We went in for Southern's 4-year doctor's appointment yesterday. It was a more thorough appointment than usual because at age 4 is when the do the vision/hearing tests.
The first order of business was to get his weight and height. Southern weighed 44.7 lbs (6 lbs up from last year) and was 41" tall. Then we moved on to the vision tests. He was given a little pair of "sunglasses" with black lenses. The lenses could be moved in and out, and the nurse made it so that he could see out of only one eye at a time. He was shown an eye chart, but instead of letters, it had shapes. He was asked to identify hearts, circles, squares, and house shapes. She concluded that he has 20/30 vision which is normal for his age. He was also tested on a color chart to see if he could see the difference between green, red, and orange. He passed that test too.
Then we headed into the exam room. He was given his hearing test in there. The nurse put an instrument in his ear that made sounds. He was supposed to raise his hand when he heard a noise. He passed that test as well. Then we moved on to the skills questions. The nurse asked me if he could run, kick a ball, help put on his own clothes, draw a circle, etc. I answered yes to all of the questions until we got to one that threw me a bit. She asked if Southern could draw a stick figure. I told her, "I don't think we've ever tried that... But he can write his name." She was a bit shocked and then said, "well!". By then Southern was getting egged on by all of her complements on his intelligence so he decided to show off by singing the ABC song. She was impressed. He also counted for her. She asked him to count to 5, but he can count up to 13 so he exceeded that test as well.
By then, we moved onto the nutrition/health questions. Does he drink juice, does he eat a well-balanced diet, do we brush his teeth, how much sleep does he get each night, etc. She was super impressed with our only milk and water drinking rule and couldn't believe that my two boys can down a whole gallon of milk in just a few days.
Then she asked where he went to pre-school. I told her that he stays at home with me, and she asked if he has always stayed at home. I said yes. She said she was asking because most kids who stay home are not taught all of what Southern knows. She was super impressed again.
And around that time is when Dr S came into the room. She couldn't wait to tell him about how smart Southern is. Southern had taken his new Spiderman mask into the doctor's office because he wanted to show it off to Dr S. So while the nurse was explaining everything to Dr S, Southern took this time to slip on the mask. Dr S got a good laugh out of it, and then Southern took it off again to start the exam. Dr S's first course of order was to test Southern on his colors. He had told Southern that he was going to be doing another test on him, and Southern said, "tricky, tricky, tricky". I think Southern really enjoyed having all of these tests done. So Dr S pointed out different colors around the room, and Southern got them all.
Dr S said that Southern knows everything he needs to go to kindergarten now. "So, what are you going to do with him for a whole year?" he asked. Good question! I would love to send Southern to a part time pre-k just a couple days a week, but that costs money that we don't have.
Then Dr S moved onto the physical exam. He checked out Southern's eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tummy, privates, knees, hands, etc. Everything turned out nicely. The only problem was that Southern was a little stuffy (as he has been for a few months now due to the high Oak count). He gave us a prescription for nose drops. He said to use them for about two weeks to see if they would help. He said that after that, we wouldn't use them all of the time, just on an as needed basis.
And then it was time for shots. Southern got the Dtap, MMR, IPV, and Vericella. They were condensed into 2 shots. Southern is usually good about shots, but, poor guy, the second one really stung. The boys were each given a coupon for an ice cream at Wendy's and a sticker as their rewards for being such good patients.
