Highway to Hell

Henry and I went to my friend Aly's house today for a playdate. In addition to Aly's two kids Jackson (age 5) and Sophia (age 3), our friend Merri was there with her sons Caleb (age 4) and Jude (8 months) and Lynn came with her son Peter (15 months).

As soon as I get the photo, I will post the group shot. Surprisingly we were able to get all of the kids in a picture with no one crying. Henry had a great time. He loved the bigger kids and played well on the floor (you should see him sitting up now) with Jude and Peter. He did great in the car on the way there; he talked to himself in his carseat for most of the way and napped for the last few minutes.

The trip home was a complete disaster. He was tired when we got in the car and very fussy. I knew it was going to be bad when I lost BOTH of his pacifiers getting him in the car. I just started driving and he started screaming. Finally it got so bad that I thought that something had to be wrong with him. I pulled off the road, got in the back, took him out of the seat and he stopped crying. I checked his diaper, tried to feed him, calmed him down and put him back in the seat. Luckily I found the pacifiers. We get about another mile and the shreiking begin again. I let him go for a few minutes but he was screaming so hard he was choking. I pulled over AGAIN. Same routine. He just wanted to get out of the seat. I got him to where he was almost sleeping and tried again. As soon as his little rear hit the seat the screaming began again.

There was nothing I could do at that point so I just strapped him in. I had gone about 5 miles in 30 minutes and rush hour was quickly approaching. It was also pouring rain. He proceeded to scream at the top of his lungs for the next half hour or so. Just as I was about to dial a priest to schedule the exorcism the storm passed and he fell asleep.

The silence lasted until we came to a complete standstill entering the Cross Bronx Expressway. He immediately woke and the blood-curdling screaming began anew. Miraculously as soon as we pulled into the garage he stopped. I popped him into the stroller and he was happy as a clam. I think I am going to medicate myself for our next car trip.