3rd Year Wellness Check

Colin had his 3 year wellness check on Thursday and things went great! As usual, I could not believe that it was already time for the visit and was thrilled to see his official stats. They are:

Height: 38.3 inches (3'2)

Weight: 32.3 lbs

He is in the 75th percentile for height and the 50th percentile for weight, which is exactly the same as last year. Colin eats like a bird, so I was anxious about his growth. Dr. Martin assured me that he is very healthy, has a low BMI, and is growing right on target. I asked about needing Pediasure (or something like that) since he seems to eat so little, but he told me that was unnecessary and that Colin is clearly getting everything he needs. Whew! I felt much better after that! He had to have two vaccinations, which went over like a ton of bricks. At his two year, he did not need any, so Colin has not had a shot in recent memory and had no idea what was coming. It actually went worse than I imagined...the nurse laid him down and I held his arms, which he had no problem with. Then she put the first needle in and he absolutely flipped out. She was super fast and it was over in a flash, but Colin was beside himself. He was screaming at the nurse, "WHY?! WHY DID YOU HURT ME?? WHY?! MOMMY! SHE HURT ME!"...yikes! In retrospect, I clearly should have explained what was coming rather than blindside him. He would not have been thrilled about getting a shot, but it probably would have gone a lot better if I had explained it to him first! OOPS! He cried for the rest of the time, despite being given a lollipop, three stickers and a coin for the toy machine. That nurse better hope Colin doesn't lay eyes on her again. ;-)

During the visit, Dr. Martin spent time with Colin and we were finally able to sit down and talk about a lot of things that have come up in the past couple of years. He thinks that Colin is probably dealing with sensory processing disorder, which goes hand in hand with ADD and being highly gifted, both of which he shows the major markers for. Now, this was not at all a surprise to me and was not upsetting in the least. It actually made me feel better! Colin has so many "quirks", a lot of which I have blogged about and many that I haven't. Dr. Martin was able to give me lots of help and good ideas, even in our relatively short discussion, and even shared his own personal story with me. It turns out that he shares Colin's exact diagnosis! I already felt blessed to have such a wonderful pediatrician and now it seems he really is the perfect person for the job! He talked to me about himself and shared a little about his own life as a highly gifted kid with sensory issues. It was wonderful and at the very least, I now assume that Colin will also be a doctor. ;-) Colin is now on a 5 month long waitlist to get into a wonderful therapy group, which our insurance covers, thank heavens. Once he gets in, he will be assigned his own therapist that will stay with him for as long as it is deemed necessary. I am so excited for this next stage. They will do extensive testing and we will find out exactly what we are dealing with and a lot more specifics about Colin. I have talked to their office at length and I have a great feeling about this. It will be so wonderful to have someone teach Colin (and ME!) how best to help regulate his responses to life and how to learn and grow going forward. Our family has a long road ahead of us and as time goes on, it becomes more and more evident that Colin's success in school (and childhood in general) depends largely on me being his advocate. I am more than ready to help him navigate the world and I know that he is going to do great things...we just have to take it one day at a time.