Interacting

I love the library. If you belong to me, then you also love the library. I'd say that we go the library at least twice a week. Usually it's because I have books on hold that have finally come in and I'm excited to read them, so I drag the girls with me to fetch them. But, usually we are at the library because we have a day full of nothing and we can spend endless hours at the library.

Julia really likes the computer at the library. She will make a beeline for it (after stopping at the gingerbread Sesame Street display and saying "Hi!" to Elmo and Big Bird) and then loudly tell me that it is hers and ask me in her Julia-language to make the kids that are using it to get off. That's when we practice "taking turns" and "don't embarrass Mommy in public".

I'm trying to take advantage of the activities offered to toddlers this school year. Julia is a million sads that she is not going to school with Elisabeth. I have signed her up for Tumble Tots at the YMCA (which, of course, I shall tell you all about once the class starts) but it's only on Fridays. So, we're going to schedule in the Toddler Time at the library to also fill in the week.
I have realized that Julia LOVES to sing and dance and do finger rhymes. Elisabeth showed interest at such a young age, that I just assumed it wasn't Julia's thing when she wasn't singing solos at a year old or memorizing entire albums by 18 months (Elisabeth knew The Dixie Chicks' FLY album and most of the Chicago soundtrack). But, at the age appropriate time, Julia has really blossomed in the singing and dancing areas. It's fun to hear her sing Wheels on the Bus or Itsy Bitsy Spider to herself while she's playing. So, Toddler Time has been fun for her.

And, it's a great way for her to interact without me. You see, Julia is shy. Painfully shy.

For example, we went to the doctor today (I thought the girls might have had chicken pox or some other pox-y illness. Nope. Julia had bug bites and Ebeth's was just a part of having some sort of virus.) When Julia visits the doctor's office, she usually is most excited...until a medical staff member walks in. Then she becomes silent and stands right next to me. When it's time for them to invade her personal space, she doesn't cry, but does want me to hold her hand. All of this is totally normal, and I get that.

But, then, Julia plays possum.

I'm not kidding. She stares into space and refuses to make eye contact, talk, move, anything. It's like trying to get the temperature from a doll. A large, immobile doll. She won't even look at me. It's like she goes to her happy spot somewhere deep in her own mind and she's waiting for outside interference to go away. As soon as they are done trying to talk to her or get her vitals, she will look at me and only me and say in an almost silent whisper, "I go home now?". It's kind of funny, but I know that shyness can get in the way of other things.

It's amusing that we have this issue, because with Elisabeth, we had to teach her to stop talking to others and giving them her complete identity and trying to go home with them. With Julia, it's the complete opposite.

So, we're branching out. We're going places and learning how to interact with others. We're signing up for classes and trying to respond when others ask us questions or initiate conversations with us. It should be an interesting experience.