Of course you love Baby, and of course they love you – the two of you have been building a bond since the day you first met, whether that was the first time you saw that little heartbeat flutter on the ultrasound or the first moment they were placed in your arms. You’ve built a trust every day since that moment by responding to their needs and guiding them through the vastness of the world. The big-picture stuff is pretty well set. It’s the smaller, day-to-day moments that can feel a bit more uncertain. Yes, you and Baby are bound together eternally by your parent-child bond. They love you. But does they like you? If you met them at a party, would the two of you hit it off?
Yes. Baby may not have the vocabulary to tell you so yet, but your influence on their development is only one part of why the two of you are perfectly compatible.
Near, far, wherever you are
When Baby is very young, they show their love by wanting you around all the time. By the time they are about 6 months old, they may have already started objecting loudly any time you so much as leave the room. This can be difficult to live with, but it’s also a sign of your compatibility, since you’re just getting to know Baby, too, and are also faced every day with how tiny and defenseless they are. As nice as it would be to be able to, say, take a shower alone without inspiring tears, there’s a good chance that, a lot of the time, you’ll want Baby close too.
On the other hand, as they start to get a little older, and begin to crawl, pull up, cruise, and even walk, they are going to want to start exploring the world around them, no matter how much they like to keep you close. When this stage starts, they will prove they still want your company by checking back in with you, even as their independence grows.
Center of the universe
No, not you – Baby! Even in those moments where there’s nothing they need for survival, they want your eyes on them. This can lead to acting out, seeking negative attention, yelling for you when you’re rude enough to be on the phone when you could be talking to Baby. There are a hundred other behaviors like this that, on the surface, might feel like they’re designed to make your life harder. In reality, these moments just further prove how much Baby wants to spend time with you.
Share and share alike
When Baby first starts cooing and babbling to you, sometimes as young as 3 months old, they have no other frame of reference for it other than the fact that they see you interact with other people this way. It isn’t a way for them to communicate anything specific yet – they rely on cries for that still. Their only and best motivation for taking the earliest steps towards verbal communication are just to imitate the way they see you interacting with other adults. That’s how much Baby likes you.
