Dr Visit

Leah had her 4 year well-child visit. James had (what I thought were) allergies and she'd gotten a rash on the back of her hands and a little bit around  her mouth so I called to see if we should do telehealth and the person I spoke with on the phone said to come on in if no fever and no cough. So off we went. Tuesday in preschool fashion: 

She's been home all this year except for a few doctor's visits and Mondays with my mom, so she's not great at wearing a mask. The one with the strap all the way around the head works a little better, I thought:

Height: 97.5 cm (3 feet, 2 1/4 inches) 20% percentile

Weight: 16.25 kg (35.8 pounds) 56% percentile 

Shots: 2

I thought that she was done with shots til Kindergarten, but they wanted to go ahead & give her those at this visit. Sometimes it seems like a lot of the recommendations change between the kids! They said no more in the immunization series til she's 11, though. 

The nurse gave her an orange frisbee and two stickers and a mask with Disney characters on it to lessen the sting. This is the picture I got when I said, "Let me take a picture with the frisbee." 

She was VERY pleased and surprised. "My doctor knowed my favorite color was ORANGE!" And then also the spiderman sticker nicely complemented her spiderman sneakers. She knew Nemo was "a fish from a movie" but when asked his name said, "you're going to have to tell me"! 

They didn't pull out the bag of things to check milestones (I'm assuming because of COVID - there were no books or anything like that in the room or waiting room either) but Leah was able to stand on one foot (She did the yoga pose both ways), write an L, and copy a plus. When asked what the + sign was, she said, "That's literally a plus." 

Here are the CDC 4 year milestones: 

• Enjoys doing new things 
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• Plays “Mom” and “Dad” 
• Is more and more creative with make-believe play (She's got an elaborate make-believe friend in Orange Foot.) 
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• Would rather play with other children than by himself  (We haven't had much opportunity for this!!) 
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• Knows some basic rules of grammar, such as correctly using “he” and “she” 
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• Sings a song or says a poem from memory such as the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or the “Wheels on the Bus” 
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• Tells stories 
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• Can say first and last name (At first, when the doctor asked, she said her whole name was "Leah Rose," but when prompted for her last name she said Buffaloe.) 
• Understands the idea of counting (it's funny that this is worded this way, but it seems to fit where Leah is now. She'll get up to maybe 10 accurately, but then starts jumping around and repeating - maybe she'll throw in an "eleventy") 
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• Starts to understand time  
• Understands the idea of “same” and “different” (She's also got a good handle on "more" and "less." For example, watching 1 show is LESS than watching 3 shows.)
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• Draws a person with 2 to 4 body parts (I mentioned that she used to draw lots of people figures regularly and had mostly stopped, but the doctor didn't seem concerned.)
• Uses scissors (this is still a struggle, I think mostly due to the strong left-hand preference)
• Starts to copy some capital letters (L is obviously the favorite.)
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• Tells you what he thinks is going to happen next in a book 
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• Hops and stands on one foot up to 2 seconds 
• Catches a bounced ball most of the time 
• Pours, cuts with supervision, and mashes own food (Leah very much wants to do everything for herself.)

Here's the link to last year's visit for comparison. 

I admit that I was a little skeptical when the doctor said that Leah's slight rash looked viral rather than allergies, but I shouldn't have been - everyone but Sam ended up coming down with a cold. I thought James's was his usual seasonal allergies and had a moment of panic when I thought that he might have a symptom on the "don't come to school" list for the rest of the year. He took a rapid COVID test and it was negative, and I took the regular PCR one and it was also negative. No real cough and no fever, just general bad-cold blahs, though now I wish I'd had them do a flu swab just so I'd know.

We have been so lucky to not have any illness at all for the past 13 months (due to masks and distancing). It was a nice long run while it lasted. 

Happy Birthday, Leah!

Leah's 3rd birthday was right at the beginning of the pandemic. Things were starting to get a little weird, but nothing in our orbit had shut down or really been cancelled yet. In fact, when I went to link to the post about her last birthday party, I saw that the very next blog post was labeled "Coronavirus Shutdown Preparation."

Her 4th birthday is I'm hoping the start of the end of it. Her grandparents are all vaccinated with both doses, and Sam & Uncle Luke, too! 

Turns out that you can rent out the whole of Tiger Bounce just for your family for one hour before they open (when theoretically it's the least germy!) for $50. 

We made & decorated the cupcakes the day before. She wanted her cake to be "Orange Foot" (her imaginary friend, I think somewhat similar to Big Foot, just orange) and exclaimed very disappointedly when we got out the strawberry cake and vanilla ice cream (and food coloring) from the groceries "That's not what I wanted!" I'd told her that we could make it orange, but I guess she didn't believe me. Apparently she tattled to Nana Jana that she'd have to settle for pink, but behold: 

The cake fail line is maybe a little thin on the amateur kids birthday party, but she liked them.

