We're Moving

Where are we going you might ask? Well...nowhere. The HumorMD family is not physically moving. We're just migrating our web presence over to www.humormd.com. The link to this website has been on the top of this page for awhile. I've posted a few medical articles there already. You will note that the post at the top is a new step for me. I've wanted to put down some things down to show the emotional and relational aspects of being a doctor. Hope it speaks to you. So, change your blog feeds and bookmarks. We'll see you over at the new home base...

HUMORMD.COM

How to Decrease Your Drug Costs

Operation Sleep Alone: Accomplished

What can I say? HumorMD Jr did exactly what I thought he'd do. He slept alone in his room for the first time two nights ago, and he slept the entire night without any problem! Little buddy is just a flat out All-Star. He did all of this despite his dear ole' Dad's incompetence as well. I forgot about removing the bumpers until after I laid him down of course. So I had to untie all of them while doing everything possible to not wake him up. Fortunately, he sleeps just as soundly as I do!

Speaking of ways that he's similar to me, it turns out that little buddy is also just as active in his sleep as I am. As a child, I was infamous for banging my head on my pillow while I slept. HumorMD Jr hasn't done that, but he bangs just about every other body part. He's already scared his grandparents while sleeping because they thought he might be having seizure-like activity. Nope, that's just the way he rolls.

We'll see if he can live up to my previously set standard for sleep movements. My pinnacle as a child came when I was able to physically move the crib across the room while I slept. Little buddy can turn himself completely around while sleeping, but he has a long way to go before he accomplishes crib locomotion. I'll keep you posted on his progress. The odds are there will be some pretty interesting things to report. Should we even talk about my sleepwalking as a young child? Sorry little buddy. You're going to have to put in some serious work to overcome some of the wacky things I've handed down to you.

Bumbo Innovations

I've documented well our exploits with the Bumbo. Little buddy hated it at first, but it's grown on him now. Our main issue now is that he gets a bit bored while sitting there. All of his other toys have something for him to grab or swat at. The Bumbo is just a chair of course with no provided entertainment. To remedy this problem, Mrs. HumorMD came up with the ingenious idea of combining some of our toys. Here's a babyless picture of the set up:

Combine the Bumbo with our trusty Activity Gym, and we have an instant hit. Now, he'll sit there for quite a while and swing away at the hanging toys. All of this happens while getting a great little head control workout. He can even take in his favorite show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, while doing all of this. Pretty great idea by Mrs. HumorMD if I do say so myself. The final step will be figuring out a way for him to have his own bottle holder while he sits there, but that's going to take a little more work. Can't rush greatness, right?

Rice Cereal with a Little Flair

We're continuing our journey of adding real foods by circling back to the original. Oatmeal has been going well, and we decided it was time to continue to branch out. As an aside for you non-medical folk, you typically add one new food per week so that you can make sure the child isn't allergic to it. Allergic symptoms typically don't happen after the very first time a kid eats something, so that's why you wait an entire week.

Knowing how bland rice cereal is, we decided to get one of the rice cereals mixed with fruit (apple in our case). Makes perfect sense if you ask me. I wouldn't be real thrilled about eating plain rice cereal myself, so no reason to expect little man would like it either. Sure enough, HumorMD Jr loves it. It actually smells like apple sauce a bit, which makes it even pleasant for whoever is feeding him as well. I'm pretty sure that we have a new favorite food now, and we'll probably be trying all of the different fruits that can get mixed in.

This newly discovered glee with rice cereal comes with a bit of a mess unfortunately. Little buddy gets so excited about his rice cereal that he regularly squeals in delight while it is still in his mouth. This has a wonderfully efficient projectile effect, and the end result is that he splashes it all over himself and whoever is feeding him. I have to admit it's pretty hilarious, and I haven't figured out a way to show him that he has to stop being so happy in order to eat it. What sane person is going to change a happy baby? The alternative is a whole lot worse than having to wear a little bit of rice cereal. It's a good look for me anyway.

