Lordy. My husband and I took Sophie to the doctor yesterday. If you've never taken a two year old to the doctor, count yourself lucky. For a while, Sophe kind of liked the doctor's office. The waiting room is pretty cool--a fake kind of jungle in the "well-child" waiting room, and a castle in the "sick child." Also, like most doctor's offices, our pediatrician has that big weird toy that has beads on a track that the kids kind of chase around. The waiting room also usually has a Disney video going, and kid sized chairs. This is all pretty cool for a two year old. It stays cool for about 20 minutes. Then the waiting part of the waiting room starts to kick in, along with whining and bawling. If we make it into the exam room before the whining kicks in, sometimes the examination bed is sitting on a big elephant or hippo or something. Soph likes the elephant room, but I don't know what mental monolith decided to put the examination table on a giant bear. If she's not scared enough all ready, a giant bear in the middle of the doctor's office certainly is helpful. So as I said, Sophie liked the doctor's office ok until the first shot that she was old enough to remember. Now the second we walk in the door, she begins a shreeking mantra of "No shot! No shot!'

So yesterday, the doc checked her out, and agreed that she probably had a kind of tenacious flu virus. Soph kept it together fairly well, but had that kind of wild eyed/accusatory "Why are you doing this to me Mommy" look in her eyes. After the exam, she asked "All done Mommy?" I gave her a cuddle, and reassured her, "Yes baby. We're all done." She asked "No shot?" I said, "No baby. No shot. I promise." Then, the doc decided to do that little prick your finger blood test to make sure. When that little bitch of a nurses assistant grabbed Sophie's sweet little finger and slashed it with that nasty little razor we both almost came to bits. Being the mommy at the doctor's office totally sucks. You sit there holding the fruits of your loins while some stranger makes them bleed or pokes them or gags them with a stick. Anyway, when the doctor came back in with the results, he didn't look glad. Her white blood cell count was three times what it should be. All arrows pointed to an infection--a nasty one--and not a virus. In addition, it looked like the infection might be in her blood. His exact words were, "It's pretty scarry because it could land anywhere--her heart or her lungs even." Dude. So, after promising Sophie "No shot" I had to hold her down while that same little bitch stuck a needle in her and slowly pushed some kind of cement mix with antibiotics in it into her sweet baby leg. And we have to go back for another one. Today. In like an hour. Dude.

Today's best thing about being a mom:
Gosh. I just don't know. I guess all I can think of is how sweet she looks in the new pajamas my mom bought her. So--yes--today's best thing about being a mom is putting a clean two year old into clean pajamas.

Today's worst thing about being a mom:
That's easy. Holding your child while she gets an awful shot that you promised her she wouldn't have to get, and knowing that another one is right around the corner.