Nate had been acting a little sluggish for a while.  We first noticed when the pre-school year started that he seemed to be kind of tired.  He really didn't seem to be clicking as much at school, but then again he was in a class with new students (we kept him in the 3's class, while most of his former class mates went on to the 4's class), who were much younger than him.

He caught the flu earlier this month, just like the rest of us in the family (all 4 of us got it).  After the flu, it did seem that every few days maybe he wasn't really feeling up to par.   We took him to the pediatrician to have him examined.  She checked him out, and also we did a finger-prick blood test, which I believe is a check mostly for hemoglobin.  I had to physically hold him down while they did the test, because he's definitely afraid of being "pricked".  The results came back that he was a little anemic, but most of the time that is due to low iron.  We have been lucky that Nate would always eat a good, varied diet, so this seemed a little surprising.  However, I had a low hemoglobin condition when I was a kid, and took an iron supplement for a while.  So, we started an iron supplement.  A fairly nasty tasting liquid.  He did a great job with it, and learned how to shoot it, like a shot of tequila.  Apparently, he's ready for college.