Nathan's 4 year check up

After writing about Charlotte's 18 month appointment, I realized I never did Nathan's 4 year update! He was 42.2 lbs (90%) and 40.8 inches tall (75%). This appointment was one I was dreading because I knew he had to get 4 shots plus the flu shot. The more "aware" they are, the hard the shots are. Nathan normally loves going to the doctor so I didn't tell him he was going to get shots because he was so excited about the appointment which made me really sad for him. The first thing they did was take his blood pressure. The nurse was so sweet and said that the cuff she was going to put on him was to test his muscles. She said that if it got tight (which it does) that meant he had lots of muscles! As it pumped up, Nathan looked at me with these huge eyes and a big smile because he thought he was really strong. Then they tested his vision. This part was so funny to me! They had him look into this binocular type device where he could see lots of rows of pictures. The nurse told him to look at the bottom row and then call the row out in order. Well, Nathan was so amazed by the pictures, he kept saying, "Mommy, you've got to look at this!" The nurse would try to get him back on track, and he'd start to tell the first picture, then he'd say, "Hey, how did they get a cow in here?" Then he finally read off a row, but it was the wrong row. I was trying so hard not to laugh. So he ended up passing that one. Now it was on to the hearing test. Nathan put on some ear phones and the nurse told him he was going to hear some beeps. When he heard one, he was supposed to say "BEEP." Nathan was smiling the whole time as she put on the ear phones and then started the test. And he just kept smiling and smiling but never said "beep." The nurse asked him if he heard the beeps, and he said, "Oh yes, I heard lots of them!" We tried again, and he "beeped" and giggled along with it. Finally, we passed that one too!

So while we waited for the doctor, I told Nathan that he needed to not be shy and really talk to her (we ended up seeing Nurse Debbie, Dr. Guetersloh's nurse practitioner). Boy did he put on a show! I was so proud of him because he talked and talked and was so proud of all of the things he could do and show her. she asked him to say his ABC's and count and hop on one foot, and he loved it all. Then she asked him if he could spell his name. "Yes I can!" And I'm thinking, "You can?! I didn't know that!" So he says "N-A..." And I'm thinking, "Oh my goodness! He must have learned this at school! I'm so proud of him!" Then he stops after A and says, "What's the next letter Mommy?" And I say "T" and then he says "T...what's the next letter Mommy?" And we do this back and forth thing until he spells his whole name :) But he was proud of himself! So we ended up getting a good report, but now it's time for the shots. Luckily, he was old enough to get the flu mist where he sniffs it up his nose, but when he got the rest of his shots, my heart just broke for him. He cried so hard, but he did calm down finally after I told him we'd go to Berry Luscious for a yogurt. My little Nathan is such a sweet, sometimes mischievous boy, but he is my first baby and always will be. We love our little Nay Nay!