Social Butterfly

I think Baby may be an extrovert. In her 13 months of life she has never "played strange" with anyone. Ever. I keep expecting her to go through her separation anxiety phase or to become clingy or something. But nope, she loves people and the busyness of life in general. She boldly walks up to a group of 3 or 4 year olds at the local kid cafe to get involved with whatever they're doing or community center play gym or even a coffee shop full of adults. Her openness and confidence is awe inspiring.

I'd like to think that our early constant baby wearing, our bed sharing and the fact that I've never been away from her for longer than a couple of hours a handful of times has something to do with it. That's the theory. That AP'd babies will grow up more secure and confident. It makes sense to me and it's one of the reasons why I choose to parent the way I do. I believe if she's secure and confident at home then that will carry on outside of the home and eventually when we're not around. As I said, it seems to be working. Of course, part of it may quite likely be just her personality and her age but I still think we're giving her a good start on things. I get to take some credit, right?

It's intense, parenting the way we do. It's hard sometimes and tiring and I sometimes wonder if I'm a complete failure and if what we're doing is wrong or, more often, "too hard." So, it's good to see some results and to feel proud and validated.

Although I want her to be confident and brave and independent, at the same time, I want to hold on to her and keep her safe and have her all to myself. She's already growing up so fast and physically can move away from me so easily now! But she always comes back and settles in close and for now I'm going to soak that all up before this confidence thing really gets out of control ;)