I can’t believe Emma Vance has turned two! It’s been a very busy June for us, and the past few days have been no exception. Thursday we had E.V.’s two-year doctor’s appointment, Friday was her actual birthday and Saturday was her party. More to come on her party when we get the pictures back (eek!)…but let’s talk about her check-up to tide us over, shall we?
Emma Vance is a ham. To make matters worse, she’s a smart ham, meaning any chance she gets to show off, she does — and the doctor’s office is the PERFECT place to do just that! Months ago I had booked her appointment for 8:30 in the morning (Whyyyyy??), so we were the first ones in the door for the day, which meant E.V. had the waiting room fish tank all to herself. Since she recently discovered “Meemo” (aka “Nemo”), the little fishies were extra exciting to her, especially since two of them looked like Nemo and Dory. (“Finding Nemo” has taught her the words “ocean” and “anemone,” which she loved shouting at the tank, drawing strange looks from the staff…probably because her little toddler words need to be translated into real English to make sense to the masses still. ;) ) The fish tank visit was short-lived (remember, we were the only ones there), and after getting weighed on the big girl scale for the first time (!), we went to our exam room…where E.V. attempted to destroy every inch of the pediatrician’s property. Thankfully I had brought a new little toy to distract her, which worked for a bit.
Once we were all settled, Cricket happily in her car seat and E.V. with her Carebear, I got Emma Vance undressed, and then attempted to fill out the requisite “is she normal” survey. However, when Emma Vance saw that pen, she began begging to be able to color with it. (Okay, kid. If it makes you sit still for ten seconds…) Too bad that questionnaire didn’t ask, “Did your child attempt to fill out this form by herself?” because I’m sure she’d have scored off the charts with that one. ;)
Lately E.V. loves to play “What letter is this?” so when she was done drawing a frog (or at least a scribble she called “a froggie”), she handed me the pen back, and I began writing the ABCs on the back of the survey. She’s mastered about all of them, and so as I wrote them out, she SHOUTED at the top of her lungs, “A! B! C!” (and let’s be honest, those exam room walls are paper thin to begin with). The pediatrician walked in with a grin and remarked, “So I see we’re a talkative one!” (Yup.)
Emma Vance was pretty good throughout her check-up, and only really refused to cooperate when the doctor wanted to look in her mouth. (She’s slowly working on those two-year molars, so she doesn’t really like anyone messing with her mouth at all these days.) I had to hold her during that part, which made her upset — but not so upset that a lollipop couldn’t ease her woes, of course. ;)
Then it was shot time.
E.V. had no idea what was coming. She calmly laid down, watched as the nurse prepped the vaccination, and then BAM! The tears, oh, the tears! It’s been so long since she’s had a shot that I didn’t know what to do now that she’s a big kid and not a baby! She screamed for me, and so I hugged her for about 30 seconds and then handed her the lollipop, which slowly helped her to calm down. (I do have to admit that I did have to stop myself from laughing as she cried and chomped on that lollipop at the same time.) She kept moaning, “A shot! A shot!” and grabbing her thigh. (Once again, me trying to be empathetic and not laugh.) The drama, oh, the drama! All in all the episode lasted for about three minutes. A loooong three minutes. I’m glad to report that she’s not scarred, though, because for the rest of the day she was very proud to show off her Snoopy Band-aid and tell everyone about “a shot.”
As for stats, Emma Vance’s growth has slowed down significantly, which is to be expected. In the past six months, she gained less than a pound (25 1/4 lbs., 30th percentile) and grew almost two inches (33 5/8″, 50th percentile). Her BMI is perfectly in-range, though, coming in at 15.5 (25th percentile). (At her age, it should be between 14.5 and 18.) And, apparently they stop measuring kids’ heads at age two (!), but I’m pretty sure she’s still well above average for her noggin size considering she and I can share headbands. Overall my chunky, short baby has become an average height skinny-minny! It must be all that energy she expels making me chase her around everyday! ;)
