Okay, I exaggerate. It’s only day three. Only one major symptom. Sure, there’s a little sore throat the first day, a little fever the next, today he’s a bit stuffy. But the main symptoms of whatever it is he has seems to be grumpiness. Not huggy. Bite yer head off grumpy. But he’s cheered up now, so he must be getting better.

One of the interesting things about Jon (well, to us psych majors anyway) is how a minor illness reveals his internal wiring. We all get a little weaker when we’re sick, but for Jon it’s a bigger deal. For instance, his legs start to cross. One facet of his particular rendition of CP is that the inside muscles of his legs—the adductors–are stronger than his outer ones (bascially some fibres of that muscle group seem to be on more or less permanently). Jon has been able to build up his outer legs to compensate to some extent, but his compensation is close to a conscious action. So when he gets sick, even before any symptoms appears, the legs start to pull in. Last night, after a rough patch where I cuddled him back to sleep, he fell asleep with his legs bent up and together. When I tried to ease them down, it took all of my gentle strength. Gonna need a crowbar soon.

And incidentally, as his body tone goes down, I swear he gets heavier too!