Friday, January 25, 2008

Scaredy Cat

Henry is terrified of a few things. The first is the vacuum cleaner, the second is Tickle Me Elmo and the third is the hair dryer. He cowers in fear when he sees or hears them.

For the past few months, he has also been afraid of going to the pediatrician. He used to just scream as soon as he saw the doctor, but now he screams as soon as we get into the exam room. As I mentioned, he screamed during his entire 15 month well baby visit this week.

Today I had the pleasure of bringing him to the pediatric dentist for his chipped teeth. As soon as he saw the waiting room, he started to cry. I calmed him down and offered him the toys that they had. Not interested. He sat on my lap the entire time. As soon as he saw the first nurse, he started to cry again. I go him calmed down again and then the worst part happened. I was filling out the paperwork (with him clinging to me) and his little bottom lip curled out and he just started to weep. Not screaming, just big fat tears rolling down his cheeks. The poor baby was truly terrified. I felt like such a jerk putting him through this, but I really felt like he needed to be examined. I dug out his pacifier and he was able to pull himself together. Until we hit the exam room of course! The doctor heard him screaming with the nurse and hot-footed it right in there for his exam! I guess that is one benefit to all of the screaming, quick service!

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