Wordless Wednesday: Still in the club...

....another great report from the dentist yesterday and Emerson's still in the No Cavity Club!!!  

Her molars are now touching, which means we have to start flossing.  And, that tooth is still wiggly....Dr. John confirmed it is, indeed, "wiggly"!!

Wordless Wednesday: Good Luck!!

A big GOOD LUCK goes out to Danny as he takes on a new challenge this weekend, the Cooper River Bridge Run.  Emerson and I will be cheering you on from the sidelines and waiting for you at the finish line!!  We are very proud of you!!

Wiggly What?

Emerson had her six-month check-up with her dentist last Monday (10/10).  She was very excited to see Dr. John.  As I'm sitting watching the hygienist clean her teeth, she says, "Oh, you've got two wiggly front teeth!!"  What???  Say that again, please!!  She confirmed and showed me two wiggly front teeth.  There is no way I have a child old enough to have two wiggly teeth.  Although, they are far from being wiggly enough to fall out yet, the hygienist did say that they are on their way and it will just depend on Emerson.  If she finds them and messes with them a lot, then they will fall out faster, but if she never messes with them, they will stay in for much longer.  I don't think she's found them yet and therefore isn't playing with them.  In all other tooth news, we got an A++ for cleaning and a perfect report from Dr. John.  Let's just hope those teeth stay in a bit longer....I'm not sure I am ready for a snaggle-tooth kid in all my pictures or a visit from the Tooth Fairy quite yet!!!

(sorry for the horrible pictures, they were taken with my phone)

The Eye Doctor

About a year-and-a-half ago, Emerson was diagnosed with Strabismus.  In short, her right eye wanders out at times because her muscle control in that eye isn't as good as in the other eye.  It really isn't noticeable on Emerson, unless she's in extreme sunlight, she's really tired, or sometimes it happens when she is focusing on objects.  When it happens, she usually closes or squints her right eye.  We've been seeing a pediatric ophthalmologist for her condition and watching it to make sure it doesn't get worse.  We wanted to make sure she wasn't losing any vision and her depth perception wasn't weakening.  At this point, Emerson is controlling her eye on her own and does a great job at bringing it back-in by herself when it wanders.  Her doctor is optimistic she will not need glasses and will not need corrective surgery, but we need to keep watching her, as it can become worse with age.  We see her eye doctor every six months, and since I had never documented it before on the blog, I took my camera along last Thursday (9/22) for our appointment.

Checking her vision.

Her doctor's office uses monitors with images and/or letters to test the vision of their pediatric patients.  Until now Emerson had to recognize and say images, but Thursday was her first appointment using letter recognition (let's see if preschool paid off).  The letter test on a monitor is much harder and much more accurate at measuring vision.  Emerson had to look at the letter housed within a small box on the monitor and then pick it out on the board she was holding.  The orthoptist first tested her using both eyes and then she patched one eye at a time and completed the test.  Emerson passed with flying colors and 20/20 vision...good thing she knows her letters!!

Next the orthoptist used a prism bar to measure Emerson's muscle control, or occular deviation (as stated on the website I used to look up the prism bar).

Then it was time for Emerson's favorite eye doctor game; wearing 3-D glasses and pointing to the bugs jumping out at her.  The orthoptist uses the special glasses and the special 3-D book to test Emerson's depth perception.

Eye Dilation

After all the tests, it was time to get her eyes dilated.  Emerson did a great job getting numbing drops and dilating drops put in each eye.  Her reward from the nurse was a solid 20 minutes of play while her eyes took their time to dilate.

Dilated pupils! 

Hard to tell since her eyes are so dark brown in the first place.  

The special sunglasses you get to wear home from the doctor after eye dilation.  

We've had such a great experience at the eye doctor and get really good care.  It might have something to do with Grammy working there and every nurse, doctor and orthoptist get weekly reports and picture showings of Emerson by Grammy.  I know it makes Emerson much more at ease to walk in and have everyone know so much about her and treat her like they already know her.  How could they resist that cute little patient?!?!?

Wordless Wednesday: First Family 5K

This past Saturday Emerson, Danny, Auntie Di, Uncle Ed, and I all participated in our first family 5K.  Danny and Ed ran with Emerson and Diane and  I walk/ran.  I see many more 5K events in our families future....actually really soon, we have one October 22nd!!

 

Not-So-Wordless Wednesday: Sick Day

Last Tuesday when I picked Emerson up from school, she felt warm and wasn't acting like herself at all.  When we got home her temp was 102.4.  So needless-to-say, she wasn't going to school the next day and I was sure we would be in the doctors office Wednesday morning.  Sure enough, after a visit to the doctor on Wednesday, a positive strep test was the outcome.  Emerson's friend, Aurora, had been treated for strep the previous weekend after their dance recital and since they were together non-stop all weekend, it only made sense that Emerson now had the virus.  Since doctors orders were getting antibiotics into Emerson's system 24 hours before going back to school (strep is highly contagious), she was also out-of-school on Thursday.  

Here are the essentials for a good sick day in the Dever Houshold: 

- Pajamas, all day long!!

