Shy Boy

Ethan has decided to be shy. He flirts with people and gives them huge smiles while mom or dad are holding him, but if he doesn't have us he just sucks on his hand and watches. And the waterworks start right up when someone else tries to hold him. I was going to say that we don't know where this came from, but that's not true. It came from his parents. (Us? Shy? I bet you don't believe it.) It's true.

So, to combat this, we've been trying to expose Ethan to others more. We go to a playgroup every week with kids his age. He sits and watches while the others take his toys, checking every few seconds to make sure that I am still within reach. I try to move a few feet away every so often so that Ethan knows that he can be OK on his own.

And we left him with a friend while he was awake last week. (We were going to a sealing, so we didn't really have a choice.) It was good for him. He is used to this mom and her little boy b/c we often trade babysitting. But usually when they watch Ethan, he is already in bed for the night. So he cried when we left and apparently whined most of the time (it's the cutest little whine you've ever heard), but went down for his nap easily and woke up just as we came back for him. I'm calling it a success.

OH! And Grandma J. came to visit for a day. She arrived in the evening while Ethan was starting his bedtime routine, so he had a little time to see that we were OK with her in our house. The next morning, Ethan took right to Grandma. When I got up (John gets up with Ethan and I sleep in) they were reading a book on the couch without any crying or whining!

We know that this will probably get worse as he is more aware of the people around him. But we also see that he loves people once he get used to them. So we will try to keep pushing him out of his comfort zone. Little by little, we may get an outgoing little boy! (Or still have a shy one, but we're used to that.)