The five-year check-up was kind of like the four year one, but more!
More Taller:
41” last year; 45 ½” this year. Up to the 80th percentile from the 75th. Mommy’s short genes definitely squashed.
More Skinnier:
37 lbs last year; 38.8 this year. Down to the 25th percentile from the 46th. As I suspected, that put his BMI at below the 3rd percentile, making him clinically underweight. Technically, he’s below the 1st percentile, taking him off the charts altogether. As the average child gains 3-4 pounds and grows 2-3 inches between ages 4 and 5 while Simon grew 4 ½ inches and gained just under 2 pounds, I was expecting this.
“We like lean,” explained Dr. Newstadt, “but this is taking it a bit far. Let’s talk about how we can bulk him up.”
That part did surprise me a little, as Dr. Newstadt himself has no perceptible body fat. So whereas Dr. Abrams wanted to discuss vegetable consumption last year, Dr. Newstadt was all about the yogurt smoothies, the ice-cream shakes, and the extra snacks. I’m OK with trying to put more weight on Simon, except that it’s hard to ignore thousands of pages of nutritional advice steering parents away from fatty foods and extra snacks, especially when there’s awful cholesterol on Matt’s side of the family. Thankfully, Newstadt took my concern seriously and checked Simon’s cholesterol so I know it’s really OK to add more lipid goodness to his diet.
My prediction, however, is that he’ll eat less food and/or be more active and/or continue to shoot straight up and stay super skinny. I know what Simon’s dad looked like at 17 (I think his jeans were 28X34); this is genetic destiny. But I’ll try. Since Simon is now off the size chart for even slim sizes, I’ll try hard.
More Smarter:
Moving right along, Dr. Newstadt also went over some developmental issues. Could Simon draw a square? Could he identify all his basic colors? After going through this series, Simon pointed to a tab on Dr. Newstadt’s chart and asked, “Is that indigo?” which pretty much answered the second question.
And the highlight of the check-up?
“Simon, can you count to 10 for me?”
Simon looked up at Dr. Newstadt, smiled impishly, and responded thusly:
“Oh, Dr. Newstadt, I can count to a googol!”
At this point, Dr. Newstadt laughed out loud.
“I have never had a child answer that question with that.”
This all segued into a chat about kindergarten. My top pick is also Dr. Newstadt’s among the public schools, but he’d really prefer to see my “exceptionally smart” child go to Collegiate, a well regarded private school in Louisville. At $17K a year, that isn’t going to happen unless or until the Newstadt fund for 5-year-olds who talk about googols is established.
Of course, two years ago our visit culminated in suggestions for books and child psychologists to help Simon with his anxiety. I’ll take this one over that any day of the week.
Sounds like Simon is doing just fine. What a surprise! And you can always add calories without the cholesterol–concentrate on good olive oil (hummus topped with olive oil is yummy) etc. He’ll be fine. He’s not anorexic, he eats, he’s just skinny.
And if I win the lottery the Collegiate Scholarship for 5-year olds who talk about googles WILL be established. :-)