Shy? No way. Well at least that is what I thought to be true until this weekend. While there are a few rare exceptions, E seems more than willing to strike up conversation with anyone at the grocery store, Target, etc. And sure when he is meeting new people, he is a little more attached for the first few minutes but after that he is off and running (literally). So this weekend when we went down to visit my family, I was a little surprised that he was hiding behind his daddy and motioning to be held. However, like usual after a few minutes of getting settled (and being enticed by new toys) the shyness wore off and he was the life of the party.
So what about separation anxiety? I have read at length about separation anxiety rearing it's ugly head in late infancy and possibly extendingthrough early toddler hood. I honestly thought it just didn't apply to E. Sure there was the one time, we dropped him off with my aunt and he was upset but that was a fluke, right? Oh and that period of 4 to 6 weeks when he screamed when we left the room but that was just him not wanting to be alone, right? DUH! That is/was separation anxiety! Normally, Emory seems to be more than willing to take off and play with other kids which is serving a motivation for me to get my butt out of bed on Sunday morning to take him to "Sunday School" aka the nursery. The first time we went was back in May and he loved it! It made my heart smile to see him playing with other babies his age. The same was true when I took him last week. He moved up to a new class with more mobile babies and again he was happy to play the other kids. It was a no brainer...until yesterday. I went to check him into class. He was the first one to arrive. Not thinking anything of it, I handed him over to the nice lady and BAM! The crocodile tears starting flowing. He looked back at me with his face red, tears streaming, and reached his tiny hand back to me. It was HORRIBLE! The logical part of me knew he would settle down once other kids arrived and he no longer saw me lingering. All I wanted to do was swoop him up and run out the door. What did I do? I did what I should which was grabbed my parent pager, took a deep breath, and walked away. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do but honestly could he have been in better hands? I mean these ladies willingly volunteer that time to be in a room full of babies who may cry, drool, puke, poop, or any number of wonderful things little one are known to produce. Of course, I was a bit distracted during the beginning of the service and was sure my pager went off. Guess what? It didn't. In fact, it never did. I did finally relax and before you know it the service was over. (I did sneak out a few minutes early, but hey I am HUMAN!) When I went to pick him up, he was playing with the other kids just like he had the times before. He did however burst into tears again once he saw me...oh the guilt. I know many moms go through this much earlier when they drop their children off at daycare. I am fortunate that E stay with his papa so when I leave for work, he is sound asleep. So what I have I learned from this?
1) Expect the unexpected. Just when you think you know what to expect, these little ones change it all up.
2) Make your exits quick! More often then not, your baby will settle down as soon as your out of site or shortly thereafter. Lingering makes it worse for you both.
3) Make sure E is not the first one in the nursery :o) He seems much more willing to run in and play when other kids are around.
4) Maybe dragging the bambino to church the morning after being in a car all day, off schedule napping, and going to bed late isn't the best idea.
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