Operation Sleep Alone

I know I detailed some things yesterday but we have one other major activity about to crank up here at the HumorMD household. HumorMD Jr has been sleeping in his own digs in our room, but we are about to begin the transition to little man sleeping in his own room. This is hard to do for us in particular because there are many nights that only one of us are home. Consequently, you don't want to risk going back and forth all night if something goes wrong and you're the only parent home.

These fears are mostly unfounded of course. I've mentioned numerous times how good of a sleeper little buddy is. So, we've decided to go ahead and tackle this transition. I've gotten him to take several good naps there so far with much success. He seems to like it pretty well, and I'm confident he'll do just fine. As usual, transitions are harder for the parents than the child.

One other small development, over the past few days mostly, is HumorMD Jr has begun to effectively use his crying ability. He mostly uses it to entice people to pick him up. I'm glad he's developing his thespian skills at such a young age. We'll let you know when he tries out for his first on air part. He'll be the crying baby. Can't miss him.

Under the Weather and Other Happenings

In a drastic turn of events, HumorMD Jr is no longer the one with allergy problems. That would be me currently. I think I might be adding in a nice little upper respiratory infection as well (oh goody!). This means that I'm not able to keep with all the things I want to do, like write more stuff for the blog here. To HumorMD Jr's credit, he hasn't slowed down one bit. We have several things happening right now.

First, Operation Eat Oatmeal is still in full swing. It continues to go well. We had been giving it to him around 6 PM or so because that was a convenient time. Had a little snafu last night and couldn't give it to him until about 8 PM. Typical of most discoveries, this mistake turned out to be great. It seems that feeding it to him later makes him sleep more! He slept for about 9.5 hours straight after that. Amazing.

Our most recent thing that we have started is Operation Roll Over. It is well documented how much little buddy hates Tummy Time, but it is growing on him a bit. He's now OK with being on his belly a bit each day, and I am trying to show him that this opens up a whole new window into his world. He will lift his head and look around, but he still hasn't figured out that he can actually be mobile. Rolling back and forth a bit is about as far as we've gotten. I'll let you know when we make progress. I'm hopeful we can capture the big moment on video too.

Last and on a personal note, one of my aunts is having surgery today to remove a mass on her pancreas. This is obviously a big deal and your prayers would be appreciated. The surgery will not only remove the mass that is blocking her pancreas, but it will also allow us to find out definitively if it is cancer or not. Again, your prayers are appreciated and everyone have a great day!

Inauguration Day Recap

Aim for the Face!

In case you didn't know, little boys like to pee on things. Kind of an unavoidable fact of life, and new parents are victimized every day by little boys that can't control their urinating. HumorMD Jr is no exception to this rule. We've gotten pretty adept at changing out diapers quickly so that he no longer lets loose on us.

On the rare occasion that he does escape us, he has a peculiar habit. For lack of a better way of saying, he pees on his face. Every time I can recall that he has urinated on us unannounced, he has managed to splash his own face. Naturally he thinks this is the most awesome thing that's ever happened. Now that he's making noise, he will scream for joy while the urine runs down his face. He even gets upset when I start to clean him off.

I've noticed that there is one thing that seems to prevent him from committing the POTD crime (peeing outside the diaper). While removing the dirty diaper and placing the clean one, I play a game where I move his legs around constantly. He loves it, and it distracts him from the potential damage that he could do. Yesterday, I tried to stop doing this to see how he would do. He got an intense look of concentration on his face, looked up at me, and immediately cut it loose. He followed up his performance with a big grin. Guess we're not quite ready for prime time yet!

Who You Calling Fat?

Little man went to get his 4 month well check last week. There were shots involved, and he managed to withstand that portion of our visit fairly well. He cried a bit at first, but then he quickly moved on to his favorite hobby, jamming his entire fist into his mouth. More interesting were his stats. Height, weight, and length are the usual numbers you get. Little buddy doesn't want to intimidate the other kids by saying how much he bench presses just yet.

