Alexander is healthy and, so they tell me, "normal." Perhaps I should double check their credentials! ;) In all seriousness, the doctor said he was "perfect" and when the days are over and he's sweetly sleeping in his own bed, I happen to agree.
He continues to fall into the 97th percentile for height (43 1/4 inches) and the 80th percentile for weight (41.2 pounds). He told the doctor all about his outer space birthday party, that he loves watermelon, and that his favorite colors are pink, green, red, and "a lot of other colors, too." The boy also learned to spell his name just in time to show off for the doctor. He's finally been doing it since about a week or two ago. The doctor reassured me that, although annoying to his caretakers, his habit of nibbling throughout the day is actually quite a healthy way to eat as long as he eats a variety of "real" food and not just snack food, which he does.
His hearing and vision tests were, unfortunately, inconclusive. Even when the nurse turned the hearing machine up to the loudest beep, Alexander said, "I can't hear anything yet!" We're pretty sure he was either fooling around or, more likely given his other behavior, he just didn't understand that the beep was what he was supposed to hear. It's just slightly concerning, because he did repeatedly fail his hearing test as a newborn, but they chalked that up to very small ear canals which shouldn't actually affect his hearing, but affected the test they use for newborns. He seems to hear normally, but of course they'll check again next year. His vision test was also inconclusive for similar reasons. They use a chart with pictures for children his age, but some of the pictures are things that Alexander doesn't have names for or doesn't recognize, like a cross and a flag, so he would say that he didn't know what those pictures were. I probably should have suggested they pull out the letter chart, but again it was unclear if he was uncooperative because he really couldn't see the figures or because he was being a bit silly or didn't understand. It's highly likely that he'll need glasses at some point, so we'll be sure to check his vision again next year.
His two shots went as one would expect two shots to go for a four-year-old! ;)
All in all, he's a healthy, normal little boy. :)
2 comments:
Good to know he's healthy. And, as added amusement, Yael was 37 inches and 29 pounds at her visit the other day. :D Whee for the 5th percentile!
Are you worried about his hearing and vision? You can probably rig up some similar tests at home and make a game of it.
I wonder about the hearing and vision testing too...they are going to do it at school in March, but doesn't that the parents won't be there to help? I'd be tempted to say if you haven't noticed a problem with him, that he's probably just fine, but it would be nice to have a conclusive test!
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