Dentist

Nikki had his first visit to the dentist today. Although we practiced how he had to sit nicely and open his mouth several times this morning, he was reluctant to do so when actually faced with a strange person who was intent to put her hands in his mouth. We did, eventually, coax his mouth open and he was chuffed to hear her praise his teeth. In fact, he kept telling me (and Grandma, and Uncle Harry...) all about the "dentist [who] put on gloves and put [her] hands in Nikki's mouth and said Nikki's teeth [are] lovely and gave Nikki a sticker!" - Have I mentioned before that Nikki speaks in long-winded paragraphs? It would be lovely if he could slow down enough to pronounce all the words clearly enough to be understood...

He liked his sticker so much that he had to transfer it to his pyjamas before he went to bed!

"Look at my shiny teeth!"

Final Discharge!

We had an appointment at the Children's Clinic at our local hospital on Thursday. This was our final developmental check at the hospital. I have found it incredibly reassuring that they don't just forget you once you leave the NICU. We have had several check-ups with the clinic, and are still awaiting our final 'show-off' appointment with the physio in January (she hasn't seen him since he started walking). The physio has been especially reassuring, since he was so slow to reach the gross-motor milestones. The fact that we were getting told every couple of months that he was doing well (and several times that he was able, just not confident enough to try) made it that much easier to watch babies half his age doing things he couldn't.

Thursday's appointment was mostly a cognitive development assessment. We played some games and Nikki performed fantastically - at the top end of the normal range for his actual age (or two months older than he should be). Proof that he is a clever little monkey!

We were also reassured that the heart murmur that is usually noticed by the GP when Nikki gets a chest infection is almost impossible to hear when he is healthy and is thus of no concern whatsoever. I thought as much, as they heard it occasionally when he was in special care and hadn't worried, but a confirmation is always nice!

We can now cross our fingers and hope that he never has to go into hospital again!