Dear Jasmina

For Marie-Hélène’s check-up and shots last week, I went alone with her for the first time, mustering up the nerve to hold her down for her shots. As it happened, that part was not the hardest. Sure she yelled and pretty blue tears fell from sad blue eyes, but it was rather quickly forgotten. Even waiting for the doctor wasn’t hard… the clinic must have collectively passed a New Year’s resolution to attend to its patients faster, and we were given a form to write down the times between arrival, weighing, visits from the doctor and nurse, and departure. We were through before Marie-Hélène could decide to lick the blood pressure cuff that dangled beside her bed. All of that was a piece of cake. By far, the hardest part was carrying her, in her car seat, to and from the clinic. After feeling like my shoulders had permanently moved forward to make an oval of my back, I’d decided that I must get around to picking up an exercise routine… And although firming up would be a definite advantage, it would be a mere bonus to being able to carry Marie-Hélène, carseat, diaper bag and purse, without looking a little pathetic. Without keeping my eyes peeled for any form of shopping cart or wheel chair just to get to the machine that pays for parking. Without wanting to put her down and start crying if people get in the way.

“But why should you complain? She’s so small!” Yes, I know. So does the doctor. In fact, I’m almost certain the carseat is double her weight. And the fact that she’s so slim mystefies our pediatrician. He’s young. I’ve begun to think he’s never seen anything like it. He asks us how much she eats and concludes that she certainly has enough calories. She also sleeps her nights. She also sits. Those milestones, she meets them and gives them high fives. But he still wonders.

And Marie-Hélène is keeping it a secret. She doesn’t tell him we make her stretch before swimming laps in the sink:

Or that we exhaust her with all the sounds the animals make, before bed:

Or even that we ask her to fold her own laundry:

So, as far as he knows, Marie-Hélène is a medical mystery.