Babysat

Justin went to a friend's house today. Chris is about my parents' age and her own little granddaughter is just Justin's age. Chris and Justin are very fond of each other. He's been going through intermittent stranger anxiety, but Chris is on his short list of OK people.
I dropped him off at Chris's house this morning and, after disposing of hats and coats, went in to give him a hug goodbye. He gave me a very brief one and then pushed me away.
"You don't want a hug?" I asked.
"Ah-doh," said Justin, holding out his hands, palms outward.
"You want to stay and play?"
"Adwa," he expostulated further, gesticulating at the room and clearly prepared to fend me off if necessary.
"I'm going to go bye-bye. I'll see you later."
I got the message loud and clear. He's perfectly comfortable and wants to see if he can make that rocking horse play that tune again. Where WAS that switch? Oh yeah, bye mom.
It makes me feel good that he's not screaming as I head out the door. He'll be glad to see me when I come back but he's happy while I'm gone. It's nice.

Reasons

I decided to start a new blog. I quit the blogosphere when Justin was impending a few years back. I was far too busy to blog, and have been since then. I wasn't, however, too busy to photograph. I took 2,000 photos in the first year of my son's life. And I sorted through them all and printed about 500 of them for photo albums. (It took forever.) I also posted photos to a webpage so relatives, god-parents, and "adopted" relatives could see how he was developing.
Then he started moving and photos didn't capture everything so well. I was very grateful for the video function on our camera. Video clips started going up--crawling, talking, walking, throwing balls.
But we've hit a new stage. He's gotten more interpersonal (and more inclined to grab the camera, even if it happens to be on at the right moment). He's reached the age of stories rather than descriptions. So, while I will continue to post photos and videos, I've decided to start a blog to tell the little stories of Justin's life. I hope you all enjoy!
Like Justin's photo page, this blog is not linked to by Blogger or other public sites and is supposed to be find-able only if you know the actual web address. I would request that you help me take precautions for Justin's safety by not linking to this address from any web page you may have. The web address can be e-mailed to any trusted individuals you want to be able to see it. Thanks!

On Names

We named him Justin Arthur, of course, but that didn't matter much for the first few months of his life. His person-ness, though miraculously complete, seemed too tiny to warrant a grown-up name. So he got called things--the inspirations of a moment. "Sweet pea" was applied when he curled up like a tiny, furled flower on my chest. "Small fry" was his father's more masculine appellation for the child. "Munchkin" got used so much that it even got diminutived into "munchies." And Anne, my close friend who lived across the street and pretty much comprised the short list of people other than blood relatives I would leave him with, called him "Justin-monster." Nobody (including her) knew why. She asked me once if it bothered me, and I said of course not. Nicknames just sort of stick, or don't.
Two years later, he's big enough not only to be called by his own name but to know it. "Small fry" has dropped but "Munchkin" is so synonymous with his person in my head that I have to remember not everyone will know who I'm talking about. And when Anne and I talk on the phone, she still asks me how "the Justin-monster" is doing. So I decided to make it the address for his blog. I don't know why. It just seemed to stick.