My big, big boy

This week is a week at the dr.'s office. Trying to get ready for our parent-coop preschool which starts next Monday, Sam and I both have to have certain medical requirements met. We only found out a couple of weeks ago that our name had come up on the waiting list and that Sam would be able to start preschool this fall, so we had to hustle to make our dr's appointments. Not only do we both need physical exams, but also both need TB tests and lead-exposure testing.

Which brings me to this morning. Last week Sam had his check-up, but because of a cold he was getting over they postponed his bloodwork until today. This morning I explained to him what would happen: that there are "strings" in his arms called veins, and blood is inside them. That the "doctor" would put a rubberband around his arm, then he would feel a little pinch and they would take the blood out. He witnessed this wonderful process on Levi last week, who screamed bloody murder (no pun intended), so I wasn't sure how things would go down.

We arrived at the lab and Sam eagerly climbed up on the chair. The technician was friendly and tried to engage him in conversation, but Sam was interested in finding out what all the things on the counter were. I reminded him again what was going to happen. He said decidedly, "I don't cry anymore", and placed his arm on the armrest. The technician checked both arms for an appropriate vein, cleaned him off, stuck him, and drew his blood, all without a peep from Sam! It was over in less than a minute.

Funny thing is, I think the band-aid was the worst part of it for him! Unlike most 3 year olds, he does not like band-aids, because they hurt to take off. A band-aid with a cotton ball under it attached to the inside of your elbow is hard to ignore, so he was trying to take it off immediately. We removed it once we got to the car and he grimaced a bit. And that was the end of it. What a brave boy!