So, my child has upped the bar recently and it's an interesting development. I'm not sure what brought it on, or if it was merely a combination of circumstances (which is more likely) but I'm glad for it. I've mentioned before that Jude is a reserved child with other children. He avoids rough housing with them (but he'll wrestle us like a pro) and tends to choose his friends very carefully. He's friendly, don't get me wrong, if there's another kid his age around he'll usually attempt to strike up a conversation (which consists of "I'm Jude Price, Iron Man!" as of late) or try to play, but he gets overwhelmed if they're too in your face and he'll back off.
Well Sunday we went with Aaron's family to Maris Farms (Pumpkin Patch) and Jude's cousin Ayden was along. The boys usually don't get a chance to interact much outside of Tutu and Pap-pap's home so this was sort of a new scenario for them. Jude isn't shy. He may be for like ten mins if someone approaches him directly, but for the most part he'll go on about his business despite strangers being present. He doesn't like to be physically crowded, mind you, but he's the same child out and about that he is at home, there's not much deviation. Ayden, on the other hand, is more reserved, which I've sort of noticed in general, but like I said, we usually see him in an environment where he's comfortable so it's not that pronounced. At Tutu and Pap-pap's home (grandma and grandpa Price) Ayden typically dominates the play and Jude follows suit. They play well together, and when I say dominate I don't mean bully type of dominate, I just mean that Ayden likes to take the lead and so long as it's pleasing to Jude, he'll go along with it.
When in a public place though, apparently this changes a great deal. Bear in mind that this was only one scenario, so I can only really speak for Jude on this, and that's what I'm noting; his change, which I'll get to.
Ayden's behavior wasn't surprising, like I said he's always been a bit more reserved by nature, and his life is a little less stable so it makes sense that he would be so (again, not a judgement, just an observation). Jude is more... I want to say childlike, carefree, young soul vs. old soul type of thing. If you knew the boys, you'd get what I'm saying. Anyway, while at the farm Jude was just Jude. Running around, yelling, playing, getting into things, talking up a freakin' storm, and Ayden kept to himself but for a few instances where he seemed more comfortable, like when doing something he was use to (i.e. sliding down the slide, jumping around on the bouncy pillow). I mention these because I think that this played into Jude's change toward Ayden, whcih I'm getting to, I just want to explain myself clearly is all.
Later we all went out for pizza at Farelli's. It wasn't very crowded so the boys were able to play a bit after diner. They were both given balloons and preceded to have a balloon fight. Here's what was surprising; Jude kept backing Ayden up against the wall with during this (naturally he'd be told to back off a bit and give him room). Based on what I've mentioned previously, this was surprising to both Aaron and I. This was the first real show of aggression we've seen in Jude. Not that I want my child to be aggressive, but we have been trying to instill in him a need to be assertive so this was actually something we were glad to see. It was harmless, there was never any worry over him harming his cousin and Ayden would let him know when he'd had enough so Jude was getting a lesson in "Hey, he's asking you to stop, that means stop" (or something to that effect). It all made me sort of hopeful that he won't actually be a doormat to other children (a serious concern for me, the only real one honestly). Of course, with a three year old it's a fun time teaching him when to back off and when backing down is also important, but that's an over-time, keep at it, kind of thing.
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