We had Norah's three year check-up today, and as usual, it was uneventful. Also as usual she came in a little tall and a little light at 38.5" and 29.5 pounds. (90th and 25th percentiles, respectively) She is the average height of a 4 year old, but a little less than the average weight of a 3 year old, which would make sense, given how hard it is to find pants, other than tights, that fit this kid! No wonder she's all about 'soft pants' these days!
The doctor also does a bit of a cognitive check, asking her to name some colors, identify if she, he, I, and Roddie were boys or girls, tell how old she was and son on. I wanted to interrupt him and say "Listen Buddy, she's got a lot better tricks than this lame-o stuff! She can count, identify all her numbers and letters, write a good portion of her letters, spell her own name, tell you where she lives and all the roads between here and school.. heck, she remembers an umbrella from a month ago!"
Anyway, I didn't, because it's not his job to see where she is cognitively, only to do a basic check that she's not behind - which we know she's not - never has been. I've reported here plenty of times about theamazing things she does - ok, maybe not amazing, but she's certainly a sharp cookie.
Norah is also a kind and empathetic kid. Sure, she flips out and performs all sorts of other pre-school antics, but I have seen her, on many occasions, stop to help another kid, or give them a hug when they were tired. When I was feeling so awful before Roddie's arrival last summer, she often asked me if I was ok. She seems to, at times, have a way to know when someone needs a hug. When I was telling her about why we put money in the Salvation Army kettles at Christmas time - so that kids who don't have all the toys and clothes that we do can have some - she paused for a minute and then said "And we can play with them too"
Seeing her evolve into her role as big sister has been amazing as well. I have not seen a single instance of resentment over Roddie's arrival. I'm sure some of the behavioural challenges around that time were somewhat related, but I have never seen her take it out on him. She has been so kind and gentle to him from the very beginning - two things she used to do stand out. She used to rub her cheek against the soft fuzz on his head, so very, very gently and with the sweetest smile on her face. Then, the first thing she'd say to me every morning was "I gotta go check on my Roddie". Come to think of it, nearly 7 months in, she still does variations on these things.
Overall, I continue to be amazed by Norah nearly every single day!
