Yakkity Yak

Gabi had her 3 Year Check-up on Monday. The nurse had us strip Gabi down to her Curious George underwear before taking her into a back room for all her measurements. She was so well behaved, doing exactly what the nurse asked her to with such serious determination (being still on the scale, putting her heels against the wall, not squealing when the blood pressure cuff started to pinch). When we got back to the exam room, she happily told my mom that getting her "blood measured" was fun! I think, because the arm cuff had cartoon animals on it. While we waited for her doctor to come into the exam room, the freedom from being clothed upped Gabi's energy level, and let me just say, there is nothing more darn cute than a 3 year old twirling around the doctor's office with total abandon in Curious George underwear.

The Dr arrived, and after examining Gabi, started asking several milestone type questions. I'm not sure if this is such a good idea, especially with both a mom and grandma in the room, because the opportunity to delve into great detail about your brilliant child to a trapped audience is too good to pass up.

Doctor: Is Gabi able to jump on one foot?
Mom: Oh, yes! For quite some time now!
Grandma: She likes to play hopscotch outside! With sidewalk chalk.
Mom: Jumping is one of her favorite things to do.
Grandma: She's so energetic, just hopping all day long!
Mom: She can hop on both feet! I mean, she can hop on one foot on both sides.
Doctor: I see! Is Gabi able to draw a circle?
Mom: Oh, yes! She draws LOTS of circles.
Grandma: We draw every day.
Mom: And they're different sizes!
Grandma: She even draws faces! Just last week we were outside and she was drawing with sidewalk chalk. I looked down and couldn't believe my eyes! Gabi told us it was her Daddy.
Mom: Complete with beard! We even took pictures!

Bless that Dr's heart. It was like a force had taken over us and we couldn't stop talking! She took it all in stride, though, and probably managed to glean some appropriate milestone type answers to put into her laptop for future reference. She has seen Gabi since she was two days old, and we continue to see her, not only for her wonderful, caring nature, but also because she hasn't kicked us out of her practice.

At the end of the appointment, Gabi received her bill of good health (yay!). The doctor called me later in the afternoon to say that Gabi had failed the hearing test on her left ear, but since the nurse administering the test was new and three other children had failed that same day, she was pretty sure the test result was inaccurate due to user error. She wanted us to come back in to retest just to be sure. She also mentioned that she wouldn't need to see us directly, that we could stop by any time and a nurse would take care of us!