Baby of Stone

Sometimes I worry that I will forget some of the crazy things my son does. I was reminded of one this morning, as I found myself standing at the bottom of a flight of stairs with a basket of laundry in my hands, and JJ at my feet.

My first inclination was to wonder if I could get the load of laundry to the next floor and return before JJ began his inevitable unassisted ascent. That little voice in my head did it's job however, and reminded me that JJ has a tendency to get a little distracted on the stairs, which usually ends in him trying to sit where there is no floor. And I would be very upset if my little dude fell down and broke his proverbial crown.

My second option would have been to put the laundry basket down, take JJ upstairs, put him safely in his crib, and return for the laundry. And I am waaaaay to lazy for all of that work!

So I went with option number three: Lay JJ on top of the clothes in the laundry basket (they were clean!), and take them up together. And that's when I was revisited by a character JJ used to assume all the time. John and I nicknamed him: Baby of Stone.

His act requires him to lay stiff as a board, expressionless, moving only his abnormally huge eyes. It seems to be some sort of defense mechanism for JJ whenever he is uncertain in a situation. He used to perform Baby of Stone whenever I would take him into my former place of employment. I always chalked it up to nervousness from being held by so many adoring women.

The only thing I can liken Baby of Stone to is a possum playing dead. Or maybe one of those fainting goats. By the way, I researched those fainting goats in order to give you a point of reference. I found the IFGA. That would be the International Fainting Goat Association, of course.