What a Week!

Gracie and I have had a pretty incredible week together.  I was a little nervous because she has trouble when the routine changes. We spent a lot of time talking about how some things this week would be exactly the same and others would be different and then we talked about all the possibilities for fun things to do this week.

On Monday she had two doctors appointments. The first was at 8:30 in the morning in Boston to see the nutritionist.  We had to leave by 7:00 to deal with the traffic even though we only live 12 miles away.  After about 30 minutes sitting in bumper to bumper traffic Gracie announced that "traffic makes me really tired". I thought that meant she would sleep but she just sent the rest of the ride asking me if traffic made me tired too.  The appointment was great and they said she was gaining decently between appointments and she was happy with her progress.  At noon we had her four year appointment with her regular doctor and she was delighted with her progress.  She is 28 pounds and 38 1/2 inches and she has grown 3 1/2 inches in the last year.  Grace was great during the appointment and when it was time for the MMR Booster she looked at me and said mom, I need you to hold my hand. It was a little pinch and then when it was over she looked at me and said mom, I am so brave. I am proud of me!  Then we went home and she played for the rest of the afternoon.

On Tuesday after preschool we headed off to Gracie's favorite farm which is owned by the Audubon Society.  Gracie wanted to go see the stinky pigs.  When we got there we learned that the pig had 3 piglets in early April so Gracie was thrilled with that but since they were new babies we didn't take any pictures of them.  

 After the farm we went to the mall to get new sandals.  I thought that would take 10 minutes.  It took over an hour.  She immediately saw a pair of sparkly silver sandals and said "mom, I am getting these sandals." I said no. She said "mom, why don't you like you these sandals? They are so stylish!" Apparently, I don't know style unless it's pointed out by a four year old.  We eventually decided on a pair we could both live with.

On Wednesday we had our annual appointment with the international doctor and developmental specialist.  We were actually about 6 months with this appointment but I figure better late than never.  They were incredibly pleased with how well she has progressed.  She now has body fat which they were excited about.  Developmentally she is doing exceptionally well. They told me that cognitively she is testing at a 6 year old level. She did so well at the appointment and when they were checking her body fat the doctor explained the tool she would use and Grace looked at her and said, "Ok, but I need you to please be gentle because I am a little scared". She could never had expressed that a year ago.  She just would have screamed bloody murder. She was really proud of herself and I was proud too! The appointment was in Boston so we had to leave early.  This time traffic didn't end up being too bad so we got there early and had to wait in the car.  She was getting restless until I realized that I had my camera with me so she played with that to pass the time.  Here are some of her portraits.

 

After the doctor we took a trip to the zoo.  Our nearby zoo isn't great but Gracie likes it and we had fun.