Dada took Austen for her eighteen month check up today. We waited and waited and waited to be seen (almost an hour), probably because there were so many sick kids in the “sick waiting area” and this was a last-minute rescheduled appointment, but Austen was entertained looking out of the window at cars, reading magazines, climbing on chairs and greeting new kids as they entered.
Once we went into the doctor’s office, things changed quickly. As is par for the course, Austen immediately became upset and cried. Dada smirked at the nurse’s futile but well-intentioned attempts to distract Austen. Refusing to sit on the scale, the nurse weighed Dada and Austen, then held Austen (kicking and screaming), while Dada weighed himself. After some simple math, the results were in: ~23 lbs. Next was her height check. No chance in Austen standing still so we laid her down on the table. The nurse quickly made a pen mark above her head, then we attempted to hold her down flat and mark at the bottom of her feet. The nurse measured the distance between the marks and came up with 32″ although there was too much squirming for that to be very accurate. After the nurse left, Austen calmed down a little but still clearly wanted to leave the room. Shortly afterwards, the doctor entered and the screams started up again. The nurse and Dada had to restrain Austen while lying down (yes, it takes at least two people to hold her down) while the doctor checked her ears, throat, etc. Finally, after that torturous 10 minutes, Mama came in and rescued Austen and after a meeting with the doctor to review the details, took Austen to a scheduled Saint Patrick’s Day playdate (but that’s another blog entry).