- Breakfast in Mommy's Bed

-Towel as blanket and place mat, as to not get said breakfast all over Mommy's bed

-Movies of choice playing in the Mac all day

-Big comfy pillows to support said movie watching

-Plenty of Ginger Ale

A Perfect Check-up

Last fall, Emerson's friend Ivie had a cavity and had to have it filled.  Amy had told me about the cavity, but I didn't mention it to Emerson.  One day Emerson came home and told me all about it; I guess she and Ivie had a conversation at school about the cavity and filling.  A few months later, while Mimi was babysitting, Emerson noticed the fillings in Mimi's mouth.  "Mimi, why do you have so many rings in your mouth?" To which Mimi responded, "Because, when I was a little girl I lived really close to a candy store and we would walk there everyday and get candy.  I ate a lot of candy when I was little." So needless to say, cavities and teeth cleaning have been a pretty popular subject in our house lately.  Emerson has been worried about getting a cavity and often asks if the certain food she is eating at that particular time will give her a cavity.  She has even handed candy to me and said, "Mommy, I don't want this, it causes cavities."  She has become quite conscientious about what will and will not cause cavities.

Last Wednesday, we had our 6-month check-up with Emerson's dentist, Dr. John.  This was the first visit that I didn't sit by Emerson's side but instead sat on the "parent bench" in the small parent holding area next to the large cleaning and exam room.  Emerson was a trooper and hopped right on the chair so Ms. Lauren could count and clean her teeth.  Emerson got a perfect 10 for her brushing and there was no trace of plaque on any of her teeth.  Ms. Lauren informed us that, in the next few months, we should start flossing Emerson's back upper teeth as they are starting to touch.  After her exam, Emerson was treated with a dose of flouride and then Dr. John examined Emerson and gave a raving report.  You could tell Emerson was proud of herself and I'm glad she's so concerned about her teeth, especially since Danny and I both have horrible teeth when it comes to cavities.  Ms. Lauren took a quick picture of Emerson for "Dr. John's No Cavity Club" and then Emerson picked out a treat from the prize cabinet.  All-in-all a great visit to the dentist...keep up the good work Emerson!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Pink Eye...

.....reared its ugly head this morning in the Dever household.

Amoxicillin to the rescue!!!

Emerson's three-year check-up

Emerson had her three-year check-up yesterday morning.  Well-child visits are so much easier and happier than sick-child visits to the doctor.  Emerson's three-year check-up was different than any other well visit we've had before.  This visit, Emerson was big enough to stand on the scale herself, instead of being sat on the pediatric table scale.  She also got measured like all the other big kids, standing with back and feet against the wall, and didn't have to lay down on the table to be measured.  Emerson also did a vision test, you remember those, put one hand over your eye and say the letters or symbols....Emerson passed with flying colors.  The nurse took Emerson's blood pressure, that was the first time Emerson had ever had her blood pressure taken.  The blood pressure cup was so cute and small.  Dr. Dunk came in to do the exam, but first she had Emerson stand on each foot and balance, draw both a circle and a line, and jump up and down.  She talked with me a bit and answered some of my questions and then examined Emerson, and that was that!  Dr. Dunk's Conclusion:  She's growing great and looks perfect (nothing we didn't already know, right!)!!!  It's hard to believe that in all three years of Emerson's life, I don't have a picture of her and Dr. Dunk.  I have several of her at the doctors office, but none with Dr. Dunk.  So, Dr. Dunk was kind enough to take a picture with Emerson. We love Dr. Dunk; thanks for being such a great pediatrician the past three years!!

Emerson's three-year stats:

Height: 38.25 inches (75th percentile)

Weight: 37 lbs. (90th percentile)

Blood pressure (new stat to add): 88/46

Wordless Wednesday: Push-ups

Say Ahhh!!

 "Say Ahh", has been a very common phrase in our household this week as we prepared Emerson for her first dentist appointment today.  We've been talking about the appointment and Dr. John Christensen all week, in hopes that it might make the appointment a little less stressful for her.  We didn't need to worry about that, Dr. John's office is fun from the moment you walk in. 

Dr. John's office has a fish tank and a plethora of stuffed animals.  And the first thing you get when you walk in the door is a personalized sticker displaying just how special you are.  Emerson had a great time playing with everything while she waited.

Once Natalie called Emerson's name, she quickly put her animal back and followed Natalie to the treatment room.  Emerson was very excited that she got her very own room.  She quickly showed Natalie what a big girl she was by hopping into the treatment chair and staying put while Natalie went over proper oral hygiene for toddlers with Mommy and Daddy.  After Natalie's visit we took a quick potty break and by the time we got back Dr. John was already in the room talking to Daddy. 

When it was time for Dr. John's examination, Emerson changed the tuned she had just 5 minutes earlier.  Emerson didn't want to sit in the examination chair, so Dr. John had a great way for to do the exam while Emerson stayed in my lap.  Dr. John sat right in front of me, Emerson straddled my lap, and then we leaned her back while I continued to hold her hands.  Although Emerson cried the entire time with big alligator tears, Dr. John kept his cool and counted all 20 of Emerson's teeth.  By the time he got to 17, Emerson had calmed down.  We finished discussing our concerns with Dr. John and he talked to us about Emerson's oral development.  He did inform us that Emerson's teeth are a little overcrowded, which in orthodontic talk means that in about 10 years we will owe him $6000 (according to my braces selling neighbor) to straighten her teeth.  Oh Joy!!! 

After Dr. John congratulated Emerson on her first visit, he was off to see another patient.  Natalie finished up the appointment, took Emerson's picture for her "No Cavity Club" button, and showed Emerson the prize cabinet.  Emerson picked out her prize, a bracelet, and waited for her button.  We even got a smile out of Emerson at the end of the appointment for a great picture at Dr. Christensen's office door.  All-in-all, a great first visit to the dentist, we have to keep those pearly whites pristine for all those pictures Mommy takes!!