Doctor Toby

What purpose does a hammer, 2 pieces of jigsaw puzzle, 3 clothes hangers, a toy stethoscope and a bag of bagels serve?

You mean it’s not OBVIOUS??? (It wasn’t to me either…)

They just so happen to be the random array of “things” Toby gathered together before announcing that he was “Dr Toby” and then coaxing me to the floor for a medical exam. I was in the middle of paying bills and normally don’t submit to his bossy demands, but was SO INTRIGUED that I promptly abandoned my paperwork and obediently lay down.

I have to say, my child gives a rather random by somewhat thorough physical exam. As it turns out, the little hammer was unfortunately (yet correctly) used to assess my reflexes. Apparently his “doctor books” didn’t give much suggestion in the way of techniques and he went at my knees like someone would attack a 21-inch nail. The bag of bagels turned out to be ultrasound gel, which was imaginarily squirted onto my abdomen. After pausing to think a little and ask me if it was cold (which of course it was) he then applied some more onto my chest and around my neck and then my forehead. It sounds like quite a potentially messy situation, but thankfully it turns out that the little pieces of jigsaw puzzle were for scraping the gel OFF of my forehead. (Technically, I still have imaginary ultrasound gel on all of the rest of me…)

I’m still a bit baffled by the coat hangers. They were strategically placed on my knee and my abdomen and I was instructed not to remove them or jiggle my legs in case they fell off. He then listened to the baby and my heart with his plastic stethoscope BEFORE gently removing the coat hangers.

All in all, I got a clean bill of health. Which is a good thing, because I’d HATE to see what sort of medicinal concoction he’d find in the fridge…