Who's Going to the Inaugural Science & Engineering Expo? Oct 23-24, Nat'l Mall

After talking with Rosie's 2nd grade teacher yesterday about how Rosie is academically soaring right now, absorbing everything, blossoming incredibly, and should be enrolled in extracurricular learning opportunities like foreign languages, music, etc., I was poking around online looking for lesson plans for piano (yes, I'm finally attempting this at home with Rosie, who seems interested and enthusiastic).

Instead, I stumbled on details for the first ever Science & Engineering Festival on the Mall, just two weekends away. I am entranced by the feats of science and engineering and highly encourage my kids to develop wonder and inquisitiveness about how things work in the physical world. Exposure to these exhibits might create some sparks with Rosie and Dash (who will be interested in the weapons and aircraft components)—just the thing!

I pulled these details from the USA Science & Engineering Festival's blog:

Date: Saturday, October 23, 2010 through Sunday, October 24, 2010
Location: National Mall, Tent #102 (in front of the Capitol Reflecting Pool)
Time: 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM
Cost: Free and open to all
Age Range: Open to all

Saturday, October 23
10:00 The Mouse that Roared (Roain Egnor)
10:30 Reverse Engineer Your Brain (Louis Scheffner)
11:00 Nobel Purpose: NPR's Joe Palca Interviews John Mather (Nobel Prize Physics)
11:30 The Scoop on CSI: Separating Fact From Fiction (Marvin Schecter and CSI Miami)
12:15 Be a Bone Detective (Diane France)
1:00 Nobel Purpose: NPR's Joe Palca Interviews John Mather (Nobel Prize Physics)
2:00 The Engineering Behind Disney's Magic (Lanny Smoot)
2:30 Bon Appétit: Better Eating through Chemistry
3:00 Be a Bone Detective (Diane France)
3:30 The Scoop on CSI: Separating Fact From Fiction (Marvin Schecter and CSI Miami)
4:00 A: It's a Jeopardy-Playing Supercomputer. Q: What is IBM's "Watson?"

Sunday, October 24
10:00 Disney's TRON: Legacy Captured Live on Stage
11:00 Nobel Purpose: Joe Palca interviews Vincent Cerf (Draper Prize)
11:30 The Scoop on CSI: Separating Fact From Fiction (Marvin Schecter and CSI Miami)
12:15 Be a Bone Detective (Diane France)
1:00 Nobel Purpose: Joe Palca interviews Peter Agre (Nobel Prize Chemistry)
2:00 What's the Buzz?: The Status of Pollinators in North America (May Berenbaum)
2:30 A: It's a Jeopardy-Playing Supercomputer. Q: What is IBM's "Watson?"
3:00 Be a Bone Detective (Diane France)
3:30 The Scoop on CSI: Separating Fact From Fiction (Marvin Schecter and CSI Miami)
4:00 The Engineering Behind Disney's Magic (Lanny Smoot)

I know Rosie and Dash will love some of this stuff! Anyone planning to go?

Dash had his four-year checkup today. He did great, as usual! He's 35% for height, and 75% for weight, but somehow, that doesn't appear disproportionate on him. He told his doctor that his name was "Mr. Laser-Eyes" for some reason. He was in really good spirits for the entire appointment, even after I mentioned shots. He needed five total.

I asked him, "How many shots do you want, Dash? Ten?" He thought a minute & replied, "How about just five?" The doctor's eyes widened and she muttered, "I need to remember that one..." WIN!




























Anyway, here is how he looked after the five shots. About what I expected. I'm betting that ploy is played out.

Dash's 2-Year Checkup

Dash just saw our favorite doctor today, Dr. Arnold! She has an almost preternatural ability to remember details about Dash and Rosie (even when the other isn't present), like, "of course he would have to be incredibly verbal, to keep up with his big sister!" She checked him out and we both agreed that he is doing fabulously! His weight is 28.5 lbs, height is 35 in, and head circ is 19.25 cm (percentiles respectfully: 52, 60, & 52). His verbal & physical skills are right on target and his fine motor skills are above average. She was very impressed with the birthday gift he gave me! (See 7/18 post.) He's eating a variety of different foods and plays very well with Rosie. The ear tubes still looked fine, too.

I was running late for the appointment, so when it came time for me to ask any questions, I was frazzled and completely blank. We'll see if anything comes up. Hopefully there wasn't anything important that I missed; it was such a Dash-love-fest. I love you, little boy!

Rosie's 4-Year Checkup

At Rosie's 4-year checkup, she weighed in at 38 pounds and is 40.5 inches tall. She was on the scale by herself, which is pretty normal, but since we were at the doctor's office, she made it traumatic by reaching for me and crying.

The doctor was impressed by her vocabulary and her balancing skills and was able to take her blood pressure (94 over 58) and tested her vision (20/30). She started the hearing test, but halfway through was done with the whole appointment and we didn't get a good reading.

She likes yoga and gymnastics at school, and I'm planning to get her into a dance class as soon as possible!

Nine Month Checkup

Dashiell's nine-month checkup was last Wednesday, on March 22. It was a quick one, since Dash is hitting all the milestones way ahead of time. He weighed in at 19.5 lbs and hit 25th percentile for weight and height and his head circumference was 35 cm, or 50th percentile (big head!). He had one shot in the thigh (waaaah!) and when I told the doc that he was eating homemade foods, he immediately ordered an anemia test (?!? no confidence in my cooking?). I also told his doc that I was a little concerned that Dash has been gagging on solid-solids, only eating soft purees and he recommended an Occupational Therapist. So, since that sounded a little overboard to me, I sat him down with some chopped spaghetti, cheerios, crumbled muffin, and chopped canteloupe and watched him carefully. He did great!! One less thing to worry about.

Fatboy!

Dashiell's six-month checkup was January 12th (yes, I know he was actually seven months) and he is now just a few oz shy of 18 lbs and is 26 inches (50th percentiles)! Quite the solid little guy. His head circumference got 75th percentile, but I can't recall the exact measurement. AJS's favorite nickname for him now is "fatboy"! The doc didn't have much to say, since things are going pretty well and we're hitting milestones, etc. He didn't get his shots because he had a temp (99.6 degrees), had a nasty cough, and a goopy runny nose.

While I had him at home this morning, despite being under the weather he was crawling around like a little crab and pulling up on everything—the couch, bookshelves, entertainment center, laundry baskets, me, his sister, you name it. They tell me at daycare he's always in the middle of the action when the other kids are off getting into stuff AND has been pulling up on cribs and pushing them around (they are on castors and a linoleum floor). I'm amazed that he's doing so much!

The night before his appointment, he woke up around 2 a.m. and just didn't want to go back to sleep. It seemed like he was really interested in trying out his new skill: he pulls himself up to his feet in the crib, lets go with one hand, pivots carefully, then sits down and starts over. Whew. And Mommy had to be watching, because if I left him alone, he would start crying again. After about 4 visits like this, I finally just let him cry himself to sleep and I really have no idea what time that was, but he was back up at 5 a.m. Thank goodness that doesn't happen often!

Four month checkup!

Dashiell's getting so big! He went to his 4 month checkup last week and weighed in at 13 lbs-12 oz (25th %ile) and is in the 75th %-le for length. He impressed his Doctor with his hand-eye coordination by ripping her glasses off when she leaned over to check out his ear. He's doing very well and based on the doc's recommendation, we started him on solids last weekend.

Yesterday was the Fall Festival at the childcare center and I volunteered to do facepainting on the kids. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, otherwise I would post some cute pics of Rosie with a ladybug on her cheek. I do have some photos of the kids in their Halloween costumes, however.