The NBA won't be knocking on our door

Today was Nate's 12-month well-baby appointment. I've been dreading this appointment because it's the first time he was to receive his immunizations in his arms instead of the thighs. Seriously, I started getting nervous about it three months ago when I made this appointment (have I shared that I really, really hope Nate doesn't end up Type A like his mother...). I can't stand watching his face when he's in pain and screaming. It's torture.

Lee and I have gone to all of Nate's past well-baby appointments together. Nate is too squirming for one person usually, so one of us tries to entertain him while the other parent converses with the doctor. But this time I went solo because Lee is in Texas for Jerry's funeral. Skip to the bottom if you don't want to read all of the appointment details but want to know if I needed a sedative before Nate got his shots...

The nurse took Nate's measurements when we arrived. He wasn't too fond of this part. He doesn't like laying down on his back in strange places....I've noticed this when I've had to change his diaper in any random ladies room. He looks panicky, he tenses up, and you can see that his little brain is thinking "danger! danger!" So he cried when she measured his head and body and when I put him on the scale. I thought "kid, you have no idea what's in store for you later. This is a piece of cake." Anyway, he calmed down and then giggled a bunch so the poor nurse felt better. We waited about 20 mins. before Dr. Henry came in. Here's a picture of Nate's pediatrician:

Okay, so that isn't really Dr. Henry but Nate's toy that we pretend is our friendly pediatrician. I took my camera but didn't get a shot of the real man. I digress --- Dr. Henry and I talked about a variety of stuff (Swine Flu, vaccines, nutrition, sippy cups, multivitamins, etc etc) before Nate had his short examination. He didn't cry during the exam and the doctor said he looks perfect (yes, we think so too). We also discussed at length Nate's projected height at this point. Doctor Henry assured me that we'd have a better idea at Nate's 24-month appointment but, just for curiosity sake, it appears that Nate would end up growing to 5 feet, 8-9 inches. I said "really? that's all??" in a very depressed sort of way. And then I realized, oops, Dr. Henry is probably shorter than that -- let's not insult the doctor. I'm going to hope that Nate has a banner 2009-2010 and will make up for his premature birth. I don't want some tall 9th grader beating up my short son down the road from now...

Dr. Henry left and the poor nurse who's solely responsible for the immunizations came into the room (doesn't her job suck??). Nate had his finger pricked first for an anemia test (it was negative) then he had 3 vaccines -- 2 in the left arm and 1 in the right. He was upset but didn't really cry super hard. Big tears rolled down his cheeks but in 30 seconds he was smiling at the mean/nice nurse. I was pleasantly surprised. No, I did not need a sedative after all. Didn't faint or cry either (I'm a little hormonal this week so I was expecting one of those things at the very least). We made our next appointment for October, Nate got a Scooby Doo sticker and off we went. If he had more teeth, I would have taken him out for a hot fudge sundae for doing so well at the doctor's but we'll just have to save the ice cream for future visits.