Thanking the Doctor

Our last Granddaughter but one (or LBO, for short) has lived a large portion of her young life during the pandemic.

Normal, to her, is having both parents at home, walking, or playing or eating with her during every waking hour. And many of the sleeping ones.
24/7.

Huh. When you look at it like that, it sounds rather idyllic.

Moving on . . .

In the last few weeks, her world has enlarged by one Gramma (and occasionally one Grampa), who appears at the nearest corner for ‘walkies’.

Usually, Gramma is accompanied by one four-footed, rather fuzzy companion.

Both are greeted by eager waving and “Bwa-Bwa!”

We haven’t quite figured out which she is most enthusiastic about, the two-footed, or the four-footed.

And which one is really ‘Bwa-Bwa’.

But I digress . . .

At the completion of every walk, her mama says, “All done walkies, Sweetheart! Say bye-bye to Gramma!”

Followed by many, many blown kisses with sound effects: “Bwa-Bwa! Mwaaaaa! Bwa-Bwa! Mwaaaaa!”

Which continue until Gramma (and companion—see above) are well and truly out of sight.

Now LBO is a very active little girl. Happily busy and curious.

Much like her mother before her.

You know the old adage: a toddler is someone two feet high with an arm reach of eight feet?

Written for her.

Nothing is truly out of her reach.

Including Sister’s Playmobile.

Which contains numerous microscopic pieces.

Some of which fit perfectly into one’s nose.

I’m quite sure you’ve put it together.

Certainly, she did.

Resulting in a late-afternoon visit to the local ER.

And a subsequent request to appear at the Stollery (the world-class children’s medical center in Edmonton) at 9:00 AM the next morning.

Which, in due course, happened.

Poking and prodding with lights and/or cameras were a matter of course.

But to actually facilitate said poking and prodding, restraint was, sadly, necessary.

Resulting in the expected shrieking.

And tears.

Finally, when no little Playmobile piece was discovered (turns out she had sneezed it out unbeknownst to her mama), and the restraints were removed, a very sad little girl prepared to leave.

“All done, Sweetheart!” her mama said. “Say bye-bye to the nice doctor!”

And she did. Between hiccups and sobbing breaths came “Mwaaaaa!” with accompanying blown kisses.
Gracious to the last.

And sometimes, being a doctor does have its rewards.