J's Baptism

It was memorable to say the least. :) J hates hates staying the nursery but he has also discovered that the church echoes so rather than have him yell "GA!" at the top of his lungs through the first half of the service, we opted to have him play in the nursery. My in-laws also stayed with him to try and keep him calm which was nice. During the sermon I popped over to the nursery to put J in the baptismal gown. It's over 100 years old and had belonged to my grandfather. Of course J wouldn't let me take off his blue sneakers and I decided there were worse things. Besides, if it made him feel more normal in that frilly dress, then so be it. Putting on the dress wasn't too bad but the closer we got to the service, the more agitated he became. By the time we started the baptismal part of the service, he was in full melt down mode. Luckily the priest has a great sense of humor and just started saying the words louder. A mom in the front row ran up and gave him a butterscotch which I thought to myself might not be the best idea, but it stopped his crying and I figured I would get him to spit it out before the rector picked him up. Well, of course, he choked on it just as he was getting picked up for the water part. I turned him over and gave him a good whack on the back (which I have now been told is not how to do the Heimlich on toddlers) and we assumed he swallowed the candy for we couldn't find it anywhere. I assured the congregation that if he could cry he was OK, and they chuckled a bit. The rest of the service went beautifully. Luckily for us, J LOVES water and thought that part was great. We got him back to the pew and immediately took the dress off to try and save it for future generations. Of course, then he wouldn't let us put his clothes back on so he spent the rest of the service in blue tennies and a diaper. At least he was happy. :) It was his day after all.

Epilogue:

As we were going into the parish hall for cake I realized that something was very sticky in the front of my dress. At first I thought, "it is a new dress and maybe I washed the tag." As I tried to discreetly fish down the front of my dress, I found the offending butterscotch stuck firmly in the elastic of the empire waist. At least he didn't swallow it.

Another mom came up to me after the service and said that her daughter had exclaimed, "That was the most exciting baptism I've ever seen!" I replied that my family had been entertaining the congregation at the church for many years and it was now J's turn. :)

The End.