It all started while I was putting together his new trike/rocker/push toy --- yes I was putting it together. It came in the mail yesterday from Grandma and I couldn't wait until Jason got home. I have to say that I did a fairly good job (despite the fact that I had to remove and re-screw 13 screws because I thought I had used a #10 instead of a #8 somewhere on the handle -- turns out I had just counted wrong -- and the fact that a wheel came off this morning...no worries, though, Daddy will fix it tonight). Following the apocolyptic tantrum, we even played with it for a while before bed.
Well, while I was figuring out the toy, Charlie was playing with the stickers. From time to time he wanted something he couldn't have (screwdriver, screws, small plastic pieces), but I just took them away and though he would fuss, he recovered fairly quickly each time. Jason got home a little bit before six and Charlie was thrilled as ever to see him, but when Jason tried to put Charlie down the crying started. It soon developed into screaming -- we were stunned. Thinking that he was hungry, we tried to put him in his highchair but the screaming turned to shrieking -- which is highly unusual. Charlie loves his highchair because he only sits in it when he eats. We fed him a bit of cheese and sausage on Jason's lap, but even that didn't calm him down for any significant period of time.
Next, Jason took him upstairs to change his pants and see if perhaps something was pinched or twisted (ouch!), but everything was fine. While they were upstairs I frantically counted screws, plastic pieces, instruction sheets, etc, thinking that I may have allowed Charlie to swallow something that was now stuck in his esophogus and causing internal bleeding, but everything was accounted for.
Still, the crying/screaming continued, so we opted for a bath -- which is typically fool-proof in our house. Naked is the closest thing to heaven for Charlie. He did calm down in the bathtub briefly, but started crying again before we even got him shampood. It was absolutely bizarre.
Finally, after rocking him for a while, I decided to nurse him early. Thank goodness he finally started to come around. Jason and I considered that the whole ordeal might be due to the fact that we've started weaning this week (a whole other blog...), but I don't think so. So far Charlie has only given up his mid-afternoon bottle, so we haven't gotten to the part that should cause any separation anxiety.
Afraid of kicking off yet another fit if we put him down, we brought Charlie back downstairs to play with his new toy (which he adored!) and even fed him some fruit and puffs while we ate our somewhat congealed dinner. Then around 7:30 we read a couple stories, said our prayers and he went down fairly easily.
All in all, the entire episode lasted less than 2 hours, but it was all just so un-Charlie. The only times he's ever been inconsolable before were the first time we left him at Kate's and one time in the nursery at church. At Kate's a bath solved the problem, and at church he recovered soon after I came back to play.
While I have never belittled the trauma that colic can inflict on a family, after 2 hours of a screaming child I have much more empathy and sympathy for those poor parents -- and this was nothing in comparison. I can honestly say that I don't know what I would have done if this had happened when Jason wasn't home.
This morning our sweet Charlie was the one staring back at us from his crib, and so far he seems to plan to stick around...but I can't shake the underlying fear that that horribly unhappy little boy might make a return visit.
Feeling it out in the "rocking" position
Getting the hang of it
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