lollypop

The other day, Abby had her 15-month check-up with her fabulous doctor. While there were no shots in store for this day, Abby definitely associates pain with a trip to the doc, and from the moment we stepped foot in the room, she was scared out of her mind. She SCREAMED when the nurse took her measurements. We got to her to calm down and play with some toys in the room while waiting for her doctor, but she was, by no means, relaxed. Her whole body was shaking, even as she was walking around the room and handing us toys. Finally, the doctor came in, and we had to endure one of the saddest cries from our little girl that we have heard in a long time. Still too young to understand that there were NO SHOTS today, we just had to keep telling her things were alright and keep snuggling her.

There was one redeeming thing about the morning though. Our nurse who has been with Abby since she was 2 days old asked to give her a sugar-free lollypop. I was concerned, not knowing if she was too young for hard candy. But Abby proved that, apparently, lollypop consumption is a natural developmental step, like crawling and walking. She yanked that thing from the nurse’s hand, and began licking away, as if she’s known what to do for years. It was hilarious. She didn’t try to bite the candy once, just held it in her shaky little hand, licking away for a half hour.

Hopefully, from this point on, she will have something positive to associate with her trips to the doctor.