She went for the sprinkles with both hands: 

If I recall correctly, Leah tasted one a day early and Spark got the other. 

The theme for the party was (loosely) "Orange." 

Look how big she is!

And then here are the roughly one million photos from the play place. Her two cousins got to come, too. 

James and Ben showed up in matching outfits.

I didn't even know there was such a thing as double-decker bounce houses! 

James made an attempt with the skates, at least. 

After Tiger Bounce, the plan was to go over to Bethel Park and have some orange treats, but it was ridiculously windy. I duct-taped the table cloth down but everything blew off of it. The kids' Cheetos (orange!) kept blowing away (& we ran after them so the animals wouldn't get junk food.) No one was much interested in the clementines or carrots but some of the kids had orange peppers (and grapes and strawberries).

Candles and balloons & singing "Happy Birthday" later at home, plus round two of cupcakes (since candles and balloons at the park were a no-go): 

Anyway, I think she had a very nice 4th birthday (one day early)! 

Leah's first birthday interview

 Birthday Interview: Leah is 4!

Leah turned 4 today! We celebrated her birthday yesterday, so we just went with that for kid purposes (because she's four) but today is the real deal :) I guess we didn't do one last year, so she'll start the interview tradition this year. James did his first when he was three and Amelie's first one was when she was four, too. The birthday interview has been going strong since 2014! 

I typed as she answered for the first half, and then I snuck them in just by asking while we were in the kitchen working for the second half. 

1. How old are you? 4
2. What is your favorite color? Orange
3. What is your favorite toy? My Little Pony and Trumpo
4. What is your favorite game? Orange Foot loves games. Hide and Seek.   
5. What is your favorite song? It's a song that ... "Everything Is Awesome."
6. What is your favorite animal? Um. Dog. Dogs are animals. 
7. What is your favorite book? Um. Don't Let a Unicorn Get Spots. It's a book that I got at my birthday. 
8. What is your favorite show or movie? Um. I don't have a favorite movie. What about thing to watch on TV? I kinda like Esme and Roy. 
9. What is your favorite thing to eat? Meat. 
10. Where is your favorite place to go? The dinosaur park.
11. Who is your best friend? Um. Um. (Who's your favorite friend?) I don't think I have a favorite friend, but Orange Foot is a friend.  
12. What is something you learned last year? I don't want to do the rest of the interview. Let's do the rest tomorrow. (Continued later.) I don't know. (Did you learn how to write an "L"?) I already knowed how to write an L. 
13. What is something you'll learn now that you're 4? Um. Cooking. 
14. What is hard for you to do? I don't know. 
15. What is your favorite thing to do? Watching. (Anything else?) I like playing a lot. 
16. What do you like about Me (Mama)? Good. (long pause) Sometimes you let me watch baby shows. (Is there anything else you like about Mama?) No. 
17. What about Dada? What do you like about Dada? He lets me play games. (Anything else?) Sometimes he gives me snacks from the basement. (Sam's been working from home throughout the pandemic, and he keeps a stash of snacks in his office set-up in the basement. Leah will wander down there at least once during the day and I think he shoos her off with some trail mix or a chocolate-covered almond.) 
18. What do you like about Amelie? I don't like Amelie. Not even a little bit? Sometimes she fights us. Sometimes she fights you?!?! Yes. 
19. What do you like about James? I don't know ... We always draw together. 
20. What do you like about yourself? Um. I always ask to watch videos in Spanish. 
21. What do you want to be when you grow up? Maybe a big kid? You want to be a big kid when you grow up? Because I grow a little every day. (Awwwwwwww)

I looked back at James and Amelie's first interviews and there were some fun similarities and differences. All three kids put "Hide and Seek" as their favorite game. Also, when prompted, they all said that they didn't like anything about a sibling :P Deciding you were tired of the whole interview thing about halfway through was a trend & another answer for that last question was being "a big kid grown up." 

School Pictures

The kids did school pictures this year, it just seems very late because they were virtual for most of the year. I bought the digital rights and also a few prints because it is a racket and I am a sucker. How can you not? 

Amelie is in the 5th grade with Ms. Williams -- her last year at Ridgeway! Sam asked if the photographer tried to get her to smile and she said, "No." 

James is in the 3rd grade with Ms. Sirna. No word yet on if he'll get to keep her next year and/or if they'll (hopefully!) move back to the regular Unit A/B/C structure. 

Here's the link to last year - they've both changed a lot!

Sunny Day

Like all of Missouri, last week we got out and enjoyed the first sunny day after our frigid late winter spell. The big kids had to go to school, but James said his class got to do reading outside. The dog enjoyed himself, too: 

Here's little miss sunshine. You can see there was still some snow!

And ice on the pond behind her: 

I'd actually never been to the Forum nature area before, even though it's so close to the house. It was quite muddy.