We found out that HumorMD Jr is developing into quite the little porker. Here's the raw data:

Head: 50th percentile
Length: 75th percentile
Weight: 90th percentile

Personally, I was relieved that at least the fat hadn't gotten to his head. Can you imagine a baby with head fat? Not a pretty sight. For those wondering, there is no baby Weight Watchers. Little man will fill out as he continues to grow. We've certainly come a long way from those first few days when we were worried he wasn't getting enough. Now I'm more concerned that he's hiding too much moisture in his fat rolls. Don't want to get an infection in there. Anyone know where to get baby compression hose?

Hello World

Follow the link below to have your mind blown:

Mind Blowing Link

What You Talkin' Bout?

HumorMD Jr is telling me about his day as I write this. No really, he actually is. Little man has been talking up a storm these past few days. There's nothing close to real words yet, but he will sit there for stretches up to 15 minutes just making noises at me. I'm pretty confident that he thinks he's effectively communicating. He'll even get frustrated if I don't respond appropriately or in time.

He really loves when I talk back to him. That probably furthers his misconception that I understand him, but that's OK. As far as he can tell, he's having a conversation with his dad, and I want to do everything possible to make him enjoy doing that.

Unfortunately my work schedule has me pretty tired recently, which is why this post is going to be short as well. I've actually fallen asleep a few times while he's talking to me from his crib or chair. Fortunately, little man is so easy going that he just naps right along with me instead of crying. Got a feeling that he won't be quite so appreciative later in life when he old man falls asleep while he's talking to him. Better enjoy it while I can!

Oatmeal

There is much relief in the HumorMD household today. You'll recall our previous massive failure with rice cereal, which we can barely talk about in public. Little man had been acting pretty hungry lately in spite of his usual bottle. Thus, we decided that another foray into the world of solid food was in order. We bought both rice cereal with apple and oatmeal and hoped for the best.

I'll admit that I was nervous after the first spoonful. He scrunched his face up a bit, and I was sure a cry was coming next. To his parent's mutual relief, a scream of happiness was what came out. Yes, you read that right. HumorMD Jr loves oatmeal. He has been gobbling it up each evening for the past two days. We figure we'll keep it going for this week and then give the rice cereal with apple a shot next week.

This is not to say that the process is perfect yet. Little buddy still hasn't quite figured out eating out of  spoon yet. He still tried to use his tongue occasionally to lap it up like a dog, but he is steadily getting better at it. Mrs. HumorMD also has the foresight to break out his bib that can catch all that he allows to escape his mouth. It has been a lifesaver because I'm pretty sure I'd be cleaning the floor after every feed without it. Kudos to whoever made a bib with a pouch on the bottom. Pure genius.

We were hoping that this newfound love of oatmeal would lead to less bottle time. No dice on that of course. HumorMD Jr slams a bowl of oatmeal and then knocks back his bottle without taking a breath in between. The kid can really eat! We always feel a bit guilty when we introduce a new food or go up on his feeds. He gets really happy right afterwards, and we think we must have been starving him. His weight suggests otherwise of course. He is by no means malnourished, and we'll let you know when he joins the baby Weight Watchers program. Can't let the doctor's son be obese. Bad for business, you know.

Airplane

Some people have trouble with heights and flying in airplanes. HumorMD Jr won’t be one of them. He now has good enough control of his head that I can lift him up above my head. We’re not to throwing him in the air, of course, but he really loves to be up high and look around the room. He’ll break out the big smile whenever he is eye level with the light fixture.

Even better is our airplane game that we play. Essentially I move him around the air making airplane noises. Let me tell you. He LOVES it. This is by far the most I’ve seen him enjoy something. To make it even better, he actually laughs now when I do it. It’s a legit laugh too, not just the little baby yelp.

