The Baby Expert: A Marked Improvement

After a couple of failed experiments, we’ve finally gone back to our original plan of not letting people try to hold Caitlyn. This seems to have relieved any stress or pressure that Caitlyn might have had. I think prior to this, Caitlyn was always anxious around my parents because she thought they would whisk her away from Mommy at any moment.

But now that we’re upholding the ‘no holding’ rule, partially because my dad’s too scared to her hold now, Caitlyn is content with being around them. And if Mommy is in another room, she will go and check on her, but will usually come back to where the fun and action is. Balance has finally been restored.

This was particularly true this past weekend when we went to go visit family for the Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday. My dad had reminded everyone about not holding Caitlyn, and it seemed to work. Everyone was on their best behavior, and in turn, Caitlyn was on hers.

I think people were a bit shell-shocked when the fussy, crying Caitlyn didn’t show up at their door. After all, this is the only side of her that they’ve seen. Instead, she put on the performance of a lifetime, smiling and interacting with everyone, which garnered a resounding grade of ‘100’ from the crowd for her behavior. And on Sunday, she had a repeat performance when we had another family gathering.

Yes, she had to be by Mommy’s side for the most part during both days, but we’re moving forward one step at a time. Hopefully that next step or actually, crawl, is having her clamoring for people other than Mommy to hold her. A daddy can dream big, right?