Well, the upside to Houdini getting sick over and over again during his pre-preschool stint (in addition to the oft repeated mantra, "It's building up his immune system!") is that he is no longer afraid of going to the doctor's and does not shriek like a banshee set on fire when approached to have his temperature taken, for example. Of course, the new ped., who is a one man practice and very unlike the previous cattle call office, also helped.
Actually, Houdini did cry like a banshee yesterday. But it was because he wanted to see the doctor RIGHT AWAY. Lemel and I were a little startled and not quite sure what to do, since our arsenal of tricks to deal with meltdowns at the doctor's office all have, to date, had to do with convincing Houdini to see the doctor, and not to actually try to prevent him from hurtling himself into the examination room before being called.
Today, he put his toy stethoscope on and wanted me to take his stuffed panda to him to be checked out. When I did my usual spiel of, "Now, the doctor is our friend and he is going to help you feel better, Panda", Houdini held up a hand to stop me mid sentence and said in his sternest voice, "No, not 'the doctor'. It's Doctor Houdini. "
