p.s. nettles, doctor appt, bee follow up

I knew I wasn't remembering everything yesterday. 

Thursday Alida had her two year old check up!  She is thriving by all medical calculations - 36 pounds and over 36 inches (not found on the traditional growth charts).  I was there with her by myself as Kali was at soccer practice and Jason wrapping up some errands.  I was apprehensive as she is older, wiser and has always approached the doctor's office with a huge dose of skepticism and fear.  She was happy in the waiting room, chattering and giggling as we read stories.  When the nurse opened the door, she recognized her immediately and resisted following me.  The nurse hung back and let me do the height and weight.  By the end of that her curiosity had been peaked.  She gingerly stepped back on the scales and off and back on and off.  I then had to coax her to follow us to the next stage of the appointment.  Thankfully she has outgrown head measurements and graduated to blood pressure readings, which was also a very interesting thing.  She slowly continued warming up and allowed Dr. Nio to look in her ears and mouth and eyes and push on her belly.  I was in a state of shock but even that didn't prepare me for what came next.  She needed one vaccine to be all caught up (yay) and I was not looking forward to that.  While the nurse was preparing it I asked her to choose what leg, which she did happily.  The nurse came back and Alida showed her which leg, watched her clean it off, watched her put the needle in, watched her pull it out and a drip of blood go down her leg, helped apply the first little bandaid and got to put a second one over that for good measure. Not a tear, not a whimper and off we went!  Dr. Nio was in her office next door and looked at us a bit bewildered when we walked out, noting that she "didn't hear anything."  There was nothing to hear!  So maybe doctor appointments will no longer be a thing to dread.

In other positive news, this morning's breakfast consisted of eggs with the first stinging nettles and fresh garlic of the year. Eating that alongside a glass of homemade grape juice and the cool breeze coming in the window was a fabulous start to the day!

Now we are getting ready for Kali's second soccer game of the season and I'm trying not to fret over the lack of activity around my little bee house...