Nonna & PaPa Visit

Here are some photos from last weekend's visit with Nathan's parents (in reverse order). It's always a treat to have company, but family especially. We had a nice time with them and enjoyed their help as we shopped for our first Christmas tree (I'll explain later). We capped off the weekend with Sunday morning church, followed by brunch at O'Charley's, and then goodbye's until Christmas.

Nonna is reading one of Ellie's current favorite books, "The Berenstain Bears Go to the Doctor." It was read in Ellie's school class during their unit on community helpers and Nonna graciously got Ellie her own copy. We found she really enjoyed the pages where Brother and Sister bear had their examination. Along with them we would act like we were checking her eyes, ears, nose, and throat and then poke her tummy. She in turn enjoyed checking her daddy's eyes, ears, nose and throat. We especially pointed out at each reading that they had to have their temperature taken (something she strongly resists at every doctor's visit) and get a shot. Our hope was that the role play would make her own doctor's visits less, shall we say, traumatic? To encourage this recent interest, Nonna and PaPa even brought her the Fisher-Price doctor's kit and she has had a blast this week giving her teddy bear's their shots (not too interested in their blood pressure, but they all need several innoculations according to Dr. Ellie). After each reading or playing with the doctor's kit, we hear Ellie walking around saying, "Dr. Taylor, Dr. Taylor..."

This week we had a chance to see if all this focus on things medical would indeed would make a difference when it was Ellie's turn to be the patient. She woke up Thursday with a low grade fever and since we already had an appointment that morning with Nurse Elizabeth for her to get a flu shot, we called ahead to see if Dr. Taylor could see her too. Ellie was excited to go for a car ride to see Dr. Taylor, but sure enough, that excitement turned to trepidation as soon as her name was called. Though Ellie was reluctant to leave the waiting area, she did MUCH better on all counts, including asking Dr. Taylor at the end of the visit if she could give her a kiss! WOW! And then she reminded the nurse at check out that she needed a sticker! (Next time I need to remind her to ask nicely -- I was just floored that she remembered that she was usually given a sticker before she left since they never seemed a big deal before)!

One last photo from last weekend...

Playing a matching game with Nonna while PaPa helped Daddy hang some new light fixtures in the student center's basement meeting area (and watching the Buckeyes trounce the Illini). Ouch!