I have to say that nothing warms his dear old dad’s heart more than to hear him laugh. We do the airplane multiple times per day just so I can hear him enjoy it. Never quite heard a sound that affected me as much as that. I told him to just wait until I can throw him the air or get him on his first roller coaster. He’s going to love it.

Can’t help but point out the spiritual implication here as well. No one wants little man to laugh and be happy more than me. I would give my right arm to hear him laugh like that all the time. Even better, I know that there are much better things coming that will make him laugh ten times more than he is now. He doesn’t know this though. As far as he knows, the airplane game is the pinnacle of human experience. It’s my job to teach him that there are even greater things than that.

What are you holding on to in exchange for what God could be giving you? There’s a lot better stuff out there than whatever you can come up with. Give up your petty things and small dreams. God has bigger things to give you than the airplane game.

Relative Rejection

We’re going to start out this week by saying HumorMD Jr has developed a bit of a problem. Both Mrs HumorMD and I have had crazy schedules here recently. That means he has staying with his grandparents and other family members quite a bit. We’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon whenever I, in particular, show up after a long day at work. HumorMD Jr is happy to see me of course, but he may actually be a bit too happy.

What do I mean by this? Well, I mean that he ignores everyone else once I show up. After I pick him up, he will actually refuse to look at or even acknowledge anyone else. I watched as his grandmother tried to take his hand (same one that had been keeping him all day), and he actually jerked his hand away and looked the other way. Needless to say, this did not go over well.

I’ve tried to explain to little man that he needs to keep up appearances better than that. Never a smart plan to be rude to the person that is taking care of you a lot. He doesn’t understand any of this, as you might expect. I expect this behavior will likely continue as long as he is unable to understand me telling him that it’s a bad idea.

I was hopeful at first that it may just be a function of me being away a lot. My day off this weekend confirmed that it wasn’t though because he continued to do it to other people. What can I say? People skills aren’t high up on his list of good qualities yet. We’ll have to work on that. Can’t take over the world without being able to get along with others, much less get past smaller hurdles like preschool and kindergarten that will be here in a few years. Don’t want my kid to be the one hoarding all the toys in his desk and refusing to share. Bad for his street cred.

Day Off!

Really excited about today. First day off in quite a while. HumorMD Jr and I are watching Mickey Mouse as I type this. Judging from the smell wafting through the room right now, he has welcomed his old man home in his usual way. Expect nothing less from little man.

Today is a pretty good basketball day in the HumorMD household. First, Saturday is rec league basketball day, and we will be attending his little cousin's game once again. I'm interested to see how things have improved in one week! On a national level, the best game of the day comes on at noon. Duke vs. NC State. This is a big deal at our house because our extended and immediate family is littered with NC State grads.

As I've said before on this blog, NC State has the talent to do well. We just have to see what team shows up today. If it's the good one, then they can beat the Devils. If it's the bad, then it will be another disappointing result against Duke. As the Clemson graduate in the family, I have the luxury of watching without being too attached to the result. I think today is going to be another Duke victory, and I'll predict 71-66 Duke.

That's all for now from the HumorMD family. Enjoy your Saturday with friends and family. We certainly will here!

Its Bumbo Time!

HumorMD Jr has been doing pretty well with his head control recently. He can now sit supported on his play mat and be in fairly good control of where his head goes. He'll follow me all around the room as well when laying in one of his chairs. We have tried the Bumbo a few times before, but he always slouched over a bit too much.

Mrs. HumorMD went to pick him up from day care last week, and lo and behold, he was sitting in a Bumbo watching television! Since then, we've done some daily Bumbo time at night to get him up to speed. It's pretty useful because he can sit on the floor between us and watch whatever action is going on. He can last for a few minutes at a time until he starts to cry and wants to get out.

This may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but to us, this was a big milestone. Little man has laid on his back for so long that the back of his head is starting to get pretty flat. It must feel good to have his first moments sitting upright and looking at the world. Not to mention, this will give his skull a change to form more appropriately. Our resident pediatrician, Mrs. HumorMD, ensures me that this head shape thing is normal. I just don't want him to be the kid with the flat head when he starts school. Never known a cool kid with an incredibly flat occiput.

