how to impress your pediatrician

we went in for penny's 2 year old checkup today.  we LOVE our doctor, and she is very much smitten with penny.  here are the proper responses to your pediatrician's questions, if you'd like to start drilling your own toddlers now:

Dr. Julie: I'm Dr. Julie; what's your name?
Penny: Penny Ruth Zalben
Dr. J: Does she really know her first name, middle name & last name? Ok....how old are you?
P: Two months old.
Me: Two YEARS old, Penny. (to Dr. Julie) We're working on that. Penny, would you like to show Dr. Julie two fingers?
P: Mommy please help me.  I can't do it myself.

Dr. J: Did you have a birthday party?
P: Cake!
Dr. J: Did you blow out the candles?
P: Penny did it. Daddy not help.

Dr. J: Do you drink milk?
P: Milk from cows!
Me: We were talking about this earlier.  What other animals give milk?
P: Sheep!
Dr. J: And do you eat chicken?
P: (While climbing into a chair) On the bone!
Dr. J: Do you eat broccoli?
P: (Nods)
Dr. J: Do you eat spaghetti?
P: (silence)
Me: I'm not sure she knows what spaghetti is.
Dr. J: Do you eat pasta?
Penny: Noodles!

alex and i were silently hysterical for most of this interview.  though we know in our hearts we have an awesome kid, we always panic a little bit that maybe we're missing something hugely important, or maybe penny is terrible in some way that we  haven't noticed and won't be able to correct.  it was really gratifying to have her answer the doctor perfectly, have a great checkup, give the doctor hugs and kisses, and then hear the doctor repeat penny's answers to the doctors and nurses outside of the exam room.

her current stats, though we forgot to get the percentages, are:
34 1/4" tall, 26lbs, 9.5oz

when we got home after the appointment and some playground time, penny got to open a ton of mail - holiday cards, birthday cards, and one birthday card PACKED full of stickers.  she was sticking the stickers to a piece of paper we have hanging on the wall, and they were having trouble staying stuck on.  i said to her, "let's see if we can make everybody stick" and she said "everybody sick".  i said "no, no, no, no...SSSTTTick".  she said "SSSSSIck".  and it turned into a 20 minute running joke.  AMAZING.

also, we have this book (highly recommended), and she calls me mama mama red pajama.  she tells me not to stomp and pout.  i tell her to save the llama drama.  we can complete each other's sentences when one of us starts "baby llama what a tizzy, sometimes mama's very busy".  this kid is really something special.