Of course he was none too happy about being stabbed four times.
Jonah turned 10 weeks today, and we headed to Kaiser for his two month “Well Baby” checkup. I don’t know if by “Well Baby” they mean “well, yes, that’s a baby” or if “hopefully well baby” sounded too tentative or if “little germ factory at 60 days” was already copyrighted or what. Call me a cynic (others do), but Kaiser’s “Well Baby” checkup reminded me of the Portland Trailblazer’s “30-second Jiffy Lube” time out. It’s not that commercial (or stupid), of course, but mindlessly happy PR always seems to wave a red flag for me.
Nevertheless, the brief medical summary on Jonah is thus: All systems go. He is one happy, healthy little boy. The pediatrician said Jonah might be slightly ahead of the game in some developmental aspects. While the parent in me wants to wholeheartedly agree and shout out that he’s the most brilliant and precocious child ever (which of course he is), I doubt any of Jonah’s achievements thus far are all that unusual. Nice of the doctor to say anyway.
We did his first immunizations after the visit, and Jonah bore the pain surprisingly well. That’s not to say that he didn’t scream like a banshee, but he didn’t notice needle number one at all. Needles two through four set him off, but what is a parent to do? Sometimes good things hurt. (For those curious, the four shots he got included vaccines for: polio; pneumococcal polysaccharide (PPV); diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP); Haemophilus Influenzae type b (Hib); and hepatitis B.) Erin breast fed him in the medical office immediately afterward, and he settled back down, confirming a central tenet of faith in my parenthood experience: He is such a good kid, and we are so lucky.
Jonah’s social smiles are picking up both in frequency and fervor, and all present are the beneficiaries. He’s also cooing and gurgling a lot more, these early attempts at vocalization being honestly both charming and funny sounding. He now often seems to be hugging you back when you pick him up. As a frequent Jonah transport, I like this a lot. In fact anything that helps me feel the love from the kid is a huge plus in my book, and if anything’s gonna make up for all the poopy diapers I’ve had to change, this will be it. Anyway, all systems go for Captain Nuzzle Bunny.