The 5 year old check-up

Last week was Sweetpea's 5 year old check up. I look forward to these visits since I get a comparison of how she has grown since last year and it gives you peace of mind to have a doctor run through the checklist too. I also dread these appointments because they always entail some laundry list of vaccinations. I am a huge proponent of vaccinations (my daily job is to send vaccines to the market for use so how can I not support them) but Sweetpea is not a fan of shots and can't even stand to talk about the idea.
The visit started as always with the nurse checking her vital signs, height, weight etc. In the last year Sweetpea has grown 4.5 inches (for a total of 46.5 inches) and gained 9 lbs (for a total of 56 lbs). That places her squarely in the 90% range of the growth chart which is where she has been since she was born. The doctor indicated that her height and weight are good for her even though she has a belly that comes and go depending on the time of day.
The second part of her visit was the hearing and eye test. She did this last year but didn't remember it. The nurse put the earphones on her, faced her away from the machine, and instructed her to raise her hand when she heard the sound. The nurse began pressing the buttons with no reaction elicited from Sweetpea. She just sat there with this puzzled look on her face. The nurse kept asking - how about now - hear anything? I was a bit concerned at first but after we went through the entire range on each ear, I figured something was wrong with the machine. I may think she has a hearing problem since I am always repeating myself but I believe that is just selective hearing. The nurse tried the earphones on herself and yes the instrument was working just fine. Ok - let's try again. The nurse starts pushing buttons again while prompting Sweetpea to respond and she still is shaking her head no. The nurse then asked - do you hear anything at all. Sweetpea responded - "All I hear is that doorbell ringing from out in front". After we had a quick chuckle we explained to her that she should raise her hand for the doorbell too. This enabled her to pass the test with flying colors then - that darn doorbell. You have to wonder what she thought she would hear.
The eye test was uneventful - I could have told you she has eagle eyes. We then went back for our quick physical exam and then they save the best for last. Sweetpea needed to get 4 shots. The doctor quickly informed us of this, then left the room while the nurses prepared the shots. They needed 2 people so it took at least 10 minutes for them to come back. In the meantime, I was left with a whining child who is getting more upset about the awful shots by the minute. Luckily I remembered some of the Halloween songs she is learning in school and so I sang those to her and it was wonderful since it stopped the whining.
Shots involve her sitting on my lap while I hold her hands and arms tightly. A nurse then lined up on each side with two syringes ready to go. She was only focusing on the nurse on the left side and Sweetpea kept saying "I'm not ready" as both of the nurses were sticking her anyway. The fact that they didn't wait made her mad and she gave them a very nasty... "I SAID I WASN'T READY!" when they were done. In the end it wasn't too bad. I didn't get kicked, she didn't scream like a banshee, and due to the anger the crying ended almost instantaneously.
So it will be another year until we return (with any luck) and the doctor said that she is all done until she turns 11 with shots (except that yearly Flu shot). Best of all, it looks like she is right on track to hit 48 inches by next summer. 48 inches is the magic number since then she can go on the kind of big rides at amusement parks. Since she is an amusement park junkie (we can't imagine where she got that from) this is a huge goal for her.