3 Year Check-Up

This afternoon, Alexander had his 3-year check up with Dr. M which was much improved over the 2-year check up.

Due to his anxiety about going to Dr. M's, Mommy & Alexander have been doing a lot of reading "Elmo, It's Check-Up Time" to get him prepared for the check-up. We've also been using the doctor kit to listen to his heart, check his ears & eyes. He was very excited to go to Dr. M's the days leading up to the appointment, even that morning when I dropped him off at school.

However, when I picked him that quickly changed. He kept saying how much he wanted to go home and by the time we drove down the street to Dr. M's office, he was in tears. He kept clinging on to me and would not let me sit or move around in the waiting room. He kept just saying over and over as he was crying "Mommy, I want to go home now please" which was cute & sad all at the same time.

Finally Dr. M came out to get us and Alexander immediately stopped crying. I wasn't sure if that meant he was going to freak out but he seemed okay. Dr. M asked him if he wanted to bring in the big panda and that intrigued Alexander. He slid right down and picked up the panda (which was almost as tall as he was) and brought him into Dr. M's room. Once in the room, he was fine! You'd never know that he was crying & upset.

He was so excited to show Dr. M his Elmo doctor book and how Elmo gets a check-up. He even showed him his dentist gloves and how Mommy uses them when she checks his back & tummy. He let Dr. M do the full check-up and even hopped onto the scale to see how much he's grown. He's 30 lbs & 36". His percentiles are also pretty low -15% percentile for height and 31% percentile for weight.

We talked about eating habits, sleeping habits and considering Alexander was talking to Dr. M the whole time he was able to see his speech. I did mention that most times Alexander doesn't use his "S" or "F" letters although he can use them when he's not being lazy. We got the thumbs up re: eating and as for sleeping, Dr. M said that if he gets out of his bed during bedtime to let him get out & cry but not to give in and go upstairs...which made me feel better as that's what I've been wanting to do.

Overall a good visit with Dr. M despite the crying moments in the waiting room...