3-year-old checkup

Biscuit had his 3-year-old checkup Monday. The doctor said we have "a little superstar" on our hands. And who am I to disagree with a professional?!?

Biscuit weighs 29 pounds and is 36 inches tall. So now that the fair has come and gone, Biscuit is finally tall enough to ride the kiddie rides. He was only 35 1/2 inches tall in September, so he couldn't even ride the little cars that go around in a circle. Next year, I'm going to buy him an unlimited ticket and plunk him down on every kiddie ride in the place!

After his weigh-in, Biscuit had an eye exam. They have a chart with shapes on it for little kids. He answered circles, squares, hearts and triangles, then there was a shape that looked like the outline of a house. The nurse pointed at it and asked Biscuit what shape it was. Biscuit said, "That's an octagon."

Not exactly the answer the nurse was looking for, but at least she could tell that Biscuit realized it was a shape different than the one before it and the one after it. Toward the end of the test, Biscuit even made up his own shape. The nurse pointed to a different house shape, and Biscuit said it was a "circlegon." We realized at that point that Biscuit's attention span had reached its limit, and the nurse called it with 20/40 vision.

The nurse stepped out of the room for a minute, and when she came back, she had the tiniest blood pressure cuff I've ever seen. I explained to Biscuit that it was going to squeeze his arm and that the nurse was going to listen to his heart. He seemed a little skeptical, but the nurse did the whole thing so quickly, Biscuit didn't really have time to fret too much over it. It occurred to me that I had no idea what a normal blood pressure would be for a little kid. Now I know that Biscuit's 89 over 52 is well in the normal range for a 3-year-old.

Biscuit had to get his finger pricked to check his hemoglobin and iron levels. He cried a little bit over that, and I don't blame him. I'd rather somebody stick a needle straight in my arm than to prick my finger! He got a cute bandage and walked around for the rest of the day with his finger held up in the air.

The rest of Biscuit's checkup was a little different than previous ones. It was way more physical. He had to jump up and down. He had to touch his nose then touch the doctor's finger, then touch his nose, then touch the doctor's finger (which the doctor had moved to a different spot). He did that with each of his hands.

The floor tiles in the exam room were mostly white with a few scattered colored tiles. The doctor told Biscuit to walk over to the red tile and jump on it with both feet. Biscuit did it. Then the doctor asked him to do the same with the purple tile and the green tile. This was partly to see that Biscuit can recognize color and also to see how he would respond to multi-part instructions.

Then the doctor asked Biscuit a bunch of questions. 

Doctor: What's your favorite color?

Biscuit: Red.

Doctor: What's your favorite food?

Biscuit: Pizza.

Doctor: What's your favorite animal?

Biscuit: A horse.

I told the doctor to ask Biscuit his favorite dinosaur. Biscuit said, "A dromeaosaurus because it's fast like a horse." The doctor laughed and said, "Holy cow." And I laughed and said, "I KNOW!"

Doctor: What do you do with a shovel?

Biscuit: You scoop up dirt with a shovel.

Doctor: What do you do with a hammer?

Biscuit: You tap with it (and he made a tapping motion).

Doctor: What do you put in the refrigerator?

Biscuit: Um, milk. Milk goes in the refrigerator.

Then the doctor handed Biscuit a small specimen cup with a lid on it and said, "Can you throw this to me?"

Biscuit grabbed the cup and drew it back to throw it. Then he dropped his hand by his side and turned around to look at me. Biscuit can throw squishy balls in the house, but he's not allowed to throw anything else. So when the doctor asked him to throw the cup, he had to check with me to see if it was okay. After I gave my blessing, Biscuit threw the cup with one hand then the other. Then he had to kick the cup with each foot.

Like I said, it was a very physical appointment.

Anyway, the doctor said Biscuit is a very bright boy and is in great physical shape. That boy makes me so proud just being his own little self.