Out to be Adored

Yesterday Nora and Milo weren't really into napping. 35 minutes in the morning, and 25 minutes for their mid-day nap, which was just depressing. So when they both woke up and were determined to stay up, I packed them in the car and took them to work so that everybody who had been bugging me to bring them in for the last 4 months could get their hands on them.

Nora ate it up. She was as happy as a clam to be passed from person to person; she didn't care who held her. Milo, on the other hand, was a little more reserved. Some people were able to keep him relatively happy, but others seemed to scare him a little and one person in particular made him cry every time she looked at him! Milo spent the whole time just trying to keep it together, making sure I was nearby. He kept sticking out his lower lip in a trembling, I'm-about-to-cry pout. It was ridiculously cute. I'd get a picture of it if I could, but that seems a little cruel because the trembling pout means that tears are on their way if I don't intervene immediately. Above is a general unhappy Milo picture, along with a content Nora picture.

Yesterday afternoon and evening Milo kept spitting up and Jake thought that he had a stomach ache, brought on by the stress of having to be around so many new people. (Being around a lot of new people gives Jake a stomach ache). I hope that's not the case, as we're taking the babies out for a couple of social outings tomorrow, and I don't want it to be painful for Milo. I read a book about the development of babies' brains and the research the authors cited suggests that an inhibited temperment is highly determined by genes. Milo's dad has an inhibited temperment, so maybe he'll be the same way. Or maybe he's just not so sure about strange-looking women who talk bizarre baby talk at him!

Throughout Jake's childhood, starting when he was very small, his mother made him say hello to 5 new people a day. This was in an attempt to make him more outgoing and less afraid of new situations and strangers. Jake still dislikes new situations but he is pretty personable now, and people who don't know him well would probably describe him as fairly outgoing, social, and easy to talk to. So maybe the whole "say hello to 5 new people" strategy worked. It's hard for me to imagine trying to force something like that on Milo, though. I have a weird feeling that I am going to end up being way more of a softie parent than I'd ever imagined. I thought I'd be this hard-core disciplinarian, following the way that I was raised, but now that Nora and Milo are here I feel kind of different about the whole thing. Maybe Jake will end up being more firm and I'll be the big old pushover.

(I can just imagine Milo and Nora reading this years and years down the road and laughing at the very thought of me being anything close to a pushover).