Doctor's Visit

After two days of Little Boy's barking like a seal and wheezing between pitiful cries, we took him to the doctor this morning to make sure he wasn't having trouble breathing.
I felt kind of silly because I just took the boys to the doctor 10 days ago to make sure they didn't have ear infections (mostly Little Boy, because he was so fussy and cried for five hours straight one day).
When the nurse practitioner came in, I told her I promised we're not going to turn into one of those families where she sees our name on the chart and thinks, "Oh, no, not them again."
She laughed but then Little Boy started coughing and she said, "Geez, it's a good thing you brought him in."
He just has croup, which is inflammation of the airways. It was serious enough that the nurse practitioner thought he should have a dose of steroids (and I trust her because she rarely recommends medicine, and only if it's necessary). So she asked about his appetite and I said it hasn't been good.
She recommended a shot.
Uh oh.
So the nurse came in and gave Little Boy a shot.
He cried for about 30 seconds, and then was okay.
Big Boy and I have talked about shots before, because Curious George gets a shot in one of the stories we have. But the concept must be kind of abstract to him still, because when we got back in the car, he asked, "Why did that nurse poke a hole in Little Boy?"