And Relax....

Why do I allow myself to get so worried about things that are not worth bothering about????

Anna had her 2 year review today and I'm really not sure why I made such a fuss!!!

It still felt like a test which I resent enormously but we survived!!!

I hardly slept at all last night and I think Anna wondered what had happened when I came into her room this morning, looking fully alert with my hair brushed and my shoes on (I had been ready since half past 6!) .

Anna was in her element from the moment that we arrived at the clinic. There was a 'Thomas the Tank Engine' book on the table and a toy cooker. Life was complete. Unfortunately, due to us arriving 20 minutes early, Anna was rather excitable (after being surrounded by previously unseen toys) so by the time that we got called in, her enthusiasm did seem to take over slightly.

As soon as we entered the room, the HV (Heath Visitor. I will refrain from using other less-endearing terms for her!) immediately said 'Look Anna. Pen and paper. Can you draw a circle please?'. Luckily, Anna obliged before going on to draw a triangle and square!!! Unfortunately, the HV didn't notice the triangle and square because she was too busy ticking boxes and making a note that Anna was left-handed. 'Did you know that she is left-handed?' she asked me. 'Yes', I replied 'She gets it from her Dad I think'. She just looked at me disappointed and said 'Oh well, it must run in the family' as though I had just told her that the Gibson's commit crimes regularly or something equally as terrible!

Anna then noticed a toy post box in the room and excitement reached overload. Only yesterday, she had been watching her favourite programme where Mr Tumble (Clown who teaches sign language) had been posting letters so Anna ran over to the post box at full speed and started posting every available object through the hole. This included cuddly toys, pencil crayons, a stethoscope and some helpful leaflets about teenage support.

During this time, the HV then instructed Anna to do various tasks such as close the post box door and open it again several times for no apparent reason. I know the HV was checking to see if Anna could respond to instructions but Anna couldn't see the point of opening and closing a door for no reason and so turned round and said 'Sorry darling. No more door open'.

I was then asked about pre-school's and whether I had selected one yet, to which I replied that I had. Her next questions was then about Anna's speech and whether I felt it was OK. I replied that I thought it was OK and that some pre-schools had said that Anna was actually a little advanced for her age in terms of speech. The HV just took one look at me and smiled in the most patronising way before saying 'Well... I would say that she was on track for average'. AVERAGE!!! Surely not (said with tongue firmly in cheek!)!!! In Anna's defence, she was not talking as well as she can because she was so excitable and talking so fast that her sentences were a little jumbled at times! It didn't help that there was the HV plus 2 other students in the room so Anna was showing off, which can lead to her talking much faster than what her brain can keep up, hence we get jumbled words! I was also a little miffed because Anna had been talking in sentences in the waiting room and the midwife (who happened to be passing through at that moment) even said 'Wow. Doesn't she talk well'. However, apparently this is perfectly average for Anna's age so I stand corrected and apologise if I misled anyone!!!

Anna's eyesight was mentioned (The HV was just running through the questions on her sheet like a script) and I explained how she had referred Anna to the hospital but they told me her eyesight was normal. 'Great', she replied, 'Mind you, you can see why I thought she might have a squint because she does have a very wide nose'. Anna just looked at me and giggled at the silly woman in the corner with the tick list!

She then asked me if I thought Anna was clumsy. Up until now, nobody had mentioned the bruises so I thought this could be my test. I explained about Anna falling over quite a lot this weekend which resulted in the bruises to which she replied 'Yes, I can see she runs around and is a little ball of energy. Her little legs can't keep up with her enthusiasm'. And that was that!!

Then came the shocker. Anna was weighed and measured for her height. Now, Anna had always been on the 80th centile for her height but her weight has been hovering at the 96th centile since she was 6 months old. (96th centile suggest that there are 4% of babies Anna's age who are heavier than her). If you remember, I was always made to feel slightly guilty about it by the HV herself! Today, Anna is still on the 80th centile for height but her weight is now 70th centile. They say that, at this age, her weight and height should roughly be the same. I therefore thought that I would get the big thumbs up! No!!! Of course not! Instead, I was told that Anna had dropped centiles on the graph and that, if it fell lower in 6 months time, I may have to introduce more pasta and cheese into my meals! I can't win! At this point, I gently enquired as to whether I should be worried. 'Oh No' replied the HV 'It is just I remember Anna being a very chubby baby so it is a surprise to see her weight as good as this'. She was full of compliments today. First, the wide nose and then the chubby baby!! I then stupidly felt as though I had to apologise for having a chubby baby (I am so week... I should have just told her to politely go away!). At which point, she turned round and said 'Oh No, Anna was extremely healthy as a baby. Chubby is good on a baby'!!! That is not what she was saying 18 months ago when she was enquiring as to what I fed her (thinking I would say a diet of chocolate, coke and cheeseburgers!!). In her defence, she then said that it was hardly surprising that Anna had gone down on the graph after all of the running around she does at great pace ( as she was demonstrating for the entire appointment). I pointed out that this was non-stop for the entire time that she was awake during the day and the HV did say that it was a great sign and I just had to make sure that I continued to give her enough food to keep up with her demanding energy levels.

Soon after, the appointment was over and I was free to be released! Unfortunately it still took a further 10 minutes to get out of the room due to the way in which, as I was fishing out the hundred and one objects from the post box, Anna was busy posting them all back through the hole faster!

The session ended on a high when a doctor came walking through, took one look at Anna and said 'Gosh... what a beautiful girl.'. I couldn't help but turn to the HV, give her one of my smug smiles and turned back to the doctor and said 'Thank you'.

As we walked away, Anna then turned round to the HV and said 'Bye darling. See you soon'.
I hope not!