Jake was so grown up at his 4 year old check-up last week! He sat on the examination table all by himself and answered the dr's questions like a slightly wary adult. He even got his blood pressure taken with a real cuff by the nurse.
His weight: 40 pounds. His height: 41 inches. From what I can tell from charts online this puts him in 60-75th percentiles.
They also gave him a hearing test, and he missed some of the beeps, but all of us were convinced it was because he either didn't quite absorb or didn't want to follow the instructions about handraising. We've never noticed any problem whatsoever with his hearing (he hears us whispering about him from the other room all the time), so Dr. N decided to repeat the test when he's 5 and not worry about it.
We talked about his dry skin, agreeing to slip him a fish oil supplement, the blisters in between his toes (use vaseline or baby powder, his new shoes fit fine), and once he and Mike had left the room, Abby and I stayed to talk about our impending removal of his crib. He's had a big boy bed in his room since a few months before Abby was born but has refused to sleep in it because he likes rocking and banging his head against the crib to self-soothe at night. We wanted to wait until camp was over but before school starts again, which is now, so we feel the moment is right. Dr. N's advice was to do as we planned. Go cold turkey (just remove the crib and set up the bed however he likes) and make sure he's got everything he wants (in this case, his teddy bear, some music he can turn on close to the bed, and a nightlight for reading). And hope for the best.
We removed the crib 2 days later and Jake did great! He asked Mike if he could have the crib one more day, and when Mike said no, saying we'd already given him a lot of extra time after he turned 4, he actually acknowledged that we had and thanked Mike for that! He was so happy setting up his bed in the place where the crib had been with his crib animals and even asked Mike to put the new Diego sheets on the bed ("because Didi liked sheets at Grandma's house").
His new bed is like a big soft mass of friends. He's got a huge Dora pillow, a normal Diego pillow, a blue firetruck pillow, 4 stuffed animals (Clifford from Grandma Lynne, Froggie from Grandma Fran, Marie the monkey from Marie, and "Yaya" the snowman from us), sheets covered with baby jaguar, Diego's sidekick, among leaves and vines, his baby blanket from Aunt Linda, his baby busy box that was on his crib, and, of course, his prized teddy bear companion, Didi. I need to take a picture of him in it to give the full effect. It's quite a sight. The vibes from all those people that love him must be working!
He invited Abby and me in later to "keep him company" while he "rested" in his new bed, and later at dinner said that was his favorite part of the day. He got up a few times that night before going to sleep and got up in the middle of the night, peed and pooped, turned out the lights in the hall, and put himself back to sleep without waking anyone! (I was awake anyway, so I heard the whole thing). Amazing. He still says it's taking a bit of time to get used to his bed, and last night he came out a few times and woke Mike up, losing his TV privileges for today (bummer - I had wanted to show him some Olympics), but he is doing incredibly well for someone who resisted for so long.
That's about it. We went to Lowe's today and got some new lamps and are ready to install a nighlight for reading to the wall above his bed. He should be all set!
One little change, and all of a sudden he seems SO much more grown up!
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