Living like a Pharaoh

For this one, I'll have to create a new label. How about: "Things I never expected to happen".
We were away all weekend, drove 6 hours home in sleet and nearly freezing rain. JB didn't like the car enough for that to be a joyous ride. He was going a little stir crazy and we couldn't go directly home because our house was being shown at the time we expected to arrive.

So needless to say, his internal clocks and sleep cycle and eating schedules were all messed up. At about 3pm, he seemed so tired (or maybe hungry, but because it seemed like he had eaten enough, we assumed tired) that we put him down for a nap. He slept for about 30 minutes and woke up in a state. JB was crying, shaking, screaming. Not feverish or obviously in pain, just distraught. We tried food, refused. We tried several types of food, then binkie, then everything we could think of. He acted like a rookie southpaw shaking off the catcher. His refusals got more physical and his crying turned into hysterics and what can only be described as a fit.

We decided to peel off his clothes and steep him in a bath in the sink because he has my tendency to calm in warm water. JB seemed to momentarily approve and then was overcome by his disgust for us and tried to kill himself by repeatedly attempting to smash his head on the porcelain walls of the sink. Then katy had the brainstorm... to the shower we ran. While I held his soaked, naked, wailing body, she and I undressed me and I carried him into the shower...

There, he clutched me, and quicker than I expected, calmed right down. His legs were up near his chest. His arms wrapped in a death grip around my neck. His head laid heavy on my shoulder. After a few moments, my back started to ache, but his breathing slowed and his muscles relaxed. Then, it was all chill for 3, 4, 6 minutes. And Katy and I agreed that if we pulled him out of there in his current state of hunger, things might just fall apart. So while I held him in the shower, Katy spoon fed him the Italian wedding soup we had tried to pass off earlier.

I would do anything for this kid, but I really never thought it would look like this... stripped out of my clothes on a moment's notice to hop into the shower- yes, obviously. The meal under a sprinkle of warm comforting water- um, okay, but a little unexpected.

The real surprise, though, was how sweet and beautiful it was. How content and happy he became as the food filled his empty belly. I made katy feed him the entire bowl because I just didn't want the moment to end. One of the sweetest most unanticipated experiences I've had yet...

But seriously, who gets a bowl of homemade soup IN the shower?