So I think I told you that Ethan got a medical kit for Christmas and insisted on giving everyone check-ups. Well, he's still in doctor mode and is quite a good doctor, I must say. Each time Alex falls or hits himself with something and cries, Ethan checks him out and tells either Alex or us that Alex is ok - he'll be ok. But that's not his whole act.
Ethan went to the doctor the weekend before Christmas and was diagnosed with a sinus infection - he got antibiotics and cough medicine as he had a pretty nasty cough as I mentioned before. Well I had/have a cough through the whole Christmas/New Year holiday and tried his cough medicine at one point to see if it would help since Ethan couldn't take it because it was so nasty it gagged him each time I tried to give it to him. OK - this is truly the nastiest cough medicine I've ever had in my life - truly disgusting - makes me feel bad for making Ethan take the 3 doses I made him choke down. He did take the full course of antibiotic and got much better but still had quite a cough - not as often but when he did cough, it was bad and not getting better since he couldn't choke down the cough medicine without puking. So Sunday, he coughed and then came to me and said "Mama, I dust have to go to the docder." I said, "You do? Why?" He gave me a truly priceless expression and waved his hands and said completely matter-of-factly, "For my cough" - kind of like "well duh." It was truly comical. Since I was planning to try to get an appointment for Alex on Monday anyway, I decided it wouldn't hurt to have Ethan seen also to see if there was something else wrong or if we could get a different cough medicine.
I called Monday and got both boys appointments but unfortunately Steve was working so I had the infinite luck to be able to take both boys to the doctor myself...oh joy. We get into the doctor's office pretty uneventfully. Ethan was quite helpful carrying coats and trying to take Alex's hand to guide him, etc. He's really an excellent brother. Then we get into the room and this is where "Dr. Ethan" showed up again.
He sat in the seat the doctor usually sits in (it spins, so I thought he wanted to spin....nope). He looked at me and put his hands on his knees and said, "So, what's wrong today?" I said, "what's wrong? Are you being the doctor?" He said, "Yes, so what's wrong today?" I said, "Well, Alex is sick, not me." Dr. E: "Well bring him to me." At this point, Alex was playing in the floor with a ball, ignoring us entirely. I said, "You get him." Smart boy that he is said: "Give me the ball and he'll come to me." So I got the ball, handed it to Ethan and Dr. Ethan said, "Owix, come hewe. Come hewe, Owix. Look, I have your ball." Alex dutiful went to Ethan - to get the ball though, not so much to answer questions as Ethan would soon learn. Dr. Ethan: "Owix, what seems to be wrong today?" Alex then took the ball and walked back to his corner to play. Ethan just looked at me and with a little giggle said, "he didn't tell me." I told him he'd have to go to Alex if he wanted to ask. So Dr. Ethan got down and went over to Alex and kept stooping down & cocking his head to put his face right in Alex's face as Alex kept bending over to pick up the ball. Dr. Ethan did this about 5 times and each time asked, "What seems to be wrong today?" "What's wrong today?" "Owix, what's wrong?" Then he looked at me and shrugged and said, "he won't tell me." He then giggled and shrugged and started to play ball instead. This whole thing was quite cute and Ethan's face was so expressive, I truly wish I had video as my description can't do it justice.
So then the doctor came in and asked who wanted to go first. Alex was totally disinterested and still playing with either his ball or the wire slide toy thing he got from Aunt Megan for Christmas (which is an awesome attention drawing toy by the way - those little things with the wires and wooden or plastic pieces - ours is wooden - that slide around the coils back & forth - really great to keep a kid occupied in a doctor's office when the ball is no longer interesting or in the car when you're waiting for a script in the drive-thru). So I looked at Ethan who was almost shyly standing sort of behind the doctor with a look of excitement. I asked if he wanted to go first and he said yes. She asked him (using exactly the same words Ethan had been using so I actually laughed & then had to explain), "what seems to be wrong today, Ethan?" Ethan looked at her and said "I dust have a cough." She said, "You have cough? So how long have you had this cough?" He said, "Ummm....let me think (tapping finger on upper lip)....ummm, I don't know." So I chimed in and answered the rest of the questions and then she started listening to his lungs and stuff and Ethan said, "I have one of these too & a termometer & a shot." He told her all about it and was so grown up sounding it was totally cute.
When she left after checking both boys to get the scripts for them (antibiotics for Ethan's pussy ear & cough & antibiotics for Alex's not quite pussy ear that was "brewing" an ear infection), I put Alex on the table to change his diaper. When I finished and got him dressed, Ethan came over to him and patted his leg and said, "Now Owix, I'm going to give you a widdle shot, ok? It will dust hurt for a minute but then you can have a sticker." Alex looked at him and immediately tried to get off the table. Ethan was quicker and took his imaginary shot (he didn't actually have his kit with him) and touched Alex's leg with it. Then as I put Alex down, Dr. Ethan said, "Hewe Owix," and tried to hand him something pretend but stopped midway and asked me, "Mama, can I give him a sticka? Can he have them now?" I told him that yes, he could. Alex was, as usual, playing with a toy on the floor and not really acknowledgeing this exchange so Ethan again looked at me and said, "where can I put it? Can I put it hewe?" (pointing to his chest). I told him he could so he rubbed Alex's chest like he was smoothing on a sticker. He truly takes pretend all the way - I vaguely remember that age from when I was little.
Ethan was such a good patient, he got 2 real stickers - Batman (who he frequently refers to as Spiderman - we'll have to have them both side by side to show him the difference cause he doesn't get it) & Iron Man. These 2 stickers totally occupied him until he passed out in the car on the way home. Well, I shouldn't say "totally" as I had him on Alex detail a few times as I tried to check-out, etc. This works more as a way to tell what he's doing & where he's going as Ethan actually speaks and Alex just grunts and as he walks down the hall & tries to get away, it's much easier when Ethan is on his heals saying "no, Owix. Come back, Owix....Mama, Owix isn't listening...." Thankfully checking out didn't take long so Ethan didn't have to play monitor for too long and I only had to chase Alex down twice. Ethan did manage to keep hold of both stickers and the back of Alex's jacket as I held Alex's hand and we walked to the car. Then Ethan got to let both Batman & Iron Man act out amazing feats for the next 15 minutes till he fell asleep.
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