Ami' is currently very clearly in the shy camp. Chalk that up to not being around a bunch of kids in his age-group - or kids period - since the move to St. Louis back in October 2007. Napi and I both agree he needs to be back in daycare if for no other reason than to get him around more kids. I've already mentioned that he's a mama's boy and that's because 6 out of 7 days (that might be a bit exaggerated) he's only around his mama. Evidence of the need to get him around more kids is abundant. At the playground he hugs the wall cautiously watching all the other kids. Once he figures out Napi and I are close by (as in, right behind him), he zones them out and does his own thing. To the extent he does interact with other kids, it's a cautious wave, or a timid smile, followed by a quick assurance scan for mama and then back to doing his own thing. He's attached to Napi at the hip. Unless she pulls a fast one (like we did on Wednesday evening) and sneak out of the house leaving him with his grandparents, he wigs out if she leaves the room. Obviously a big chunk of that has to do with Napi's role in his life. She's the person he sees everyday and she's the person who most frequently comforts him, protects him, feeds him, bathes him...pretty much everything. But as he gets older, that's clearly something that needs to change, or he'll certainly end up going through life looking to woman to provide all of his emotional sustenance with the result being yet another man looking for a woman to take care of him. Not happening.
All is not bleak, however. Today we visited one of my handful of remaining friends, a young lady I credit with getting me through college (one day I'll tell you how my career choices have been influenced by one constant - I suck at math...). She's a native St. Louisan (let's just assume that's the correct term) and a friend who despite my shortcomings in communication never allowed me to drift away into oblivion. Stacey and her husband have two beautiful kids, and after a few minutes around those kids, Ami' was running around playing as though they were lifelong friends. This isn't the first time he's seen Stacey's kids - they've visited us at Napi's parent's home in the past - but it's been a while since he's seen Erin and Ethan and though I chalk up most of the interaction to the ton of toys Erin and Ethan had available for him to play with, he was indeed playing and interacting with the other kids, and particularly Ethan who is only a few months older than he his. I think daycare will only further help his social development, but it was a relief to see him playing with other kids, having a good time, and just being a (relatively) well behaved kid!
