My Little Attention Junkie

Up to this point, Henry was satisfied to have my undivided attention, but he didn't care much for adoration from the rest of the world. As he is getting older and more sure of himself, he is branching out more.

He is always performing little tricks to get Adam to look at him. If we aren't paying enough attention to him (according to Henry, not us) he will run off and do something forbidden. I will find him in the living room with one finger on the computer and a big smile on his face, just waiting for me to come in and scold him. Or, he will have his pacifier poised over the open garbage can or something equally mischievous.

More amusing than this however is his desire to get the outside world to notice him. He started with my friend Jill a few weeks back. She is the mom of his little friend Kaden and we see her a lot. She is very fun and animated and Henry is drawn to her. The last time Kaden came over to play, Henry would keep bringing her books to read to him. At first I was feeling a little hurt I must admit because I would be sitting right there. I was thinking, "Does he prefer her to read to him because she makes better animal noises?", or something equally paranoid and crazy. Then I noticed it was only when her son was sitting in her lap. As soon as he plopped down, Henry would make a bee-line over to her, hopping up and down for her attention.

On Tuesday, he set his sight on Shawn, Miles's mom. She is very sweet and was playing some sort of hide and seek game with him. While I was feeding him in the kitchen later, he kept doing all of this crazy yelling from his booster seat. I couldn't figure out what he was going on about and then I realized that he could see her and was trying to get her attention in the other room! He was not satisfied unless she looked up and acknowledged him.

Today I was getting the car from the garage. The guys that work there are all very nice and talk with Henry while I am waiting. Henry plays coy, but usually will crack a few smiles for him. The car came and I got him all strapped in, but he was doing his little shouting routine in the back. I had to roll down the window and ask the attendant to open the door to say goodbye to Henry so that he would simmer down.

We also had the super over this afternoon to do some painting. I could not keep Henry away from him, he kept finding reasons to run down the hall and perform his little tricks.

Now that he has a little taste of the limelight I don't think there is anything stopping him! I think I have a little ham on my hands.