Is it stranger anxiety?!

Ok, so I am not sure what switch clicked on or off but how does a sweet, innocent little baby all of the sudden have such a strong opinion about things? From temper tantrums, crying his eyes out around strangers and shockingly around those he does recognize, and knowing what he does and doesn't want all the while letting you know about it. But goodness gracious...we have been in for an eventful ride this past week. Not because we don't know how to handle these situations, but simply because we are shock that our precious one is acting out?

He has always been a happy, friendly, outgoing little guy...what is this? He has definitely become much more vocal and is babbling sentences as though he is having a conversation with you. But then bam, out of no where...he cries! Of course only twice, but yes while we were in public and around new people.

He was in dire need of a haircut and we should have walked out the moment we saw his face, but man the second he met his hairstylist...he was in tears...and it just got worse. So needless to say after about 10 min of crying hysterically and a pretty cut up haircut...we walked out. He was better once he saw his buddy Braden and the carousel.

Then onto swim lessons, oh boy! The boy loves water, but the moment the lady would start singing, he was in tears. He loves singing, what is the deal? And of course the moment he would see me, he was crying. So I had to hide behind a wall.

I have read up on stranger anxiety and they say it peaks at about 12-18 months. How could this be though, he is around kids and people all the time and every day at daycare. But everyone I talk to says he's that age...something we just have to work through I guess...we just feel so horrible for him. We don't like to see the little guy cry hysterical.

Oh but don't be fooled, then there are those times that he has something you take it away and he throws an absolutely temper tantrum, no tears but just so upset you thought you would have taken his best friend away. It's all about working with him, talking to him and asking why he is crying. He all of the sudden seems to stop. So we are working on our communication with him, I think he is frustrated b/c he is trying to communicate and can't quite get it out to be understood. We are all learning and it is a continuous learning curve!

Fun times and happy moments!