My amazing girl

I haven't said much about Sprout lately. I fear that if I tell you everything she's up to, you won't believe me, but here goes.

• She will be 2 next month. How on earth did that happen? We are planning a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom party. I can't wait!
• She knows all of her upper and lower case letters and most of the sounds that letters make. She is particularly fascinated with the letter, "h."
• She continues to memorize her books. I'm not sure I even know how many she has completely memorized right now. I love listening to her "practice" while she's in the car seat or trying to keep herself awake.
• She recognizes at least a half dozen words and knows how to spell them: her name, "mommy," "daddy," "grandma," "Flash,""cat," "stop," "on," "off," and possibly a few others. Craziness.
• She started her new KinderMusik class this week and she was in heaven. She loves it so much it's fun to watch. She moved up to the toddler class which is fun because it's more kid-focused and less parent-focused. I couldn't believe it when she sat down nicely to listen to a story. Whoah.
• She figure out how to jump this month and loves to show off her new skill, along with shuffling and marching.

I'll stop there. But I will say that the child makes my jaw drop constantly. Her vocabulary is astounding and every day, she seems to know something else that children her age aren't supposed to know. And to think a year ago I was worried because she didn't talk at all. Language explosion, indeed!

The Pediatrician: Behind the Scenes

So, you know that DH is a pediatrician. Some of his experiences and our conversations this week have made me realize that most people have no idea how things work behind the scenes and make a lot of assumptions. Obviously, every office works differently, but from the pediatrician's wife, there are a few things you may want to know:

1) When they are running behind, the doctors are not in the back playing poker. They are stressed, too. They don't want to be behind, but one complicated patient can throw off the whole day. Remember that sometime, you may be the patient that needs the extra time and TRY to be understanding. If you have been waiting longer than 20 minutes, it is perfectly reasonable to ask nicely how long things may be. Yes, they probably should tell you without asking, but things can get crazy and it doesn't always happen.

2) The doctor probably has little or nothing to do with the office staff, the receptionist, the billing folks, or the nurse you talk to at night on the phone. If you have a problem with any of those folks, you have to tell the doctor, or he probably has no idea and can't help solve your problem.

3) If you don't understand why your doctor is performing a test or prescribing a medication or you have doubts about it, please ask him. He really does want to help you and your child, but he can't read your mind. Just discarding his advice and ranting about it to everyone you know is really not helping anyone. At least give him the chance to explain it to you. You may be surprised that another option is available that could make you both happy.

4) Every doctor is different. You may not get along with a doctor and your friend may love him. That's okay. They all have different styles. It doesn't mean that one is a bad doctor, just that one is a better match for you.

There's probably a lot more, but it's taken me three sittings to get this far because, well, it's been one of those days! Stay tuned for part two!