearances, a little, which honestly surprises me. And it's not just the house anymore. It's me. It's my kids. Suddenly, I wonder what the doctor thinks. I second-guess myself and my parenting choices because they might not give that perfect stranger a good impression. It's not a fun place to be right now. The hope is that it's temporary, though. Once that key box leaves my front door and my home is my own again, I'm pulling all the "me" back out of the closets. Maybe I can keep up the new bits of "me" that this experience has revealed (i.e. flowers in landscaping, girl clothes, etc.) and drop all the new insecurities :)