Shy or just overwhelmed

This week Lilli and I went to a Christmas party at my old place of employment. It's wonderful to be able to visit and still feel like a part of the group. My old co-workers are fantastic people and it is always a great time when I get the chance to spend some time with them. Lilli is lucky to have them in her life, considering she sees them more than she sees her extended family.

Usually quite a ham, Lilli surprised me when she didn't speak much or put on her usual "look at what I can do" -dance. She signed a lot and rarely spoke her usual full words. She usually loves being the center of attention and will pull you away from whatever is distracting you from more important things... mainly participating in whatever she is doing.

Perhaps she was distracted and overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people trying to hold her, watch her, talk to her, or simply just engage her in some sort of interaction. It's highly unlikely she was just being shy. On the other hand, Dave isn't really a "talker" in most situations. It's not that he's shy, it's just part of his personality. The ying to my yang. It's hard to get a word in when you're married to someone like me, unless you get a little whiskey in him... :)

On the other side of the spectrum, we were playing at the playground with a brother and sister earlier in the week and she seemed to blend into the situation very well. The two kids were very sweet and played very nicely with her, leading her around and showing her how to play pretend. I noticed quite a change since the 4th of July hug that ended in rejection. She even let both of them hold her hand and hug her goodbye when they were leaving.

The situations were very different, but it made me wonder about Lilli's personality, which side of the outgoing/shy line she will fall on. She's already exhibited mostly extroverted personality attributes, but since her personality is still developing, you never know where she'll end up by the time her personality stabilizes. I find it very interesting, watching her personality develop. I pay close attention to how she reacts in situations. My very own psychological science experiment.

"Song of the Entry"

Body by Mother Mother