Emily was sick around the time of her 5th birthday and we made a visit to the doctor, but we didn’t call it our well visit. I guess we really wanted to have a 5 year and 4 month checkup instead.

It is hard to get excited about this checkup when it brings with it a LOT of shots! Emily was very much dreading the whole event. She did enjoy visiting with the doctor, taking her hearing test, reading the eye chart, and completing a drawing exercise. Part of her drawing exercise required her to draw a person, so she drew her best friend Elena in a princess dress. She had a few new experiences that were interesting, but in the back of her mind she knew the shots were coming. When the four shots did come she was pretty upset. Interestingly, by the last shot she had calmed down and showed how brave she was. The dread was worse than any of the shots. That is a tough lesson to learn as a kid.

Her weight was 39.4 lbs. (a four pound increase in a year) and height was 45 (a three and half inch increase in a year). Like usual her percentage for weight was in the 20th percentile, but 75th for height. Her height change in this year is quite noticeable when hugging her while standing and not having to bend so much. She also doesn’t need a step stool at the house for much anymore. Occasionally, she wants to use them for comfort, but not to gain access to things.

This fall is going to bring a lot of changes for our family with Emily starting school. When the doctor asked me if I thought that Emily was ready, it was a definite yes. I realized that my sadness at her moving on to this new stage of life is not fear of the future, but sadness for the loss of this special time together. I’m very excited for the new experiences, new things to learn, and the stretching of herself. We have enjoyed all of these pre-school days together and I’m grateful for all of them (and a few more memories we will make this summer).