N.Lo *may* have been due for a Performance Review at 18 mos with the company, but you know how Managers are. They forget. They’re “too busy.” And before you know it, a month has gone by with no sit-down, no assessment, no acknowledgment of the employee’s growth or contributions to the company. Although, I’m quite sure this employee would have been just as happy to do without said review, as the appointment involved no raise and two shots. On the plus side, no further shots will be required until he has been with the company 5 years.

The Company Doctor’s office wasn’t at all busy this morning, which was both a good thing and a bad thing. Good thing because we would not have to wait as long. Bad thing, because we were sent right back into an examination room, bypassing the beloved Thomas the Train Table, play kitchen, and wooden castle that our employees so love to play with. And, there of course is always a wait time regardless, leaving the employees to entertain themselves with the minimal items available in the exam room: a lone, ripped up magazine, a single storybook, and Mommy’s keys. The train table is so much better.

N.Lo mainly cooperated for scale weighing and height measurement. He is 29.5 lbs (90th percentile—it’s all in that belly!) and 32.75 inches tall (70th percentile). His noggin was 75th percentile, although I couldn’t tell you the measurement. In general, the doctor was N.Lo’s friend this visit, providing good conversation, a Hot Wheels sticker, and very few pokes and prods, while the poor nurse remained his mortal enemy with all the weighing and measuring and finally, the dreaded shots.

K.Lo, meanwhile, was an angel for the duration of this visit, until the end, when we had to leave. A few minutes of train/castle time was permitted during checkout, but then the kicking and screaming at our departure ensued… How long before it becomes weird, hanging out for fun at the Company Doctor’s? One other Manager in the waiting room noted the irony here, of trying to pry a child away from the pediatrician’s office. Poor K.Lo. I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunity to play there in the future. There was certainly an excess of visits this past winter! 

N.Lo also has Keratosis Pilaris (KP), which is also referred to as Chicken Skin. Ironic, considering our weekend excursion? Perhaps. But, he has always had bumps on his cheeks, arms and legs from a very young age, with ruddiness in the wind and cold. And when crying, or exerting himself physically. The doctor advised that it’s simply who he is, just a genetic thing. Fortunately, N.Lo is quite a handsome young man, red/bumpy cheeks or no. Wouldn’t you agree?