This December has been the month of parties! It started with Caleb’s little friend Grady’s 1st birthday party. Then, this past week, we attended 3 holiday parties/celebrations: Ron’s company party, our church Christmas banquet, and a Christmas party at my Hungarian friends’ house. Next week, there’s another party at church. And we haven’t even had our annual Christmas party yet!
Caleb accompanied us to all three parties this week. We observed that he behaved similarly at all three events. I would carry him into the party in the sling carrier, where he would be so very quiet for about the first hour, looking all around, just taking everything in, and snuggling close to me, hiding his face when someone came too close. This “quiet hour” actually was very useful for me, for I could talk & socialize freely and also eat undisturbed.
But then, he would start to warm up. The first sign of this might be a smile cracked at one of the strangers. Or he might start squirming in the carrier, letting me know that he is ready to be let out. I’d take him out and he would start exploring the place: walking, crawling, flirting and playing peek-a-boo with the people there, the same people from whom he had previously hidden his face.
(He is going through a stranger anxiety phase, for lately every now and again he’ll burst into tears at the sight of certain people and he does this shy, face-hiding thing from those who approach him maybe too quickly or too close for his comfort.)
At each party, once he familiarized himself with the new situation, he happily tried foods from my plate, allowed people to hold him, and was in very good spirits, smiling and giggling, but not at all disruptive. Like he knew what was acceptable behavior. At one party, he held out way past his bedtime, being very pleasant and trying to be good even at the very end, though he was utterly exhausted. He passed out in the car even before we left the street. (This was also the party, where he used the toilet like a big boy!) He’s been such a cooperative baby. Really, it’s been no trouble taking him to any of these events.
A couple of weeks ago we also took him to a 2-hour Christmas musical production (once again, past his bedtime). He was in awe of the light show, loving the music (he rocked back and forth in my lap), watching with wide eyes and asking to go back and forth between Mama and Dada every so often, finally falling asleep in my arms listening to the sound of my humming over his head. At times, the music was so loud that I had to hold my hand over his ear. But he slept through the second hour, awakening only when we were leaving the building. As we stepped out into the cold dark night, he revived, and was happy as a lark as we walked to our parked car. Later that night, we summed up our evening with him in two words: DREAM CHILD. We have a dream child.
Dream child, you will have your own party in just a little while.
Caleb accompanied us to all three parties this week. We observed that he behaved similarly at all three events. I would carry him into the party in the sling carrier, where he would be so very quiet for about the first hour, looking all around, just taking everything in, and snuggling close to me, hiding his face when someone came too close. This “quiet hour” actually was very useful for me, for I could talk & socialize freely and also eat undisturbed.
But then, he would start to warm up. The first sign of this might be a smile cracked at one of the strangers. Or he might start squirming in the carrier, letting me know that he is ready to be let out. I’d take him out and he would start exploring the place: walking, crawling, flirting and playing peek-a-boo with the people there, the same people from whom he had previously hidden his face.
(He is going through a stranger anxiety phase, for lately every now and again he’ll burst into tears at the sight of certain people and he does this shy, face-hiding thing from those who approach him maybe too quickly or too close for his comfort.)
At each party, once he familiarized himself with the new situation, he happily tried foods from my plate, allowed people to hold him, and was in very good spirits, smiling and giggling, but not at all disruptive. Like he knew what was acceptable behavior. At one party, he held out way past his bedtime, being very pleasant and trying to be good even at the very end, though he was utterly exhausted. He passed out in the car even before we left the street. (This was also the party, where he used the toilet like a big boy!) He’s been such a cooperative baby. Really, it’s been no trouble taking him to any of these events.
A couple of weeks ago we also took him to a 2-hour Christmas musical production (once again, past his bedtime). He was in awe of the light show, loving the music (he rocked back and forth in my lap), watching with wide eyes and asking to go back and forth between Mama and Dada every so often, finally falling asleep in my arms listening to the sound of my humming over his head. At times, the music was so loud that I had to hold my hand over his ear. But he slept through the second hour, awakening only when we were leaving the building. As we stepped out into the cold dark night, he revived, and was happy as a lark as we walked to our parked car. Later that night, we summed up our evening with him in two words: DREAM CHILD. We have a dream child.
Dream child, you will have your own party in just a little while.
