3 Year Check and Facts

Adrienne had her 3 year well-child check this morning, and received a clean bill of health. She was 3 ft 4 1/4 in. tall (greater than 97%) and 35.6 lbs (87%). She was very silent during the exam, watching the nurse and Dr Valdes very, very carefully.

I think it's so cute when they start checking the kids' blood pressures.

Saying "ahhh" for Dr. V.

As part of every well-child check I have a questionnaire to fill out. Today I was asked to describe Adrienne's strengths, and I realized I hadn't ever really thought about or had to articulate her strengths so succinctly. So, after a few minutes I decided that Adrienne's strengths are her conversation/verbal skills, warm sensitive nature, coordination, and sense of humor. So, a bit more on those....

This kid can talk, talk, talk. She has questions about everything, can explain herself and her feelings well, and does this cute little stuttering thing with the word "but" when she is flustered or upset. And then there is the whining. Oh can she whine. It's like a little switch she flips, and it is like nails on a chalkboard.

Adrienne is so sensitive, so warm and loving. Her feelings are easily hurt, and you can expect big crocodile tears. She apologizes quickly when she gets in trouble, "I'm so sorry, Mom", and needs a regular snuggle to make sure all is right in her world. She loves to tease her sister by saying "I am the snuggly one and Jillian is the wiggly one". This comes from us telling her how snuggly she was as a baby. Matt also told Jillian that she was pretty wiggly and didn't like to be held as much. Jillian interpreted this as a bad thing and her sister smelled the weakness. Now it's on. Snuggle Girl and Wiggle Girl are the resident superheroes.  Adrienne loves to cuddle me, kiss me, tell me she is my baby, play with my hair, touch my cheek, all that wonderful stuff that turns me to mush. I'm eating this love up.

Adrienne also seems to be pretty naturally coordinated. I've seen this with ball skills, climbing at parks, imitating me while I exercise, etc. I think she might be a natural athlete, but we'll see.

And then there is her sense of humor. It is always impeccably inserted into tense or quiet moments. She makes up jokes, does funny faces, and seems to get a lot of joy from making others laugh. She also has quite the infectious giggle herself.

Other things I want to remember about Adrienne right now are that she just started sleeping with her door open (so she can get out without me coming to get her--oh boy!) and she has some crazy night terrors. Both girls are pretty scared of the dark, so I went to Target and got some fun new night lights and gave them each a cute ladybug flashlight. This seems to help. I love when Adrienne comes downstairs in the morning, pitter pattering into my room and cautiously asking, "Mom, is it morning?" If she has a hard time falling asleep she always makes one of two pleas, "I just can't sleep 'dat good" or "My eyes can't close bery good". Night terrors are a new thing for her (and us) and they generally center around her fear of bugs. The first night was about the fly trying to get into her "mouf", then another night it was about "a big bug with hands trying to take my lovey", and the most recent was a giant outside her window riding on a fire truck. Oh, to be in her little brain for awhile. The dreams always cause her to plea to sleep in my room "Your room is  much more cozy than mine", to which I hold firm to my rule about no kids in our bed (unless sick or in the morning) and always sit outside her door and wait for her to fall asleep again. She periodically calls out to check--"Mom are you still there?"

This 3 year old of mine is one of a kind. Love her to pieces and wouldn't change a thing.  OK, except maybe the whining :)