Friday, March 19, 2021

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.)

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. 



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