Alexis finally had her two-year checkup today. Can you believe it was the first time she had been to the Pediatrician's office since her 18-month appointment? Indeed, it was.

I love taking her to the doctor's office. It helps immensely that it's seldom because she is sick and more often the routine stuff. And today's appointment? No shots. How can you not love that? I mean, any time a trained professional wants to tell me my kid is perfect, I'm all for it. I love it even more when the wise and wonderful Dr. W tells me that my kid is smart.

That particular issue was a concern for us, I'll admit. There's a whole lot of dumb in my family. A WHOLE LOT of dumb. My Dad is one of seven kids. While there is one college grad in the mix, there is also a nice mix of illiterate, not bright, and just plain dumb in there as well. Imagine, if you will, the stereotypical West Virginia hillbilly, complete with the obese wife, ten dogs, broken down pickup truck, missing teeth, and inability to add two plus two. Yeah, I'm related to that guy. I have cousins that have actually made the decision to not take the risk. They aren't having kids just in case that dumb gene runs through them (it seems to skip generations in most instances and at least two of the littlest young 'ins are keeping the dumb spirit alive).

Mr. Husband has met most of the cast of characters, so he was fully aware that he was playing with fire when he married me. And yet, he took the risk. We even chose to procreate. When Alexis was just a few days old, I distinctly remember us staring at her, trying to determine if there was anything going on upstairs. I think it's safe to say that while she's a goofus (really, she is a goofy little kid--in a good way), she is not a dumb goofus.

I'm fully aware that Alexis is ahead of the game when it comes to communication skills, but that doesn't mean I can't look forward to that portion of the conversation at her routine appointments. I mean, you have to celebrate the little things like knowing your kid is going to learn to read and might even someday bring home a good report card. If you're not grateful and celebratory of those things that go right, well then, you're just not making the most of parenting, are you? There is so much that can go wrong, when something goes right, you have to be thankful.

So when Dr. Walcyk asked the million dollar questions, "Does she have a vocabulary of around 50 words?" and "Does she speak in two-word phrases?" OF COURSE I beemed. Girlfriend knows the alphabet, counts to ten, knows the colors of the rainbow plus some extra colors, identifies many shapes by sight (darn that octagon, though, she just can't seem to get that one), and I think that already takes us to fifty words. Then she could probably name fifty animals (the kid recognizes leopards, for goodness sake!), and she'd still have a whole slew of food words. And then some.

Because Alexis loves me, as if on cue, she started talking about the murals in the exam room when the good doc started with the vocabulary questions. "Mommy, ook, da piggies are line down!" and "Mommy, ook at da rainbow! Purdy! Red, orant, wewow, geen, boo, puple!" Uh huh, that's my kid right there. She may not have perfect enunciation, but she sure can talk. And her doctor says she's smart. :-)

Thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness. I would have hated trying to figure out how to get her grandparents to take her if it had gone the other way.