A More Outgoing Cupcake

Rosemary takes after me in many ways. She is very serious, shy and anxious, and it takes her a minute to get comfortable with new situations.



We think part of the problem is her allergies; it's hard to be happy when you're sick. That's how I feel most days, unfortunately: run down, tired, and just trying to catch a break. To be 100% happy, it helps to also be at 100% health. The allergies hit her hard. We try to fight them with daily doses of Children's Zyrtec and the occasional hit of Benedryl, but she's still a cranky little lady during pollen season. I'll never forget when we first took her to visit Senpai's grandparents and other extended family in upstate New York: our cranky colicky baby did a complete 180. She was smiling! Happy! It was a miracle! I became very depressed at the thought of taking her back home. :-(


R in upstate NY, 2010. Not crying!


R today. Now that the weather is turning colder she is starting to brighten up again.


Birthday Party

Most of her friends have Fall birthdays. At the beginning of September, Rosemary, Poppy, and I went to her friend A's party. Senpai had Reserve duty and couldn't make it. Oh my gosh... we ruined that party. Rosemary was shy as always, hanging onto me and not venturing away to play with the other kids (all of whom she knew and had seen at Storytime many many times before). I think the pollen count must've been high that day because something caused her to escalate. The tears and screams from both R AND Poppy (P had her fill of being knocked around by R as she climbed all over us) forced us to leave early. I asked A's mom to apologize to the other party guests for us!

Later in the month we were invited to another friend's party. Senpai also would not be able to attend due to Reserve duty, so as much as I hated to do it, I declined the invitation. I didn't want to ruin this party, too! The mother of this child had been at A's party and understood my fears. Fast forward to the end of October, and there was yet another invitation. This mother had been at A's party, too, and still she was brave enough to invite us! This time, though, Senpai was available to help. When the mother nudged me that I hadn't RSVP'ed yet, I bit the bullet and said yes.



This party was a success! Rosemary played with the other kids and the toys, she talked to complete strangers, asking them what they were doing, and she had conversations with not so complete strangers, too. She called A's father "Daddy." A did not like that. :-)


Ms. Sue

An ongoing socialization project I have with the Cupcake is to get her to "Say 'Hi' to Ms. Sue!" I tell her that every time we walk in Barnes & Noble, "Be sure to say 'Hi' to Ms. Sue!" Ms. Sue is one of the story tellers. She is great. She knows the names of all of the regular Storytime kids, and she always comes over for a chat when she sees us around the store. (I might add I think she's a bit enchanted by Rosemary in particular, but that could just be my Mommy pride.) Rosemary has always been shy, though. Ever since I started bringing her to Storytime at one year old, whenever Ms. Sue tried to greet her, she would run away and hide behind my legs. As the Cupcake has blossomed and started being more talkative with others, her wall against Ms. Sue alone continued to hold strong. Imagine our excitement when there was finally a breakthrough this week. 


Rosemary started by talking to complete strangers in the cafe. Okay, I thought, this is great! She isn't running away screaming, yay! When Ms. Sue saw us and walked up, Rosemary must've still been riding the high of talking with the other people, that she just continued to talk and directed her speech to Ms. Sue! It turned out to be a lengthy conversation... from what I could tell it had something to do with R wanting to throw away her lollipop stick. Ms. Sue didn't understand most of what she said, but you could see that she looked so pleased. :-)



I am so excited to see her social butterfly stretching its wings. I love to see this smile, too. I hope the progress continues and she learns that talking to new people is not scary, in fact, it is a wonderful way to learn more about the world we live in. It's something I am still trying to teach myself. I used to think that small talk was the bane of my existence. Well, small talk is only small if you think of it that way. Another way to look at it is that it is the doorway to the vast world of another person's experiences. Experiences that I may either be able to relate to, or may know nothing about. So find out. You hear that, Cupcake? Find out.