Jayden's 3 Year Check-Up

On the 15th of March Jay had his 3 year check up. I had talked up his appointment for about a week before so he was really excited to go by the time the day arrived. 

Jay has been playing shy lately with people he doesn't know, which is very weird for me since up until lately hes been so not shy! lol. Give him a few minutes with anyone though and he warms right up so its usually not a problem. 

First we did Jays weight (38.5 pounds which is the 95th percentile) and height (39.5 inches tall which is the 89th percentile) in the hallway before we went into the exam room. When the nurse brought us into the room he sat very quietly on my lap and just watched the nurse do her thing. Every now and then he would look up at me and ask me a question, usually about what the nurse was doing or about the band aid on her hand, but other then that he just and watched her.

When she was done on the computer she came over to Jay and showed him her blood pressure cuff. It was the smallest blood pressure cuff I have ever seen, it was so cute! Jay looked at her with a look on his face that seemed to say "Ok, thats nice. Now what?" She asked nicely if he could take off hsf his shirt so she could use it and he confidently said no and moved as far away from her as he could while staying on my lap. It took her and I about 3 minutes to convince him to take just his arm out and showing him what the cuff did and he finally agreed to. He sat and watched her, with his arm gently out stretched the whole time, almost like he didnt trust her, lol. She then checked his pulse and he still sat there, just watching, not saying a word to her until she finished. When she finally walked back to the computer he looked up to me and said "All done mommy?" with his big brown eyes and his very quiet voice. I quietly told him "No, the doctor still has to come in" and he heavily sighed and said "Ok".

The nurse left and a few minutes later the doctor came in. Again, Jay was very quiet and playing shy. She sat in her chair and rolled over to Jay and I and started asking him questions:

Dr: "Hi Jayden, how are you today?"
Jay: *blank stare*

Dr: "How old are you?"
Jay: *looks at me, and then blankly back at her*

Dr: *holding up two fingers* "Are you this old?"
Jay: *blank stare*

Dr: "Do you know how many this is?"
Jay: *blank stare*


Dr: "What color is your shirt sweetie?"
Jay: *looks at me, and hides half his face from her*


Dr: *looks at me* "Is he usually this quiet?"
Me: *laughs* oh no, not usually. He's typically the chatter box and wont stop talking or asking questions!
Dr: "Thats pretty normal. He's right at the age where shyness starts"


She then asked to lay him on his back so she could check his stomach. Jay didnt like not being able to sit on my lap, but he co-operated very well and did as we asked. She then began to gently push on his stomach in random places (well, random to me probably, lol) to check things out. Well Jay didn't like this too much and quickly puffed out his stomach to make it harder for her to push and prod. I secretly laughed, I couldn't help it! She smiled and asked me "Is his father stubborn?". I laughed out loud and said "oh yes, both of us are stubborn, so you can only imagine how stubborn HE is!"


She then had him stand up and asked if it was ok to take off his pants and undies to check ... his manly area. ;) I said it was fine. She started to un-button his pants and he very quickly grabbed his pants and said "NO! My pants!". I quietly giggled and offered to pull them down for her all the while explaining to Jay why were pulling his pants down in front of a stranger. (I'm always telling Jay to keep his clothes on while we're in public and that strangers don't want to see him naked - he is quite the nudist!). Jay reluctantly agreed and let me pull down his pants. The doctor then started to check Jays ... manly area ;) and Jay did not like that at all! He was very quick to push her hand away, lol. Thankfully the doctor had already checked everything she needed to so Jay was very happy to be able to pull his pants back up. lol. She then checked his ears, eyes, nose and mouth. He wouldn't say "Aaaah" for her when he would open his mouth so she ended up having to use a tongue compressor and he wasnt very happy about that and he tried to bite it, lol. She said he looked healthy and that she would take my word on that he was more talkative at home but that Jay needed one shot today but then after that we would be good to go. I thanked her for her time and she walked out the door. "All done mommy?" Jay asked me once she left. "No sweetie, one more nurse has to come in and then we can go". He gave out yet another heavy, dramatic sigh and said "k".


The next nurse came in and we took Jay's arm out of his sleeve again so he could get his shot. She had me sit Jay on my lap but have him face me so that he wouldn't see the needle coming. When I saw her coming with the needle, I gently grabbed Jay's cheeks in my hands and got real close to him and said "I love you sweetie". I do this all the time to him so I'm sure he didn't think much of it. Jay was just in the middle of saying it back when he got this expression on his face of total shock. His eyes got all big and his mouth got a big "O". He looked at his arm, saw the needle in it and started to try and flick it away with his other hand. I felt so bad! The nurse was quick and efficient, so that was nice. Jay cuddled up to me and wrapped his arms around my neck and whined a little, but hardly cried though! He was such a big boy! "All done mommy?! All done!?". I had never been more thankful to tell him yes, we were all done!


Jays reward: A sucker and a sticker from the nurse and an ice cream cone from Papa after we got home. He was so excited about the ice cream he forgot which arm hurt when he tried to tell papa about the ouchie he got, lol.

"Let's Fight!"

Every week we have Sunday family dinner at my parents house. The whole family doesnt always show up (usually that happens once or maybe twice a month) but there is usually a good number of us present. I love family dinners and I honestly, truly miss them when I'm at my house in Germany. So these last few weeks that I've been home I've been cherishing the Sunday dinners :) Something exciting is always happening on any given Sunday!

So let me do a quick clarification: "Wrestling", in almost any family, is with the whole body and usually involves rolling around on the floor with grunts and laughs between the boys. "Fighting", to the younger boys in our family, is doing punches. These punches are generally around the chest area but usually make no physical contact. I say "usually" because , like any boys, sometimes there is, lol. The parents usually discourage "fighting" because someone always ends up crying.

A few Sunday's ago, my nephew Gavin, who is 4, started to try and wrestle with his brother, Xander, who is 2 1/. Xander wasn't really appreciating the brotherly love and started to protest. Since I was sitting right there, I said "Gavin, go see if Jayden wants to wrestle. He loves wrestling with you so I'm sure he'll be up for it. He's in the kitchen with Grandma, go ask him". So Gavin quickly ran off, yelling on the way "Jayden! Jayden! Let's wrestle" and it was quickly followed with "Ok!" from Jayden. And being the boys they are, they started wrestling right where they were standing. I walked into the kitchen and told the boys to go wrestle in the front room where there was carpet and the ottoman that they could wrestle on without really hurting each other, so they both ran out of the kitchen on their ways to the front room.


I turned to my mom to start talking to her when I hear, coming from the front room "Jayden, let's fight!". And the next thing I hear is Gavin screaming crying! A few seconds later my brother in law comes running into the kitchen carrying Gavin in his arms ... who has a bloody nose and is getting blood all over himself. "What happened!?" my mom and I both ask. Peter responds "Gavin asked Jay to fight, so Jay punched him right in the nose!" I could hardly believe it! "Oh boy" my mom and I both said at the same time. Everyone was quiet when Peter asked Gavin "I guess you're not going to ask Jayden to fight again, huh?" "Ut-uh" with a head shake was all the response Gavin would give.


Gavin's nose bled for maybe 5 minutes, Jay told Gavin that he was sorry and gave him a hug, Gavin said it was ok, and they were back to being best friends. Only boys could become best friends again so quickly! Girls would surely hold a grudge for at least an hour! lol.