Alex had his 9-year-old check-up his week. I made the mistake of mentioning it when I went over our weekly schedule a few days ahead of time. He immediately started protesting the theft of his bodily fluids and loudly lamented the pain and suffering involved in pricking his finger and taking the tiny pipette of blood. I really hoped he would forget about it beforehand, but that didn't happen. I tried to bribe him with breakfast before the early morning visit. I think that helped some. Or maybe it was just the sugar rush.
I noticed an improvement when the nurse called us back for our appointment. Alex walked back on his own steam without any encouragement. A couple of months ago when we went in for a suspected case of strep throat, he stopped dead at the lab area and asked if there would be any shots or blood tests. I told him no blood test. When the doctor decided to do the strep/gag test, it took both of us to hold him down. I thought for a second he was actually going to slug the doctor. Then, when the doctor left the room, Alex had the nerve to tell me it wasn't so bad.
Anyway, maybe the 9th birthday brought a new measure of maturity. He went through all the preliminaries and I warned the nurse about the blood test. The surprise came when Alex gave her his hand and sat calmly for the whole thing. The nurse even commented on how well he did. Alex said "that wasn't so bad." I'm celebrating this as a medical milestone. In the past year he grew 3 1/2 inches and 6 pounds. They say he is well on his way to 6 feet tall but we figured that already.
The only other incident of interest came when the doctor entered the room and Alex told her, "Don't lobotomy me!" She looked at me and I explained that he'd learned a new word this week. He asked what it meant, well, he asked what lah-buh-TO-mee meant, and I directed him to the dictionary. He's been using it ever since in conversation and homework. (Note to self: explain to teacher.) Art says that it doesn't help that I've been singing The Ramones' "Teenage Lobotomy" ever since. (Another note: find The Ramones' Greatest Hits for Alex to listen to with me.) Thankfully our doctor is great and finds Alex highly amusing.
In pop music news, Alex and his group of friends have been following Justin Bieber's legal difficulties with great glee. The boys can't stand him. When asked for an explanation all I've ever heard is, "he lip syncs". Last week the kids at school had a chance to go to the AR store in the library. They accrue points through the year by reading books and taking quizzes on them. Twice a year they can use their points to buy trinkets - things like erasers, posters, pencil sharpeners, etc. It's a very popular event. Alex brought his haul home this week. It included a New York Yankees poster. I had a few questions about it, as: a) there are approximately 5 posters waiting to be hung in Alex's room right now, b) Alex doesn't watch or follow baseball, and c) WE AREN'T FROM NEW YORK. He seems to have arbitrarily chosen the Yankees as "his" baseball team as he chose the Jets as his football team when he was in kindergarten.
But I digress, when he told me about the vast array of posters they had to choose from he mentioned his female classmate "C" was enamored with the Justin Bieber posters. Alex said, "I told her 'He's in jail! Let it go!'" He suggested One Direction as an acceptable substitute for her.
Me: I thought you didn't like One Direction.
Alex: I don't!
Me: They're just better than Justin Bieber?
Alex: Exactly.
So that's our 2-cents for the week. I'm going to dig out my Ramones CD to take with us on our shopping expedition this afternoon. I'm open minded enough to last to One Direction, too, but I doubt Alex will agree.
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