Its all good.

Anna had an abdominal ultrasound today. Her pediatrician ordered it after our last visit, which was specifically about her difficulty potty training. But, while there the doctor noticed her big baby belly and history of gassiness (we eat a lot of fiber, people), so she ordered an ultrasound to be on the safe side. Cool, I thought, a noninvasive, painless test where we can see all of her organs.

Anna, however, got a little anxious.

I told her it wouldn't hurt, but she still pleaded the night before, "Please, please, puh-leeeeease, I don't want to go get pictures of my tummy." The bad part was no food or liquids for at least 6 hours before the test.

Anna woke up early this morning and said she was hungry (again). I distracted her with TV. Then I loaded everyone up in the van. Colin got to drink milk and eat a box of raisins, but fortunately Anna only once said, "Mommy, I'm thirsty."

At the ultrasound office, they told me they were running 15 minutes late. We were early, and they were actually about 30 minutes late. Fortunately there was a cool play castle in the corner of the waiting room, with lots of books and a stuffed dragon. At one point, Anna did hang her head over the side of the tower and tell me, "There's nothing wrong with my tummy. Why do we have to take pictures of it?" I assured her it was just to be safe.

Finally they called us back. Colin was superb, sitting in a little chair in the corner, smacking away on raisins and cheerios. The technicians were nice, but assured Anna it wasn't going to hurt, okay? It doesn't hurt AT ALL, okay? Can I just look at your tummy with this thing that won't hurt, okay, okay okay? Anna got a little anxious and said, "No." I couldn't blame her, I was starting to doubt them, too. They did this at her dental appointment recently, too - everyone was very nice but focused so much on how IT WASN'T GOING TO HURT, NO NOT AT ALL with such anxiety in their voices it makes me want to slap them and say, Hey! Just act like its no big deal, and she'll GET IT!

Instead, I crawled up on the bed with Anna and motioned for them to just go ahead. Once Anna saw that it truly didn't hurt, she relaxed. She started pointing out the comets and planets that were on the wallpaper border decorating the room. The tech was impressed that she knew so many planets, and Anna said, "Yeah, and I live on EARTH. I live on NORTH AMERICA. That's a continent!" Charming Anna was back. Colin said something, and she told them, "I taught him how to say my name. And letters." Then she broke into the "A B C's" song, and both Colin and Anna sang it loudly, slowly, in unison. It was precious. Colin continued with "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," as we looked at Anna's kidneys, liver, and aorta.

After it was finished, we drove to a little granola greasy spoon nearby, The Omelettry. They make great pancakes. I had a huge omelette with avocado, cheese, and tomatoes, and the kids had huge, thick, plate-sized whole wheat blueberry pancakes. Anna loved the whipped butter, and ate everything on her plate. It took a while, but Colin ate 1 1/2 of those huge suckers. Afterwards we went to play on the Central Market playscape and then went shopping.

When we finally stumbled home, there was a message on the machine that said the radiologist confirmed Anna's abdomen is normal. Yea! What a happy ending to a great day.