Collateral Damage

Object permanence and separation anxiety are just fancy terms for a CRYING BABY.
I think we may have hit the beginning of that stage for Baby Z. He is starting to be much more aware of his surroundings to the point where if he wakes up in a strange place (because I've taken him somewhere in his car seat), he looks visibly alarmed and jerks his head all around trying to take it all in. It's very exciting that Baby Z is learning that there are different places and things and the ones he prefers (Mommy and Daddy and home) are there even when he can't see them. However, it is extremely inconvenient when you get a call from the babysitter when you're out on a date with your husband.

We dropped Baby Z off at John's parents' house. Grandma and Grandpa were extremely excited to spend time with Baby Z. While Grandpa was out buying a new bouncy seat sort of contraption to entertain their only grandson, Baby Z suddenly decided he wasn't havin' it anymore. He started to cry. And cry. And cry. This is also a new skill of 6-month old Baby Z. He can cry like a banshee with the lungs of a marathon runner. And now, the cry seems to be mostly emotional - not due to a physical discomfort. The only thing that works is comfort- shushing, swaying, whispering. Whether Grandma and Grandpa weren't combining the right combo of shushing and swaying, or Baby Z just wanted Mommy's version of them, it's not clear. Finally, Auntie and Uncle (regular babysitters for us) stopped by and helped calm the situation.

We finally got the call and left our movie early (got our money back, thankfully). When we got to the house, Grandpa was hunkered down in the garage fiddling with something. Inside, we saw what looked like an encampment - a little quiet circle of soldiers hunched over, waiting for the next incoming shower of cries. One look at my mother-in-law's face, and I knew she wasn't going to be babysitting again for a while. She literally looked shell-shocked. Like she had seen atrocities of war. I felt very badly for her.

We soothed the overly tired baby and tried to reassure everyone he was fine and they didn't do anything wrong. Grandma and Grandpa stated resolutely that they had never seen a baby cry like that (?), with that vein pulsing out of his forehead. Selective memory of grandparenthood, I guess. Grandma thought he was having a baby stroke (her words for a seizure). We weren't exactly sure what had happened, but we suspected Baby Z just got overwhelmed by the new place and people he doeesn't see all the time. But, what are you gonna say? - Their grandson is frightened by them? We muttered about him missing naps and shuffled our way toward the door.

Once home, Baby Z seemed fine. Just very, very tired. Off to bed and he was his perky self in the morning. I wish we could say the same for Grandma and Grandpa.