The sticker says it all

..."Hero--give me a hug, I was brave today"

I told Lukas, in the waiting room of the office where they take blood samples, why we were there. I would have waited five minutes longer--when we were actually in the sampling room--except he asked why we were there (he's pretty smart that way). He remembered the office, but didn't say that he remembered what happens there (we've been to a gazillion doctor's offices, and I'm sure they all run together in his mind...they do for me!)

There were three or four other people in the waiting room when I told him quietly that he was going to give a blood sample. He immediately cried and said he didn't want to do it. I had him counting to 20, but that was about all I could get him to do...he counted really fast because he thinks counting fast will make it end sooner. He continued to be pretty upset (this is putting it mildly) during the whole time the phlebotomist was checking his arms for a good vein. When she finally made the stick, he really screamed (I couldn't believe she didn't bring someone else in to help me hold him...thankfully I was able to hold him by myself), but I got him to count to 30 slowly while the sample was taken.

Once again, the waiting room was all smiles (and Lukas was clueless...no embarrassment on his part) to see the kid who caused such a commotion...many more people had entered during the blood letting. Before we left and after he was calmed down, I asked him if it really hurt. He said, no, it only hurt a little bit. I've reminded him of that several times since...hopefully he'll remember it for the next time.

BTW, Natalie was at school, and Konrad sat calmly in the stroller with us the whole time. Praise God for a low-maintenance third child!