Rec League Basketball

HumorMD Jr took in his first live sporting event this past weekend, his little cousin's rec league basketball game. Believe it or not, he loved it. He stayed awake for almost the whole game and seemed to actually enjoy watching it. He loves anything that involves bright lights and fast moving objects. So, kids running up and down a court in a gym is perfect entertainment for him.

I took the opportunity to provide a little coaching for the little man. No need to waste an opportunity here. I have to say that the game provided plenty of examples of things not to do. Not unexpected for this age group. I had a field day pointing out to little buddy how settling for three pointers (not even kidding), refusing to pass the ball, and dragging your pivot foot are all easily preventable things that should be avoided at all times.

I will say that it was nice to finally see the kids play by the actual rules. Many youth leagues play with modified rules that don't let them steal the ball, etc. I was never a fan of this. If we're going to teach them the game, then why don't we teach it to them right? I watched a kid get whistled for three seconds in the lane on the very first possession. The look on his face told me that he not only had never heard of the rule, but he was also pretty sure that the ref just made that up. There were several humorous moments like that that the crowd enjoyed.

Lastly, I have to say that the parents were fairly well behaved. There's always that one person that yells like its the Olympics. Aside from a coach getting a technical foul (yep, I'm serious), everyone minded their p's and q's. Looking forward to next week when the basketball education continues!

Rice Cereal

The first food other than formula or milk is a large milestone in a baby's life. We decided about a week ago that HumorMD Jr was ready. He's become quite the little chunker, and we figured there would be nothing he'd love more than some actual food. Rice cereal was the natural choice for the first time. For the occasion, Mrs. HumorMD also got a great Mickey bib that catches all the cereal we were sure he would drop. He was all smiles when he saw the bib. We loaded him up into his high chair, mixed the cereal, and away we went.

What's the verdict, you ask? In short...he hated every second of it. Turns out that little man either isn't ready for rice cereal or supremely hates the taste of it. We have tried several times since then, and they have all ended in him screaming. Its important to remember that he isn't even four months yet. By the pediatrics recommendations, you usually introduce solid foods around six months. So, we're not too concerned about this turn of events. We'll try again in a few weeks and see if anything has changed.

I have to admit that this surprised us though. Neither his mother nor I are very picky eaters, so we may have an interesting situation on our hands if he turns out to be one. No use fighting him about it now, but I can just see the dinner table fights coming in the next few years. I never had to eat dinner for breakfast as a kid, but I'm sure we can arrange it if HumorMD Jr wants to try it out!

With One Hand Behind His Back

I've mentioned before that HumorMD Jr has shown a bit of a preference for his left hand. That seems to be a continuing trend thus far. He has started to use the right a bit more. I caught him swatting at one of his overhanging toys with his right hand yesterday. Once again, I could care less whether he is right or left handed. It's fun to talk about what advantages he might enjoy if he was left handed though.

Mrs. HumorMD has a different perspective of course. As a pediatrician, she is constantly on the lookout for developmental things that need to be worked on. Thanks to her, little man is now holding up his head fairly well (remember Tummy Time everyone?). The hand thing has become her new project. In an effort to make sure that he's not delayed, we are putting everything in his right hand for now.

Little man is doing OK with this thus far, but he is still managing to one up us. The only way he'll really do much with his right hand is to occupy his left with a different toy. I still see him staring at his hands when this happens, likely trying to figure out a way to hold two things in his left hand at once. Won't surprise me if he figures out something soon. He's a pretty creative little booger, and he doesn't do things that he's already decided he won't do.

I've warned him to not cross his mother, though, because it likely won't turn out well. It's a pretty easy task to duct tape a baby's hand to his side or back, and Mrs. HumorMD is pretty handy with duct tape. He doesn't want to be known as the duct tape kid in daycare. Not good for your rep at all.

