"Who Told You Your Toes Could Grow"

Ava and Archer were due for their check-ups. Ava turned 4 on the 21st of September, and Archer turned 6 months old on the 7th. So, I decided to try doing their check-ups together so that I didn't have to make two separate trips to the Doctor's office.

Their appointment was at 8:45, so I got up extra early to make sure I was ready before I woke them up. I got Archer up first: cleaned him, dressed him, and fed him. He was happy and ready to go! Next was Ava...I had already been prepping her for her visit to see Dr. Goldsmith. She was a little grumpy, but once she got dressed, she was ready to go.

We picked up my Mom, and we were on our way...you didn't think I was going to take them all by myself? We arrived at the office right on schedule. Loaded up the stroller with the kids, diaper bag, and bag of fun entertainment for Ava...I didn't want her touching anything in the office and getting germs! And yes, we were also armed with our X-large bottle of Germ-X!

We only had to wait in the waiting room for about 5 minutes. We took all of our stuff and our party of 4 to Room #13.

I got Archer undressed and we went to get weighed and measured. Ava weighed in at 46 pounds, 41 inches tall. Archer weighed in at 19 pounds, 26 inches long. Ava is healthy for her height and weight (last year, Dr. Goldsmith said we needed to start watching her weight...I guess her height caught up). Archer plotted at 75th percentile for height and weight.

Dr. Goldsmith came in about 10 minutes later. She checked out Ava first. We talked about all the stuff to be looking out for at this age and some things Ava needed to learn...full name, phone number, parent's full names, address, and birthday. She also told me to schedule a visit to the Dentist for Ava. She followed all of Dr. Goldsmith's directions without complaint or fuss. I was very proud of my girl. She also had to go pee in a cup which she LOVED...go figure?

We talked about Archer next. How was he doing with his baby foods? Great, losing some interest in his bottles...is that okay? No, his main nutrition still needs to be from formula...16-18oz. a day. Okay, we can work on that. How is he moving around? He's sitting up and rolling around. Making plenty of sounds and smiling? All the time! She did her assessment of him, everything looks right on track. She did tell us that he had an ear infection in his right ear that we didn't know about yet. She started him on some antibiotics.

We were done with Dr. Goldsmith, just waiting on the nurse with the shots. Ava was scheduled for a total of 4 immunizations and the Flu-Mist. Archer was scheduled for 4 immunizations and a flu shot. When the nurse came in, Ava started getting a little nervous. She wanted to watch Archer get his first...I wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not, but I went with it. Archer cried during the shots, but once I picked him up he settled right down. My mom went ahead and took him out while we got ready for Ava's turn.

Ava was squirming and saying, "I only want 1 shot, not 4!". The nurse did her Flu-Mist first. Ava just had to inhale it after she squirted it in each nostril, which she did without difficulty. After that, she went ahead and got up on the table and laid down, but she was whimpering. The nurse held her legs down, and I was holding on to her arms. When they gave her the first shot, she screamed bloody murder like I've never heard her scream before...not crying, just all-out screaming! She continued to scream until all shots were done. Once we were done, the onslaught of stickers and suckers saved the day!

We came out on the other side of this visit in one piece. Will I schedule their appointments together again? Yes, if I have help. I'm so thankful that my babies are growing big and healthy, but could we just slow it down a little bit? I tell Ava all the time, "Who told you your toes could grow?" She thinks thats really funny, but I mean it!