Rational Winston

I made an impromptu trip to Shanghai right before Christmas. It was just for a few days. While I was gone, my mom and Michael were home with Winston. It is interesting how kids are different from each other. Even from early babyhood, he has never developed too much emotional attachment for his own good. When I am around, he would not let anyone else but me to put him to bed or feed him meals. But when I am not around, he does not question why I am absent. He would ask, "where is mommy?" My mom would say, "Mommy is in Shanghai right now." Upon hearing that, every time he accidentally mentioned me, he would answer for himself, "mommy is in Shanghai right now."

After I returned home, he woke up in the middle of the night asking for Michael, whereas he always asked for me before my trip. It shows how fast he adapted to the change over the few days I was away. Now that my mom has gone back to Beijing, he would say to himself, "Grandma has gone back to Beijing." Yesterday, I asked him, " do you want Grandma?" He said, "yes". "Do you want to go to Beijing to see Grandma?" "No." "Well, in that case, do you still want Grandma?" "No." "Do you want Grandma to come back to 307?" Our house number is 307 so he knows that 307 is home. He said, "yes." He is such a logical boy!

One of my friends said that almost everything about a kid is genetic. I don't know. But it's true that from an early age Winston has been rational. He would get fussy and cry and make unreasonable demands. But he gives up when he realizes that he is going nowhere. That perhaps has negative consequences in that he does not try very hard to learn a new toy. He gives up when something is too hard. Maybe that is typical of a 2.5 year old boy. After all, I was doing nothing at his age.