How Bout Them Tigers!

I know it's been several days since the glorious game where Clemson defeated LSU, but it deserves an entire post. First, I'm still jacked that we actually won that game. Tajh Boyd is a man, plain and simple. Nuk Hopkins was dominant, and the defense stepped up big time. I'm very excited for the implications for next year and hopefully the bump in recruiting we'll get from such a big time win.

As it would happen, HumorMD Jr and I took in the game together. Mrs. HumorMD was on call at the hospital at the time. Since little buddy had to stay with his grandparents the next day because I had to be at work early, we stayed the night with them. We were watching the game with my in-laws, but they decided to head to bed around the end of the third quarter. That was about when LSU when up by 11, and it looked like it might not be Clemson's night.

Everyone knows what happened next as the Tigers came storming back to win the game on a last second field goal. HumorMD Jr, however, was oblivious to all this. Why, you might ask? Well, he was asleep. He passed out in my lap around halftime and slept through the whole night afterwards. That meant that I had to watch one of the most exciting halves of football I've ever seen with a sleeping baby in one arm.

You can imagine the theatrics you would have seen had you been there. Every mime out there has nothing on me. There were multiple fist pumps, silent groans, and silent screams of victory all without waking up the little guy. I love my Tigers, but awakening the beast inside HumorMD Jr when he's asleep is just a bad idea. No one saw me until my sister-in-law and her boyfriend came into the room after Clemson won. They thought my silent celebration I was doing was hilarious. Fortunately, none of it was caught on film, or I would be hearing about it for years to come. All I have to say is if I won't even yell during the biggest Clemson victory in recent memory, then I must love that little guy. One day, he'll be yelling with me!

Confession: I Rearranged the Music

When HumorMD Jr gets older, he's going to need to do something. By that I mean I don't want him just going to school and then coming home to play video games all night. He can choose whatever he likes, but there will be some kind of extracurricular activity he participates in. Why am I so insistent on this? For starters, I don't want him to turn into a lazy bum. More importantly, I want him to be well rounded. Nostalgically, Mrs. HumorMD and I both can say some of our best memories of school are from what we did outside of the classroom.

It is in this spirit of nostalgia that I will tell some stories on myself occasionally. HumorMD Jr will get to read this one day, and I'm pretty sure he'll enjoy them. My first will involve my chosen extracurricular activity in high school, the band. I was a trumpet player, and I loved every minute. I was blessed to be in a music program that was actually very good, which always makes it more enjoyable. We went on trips to all sorts of places and won our fair share of contests.

The most interesting year was probably my senior year. I was awarded first chair in the top ensemble my senior year. You would think that means I was talented, right? Wrong. The many first chair trumpets before me were a collection of All State selections and national solo festival winners. I wasn't even close to that. How, then, did I come by the first chair slot? Simple, really. I was the only senior that could play all of his scales, sightread, and generally read music beyond a basic level.

Chair auditions are scored in a weighted fashion. I figured out early in my music career that scales, sight reading, and the solo make up the vast majority of the points. Do well there and you'll probably be all right. That realization carried me all the way to first chair because no one else could do all three.

My knowledge of music did not translate into physical talent however. My fellow trumpeters could do many things that I couldn't do. Being the leader of the section, I was always given the hardest part to play. I didn't want to embarrass myself up there, so I rearranged the parts. Any part that I couldn't play, usually higher notes that I couldn't reach, I would write in on someone else's music. During that section, I would then play their part. In a pinch, I would even just lean over during the song and say stuff like, "Hey James, hold a high C for 4 bars right here." There's no rule that says I can't delegate, right?

I've always wondered if our band director, Mr. Gatch, ever figured this out. Hopefully, this post will make it to him somehow and I'll find out. All I have to say is he taught us to take responsibility and get the job (To be on time is to be late!). Well Mr. Gatch, I heard you loud and clear. I may not have played that high C myself, but I found someone that could!

HumorMD Jr's First Girlfriend

Little man might get really mad at me if he discovers this post later in life, but that's OK. Besides new foods, illnesses, and the occasional self induced vomiting, Christmas brought something else new for HumorMD Jr. For the first time in his short life, he showed interest in girls. For those that know him personally, this might come as a shock because he is surrounded by women most of the time. These women are usually his family though, which obviously makes them ineligible.

This newfound discovery started when we were opening gifts with my wife's family. HumorMD Jr has three girl cousins that were with us. The youngest opened a blonde haired doll that seemed to be a real hit. As a joke, we put it up to HumorMD Jr for his personal inspection. Wouldn't you believe that the little guy went nuts?! He laughed and smiled, and I could practically see the gleam in his eye.

We've seen him smile over toys before, but this was a completely different look. HumorMD Jr has been around other kids his age before, and he seems to take to them pretty well. The doll is about the same size as him, so our working theory is that he thought it was a little girl about his age. Regardless of what he thought it was, it was pretty hilarious. I didn't think I was going to have to break out the talks on dating so soon, but I can't let little man go into the love scene blind. We have to set some standards and boundaries quick. I don't want my future daughter-in-law to only say a few phrases every time you pull a string on her back. That's just low class.

The Second Illness

I think enough time has passed now for me to get over the trauma of the second illness and talk about it with you. As you heard a few days ago, we spent a portion of Christmas Eve in the pediatrician's office. The day prior, we noticed that HumorMD Jr was much more fussy than normal. Little man is very easy going, and any unexplained crying is warning sign for us. The fussiness gave way to a fever of 102, and we knew that a trip to the doctor was in his future.

As a segue, you may think it odd that I take him to see a doctor when both of his parents are doctors. It's simply bad form in my opinion to doctor your own child. Your biases becomes magnified, and you tend to either over or under estimate everything. Plus, I want him to think of me as Dad and not his doctor. Thus, he has his own pediatrician that he sees regularly.

The most disconcerting part of the whole experience was when little man's fussiness turned to full out screaming. I have never heard him scream like that before. That should speak to just how well mannered he usually is, and that really started to concern me. I will give my wife credit here, as I was at work when most of this was happening. She made the appointment with the doctor and away we went.

As it turns out, our little guy had an ear infection. This was fairly obvious when he screamed while having his ears examined. Unfortunately, the ear that was infected also was crammed with ear wax. After a thanks to his Dad for getting his copious ear wax gene, poor HumorMD Jr had to get his infected ear irrigated. All things considered, he really did handle it well. There were only a few outright screams. I would have been rolling on the floor if it were me. It probably helped that I immediately jammed a full bottle into his mouth once the ordeal was over. Formula really is the ultimate comfort food.

We got a prescription for the bubble gum flavored amoxicillin that you have already heard about, and we are still sucking that down twice a day. HumorMD Jr is doing quite well and is getting back to terrorizing his own fingers while he tries to swallow them. I must say that this episode greatly increases my respect for pediatricians. Diagnosing an ear infection may seem like no big deal, but it was pretty nerve-racking hearing him scream. That's even coming from a parent with his own MD. Maybe if we can figure out a less invasive way to get rid of ear wax, then it would be better. Let me know if you think of something. HumorMD Jr deserves a share of the profits after his experience.

Happy New Year!

Holiday schedule once again on the HumorMD blog. Rounding at the hospital this morning (as always!) and then off to spend the day with my family. We will be introducing HumorMD Jr to fireworks for the first time today. Don't worry, it will be on the TV and not up close and personal. There will be plenty of time for that when he's older, and I have no interest in him getting popped by a stray firecracker or Roman Candle today. A trip to the pediatrician on Christmas Eve was more than enough for me.

Everyone enjoy the holiday with family and friends! For your enjoyment, here is a video of something that HumorMD Jr will likely try when he's older. His mother and I can't wait...