My baby is the cutest baby in the entire world. I'm sure that every parent feels this way but I'm reminded of it on a daily basis. I get stopped everywhere by people "Oooo"ing and "Awww"ing about him. Most of the time I love it. Today I was at Target and at one point I was stopped and surrounded by three groups of people saying how cute he was. One lady even bade me warm wishes in some language I had never heard of. Pretty sure it was a made up word. Anyway, I love those brief encounters with strangers complimenting Gabe. Sometimes it goes too far. Thinking about strangers talking to you makes me think of Bridget's post. Is it appropriate? I think a nice comment to a stranger is fine but trying to carry on a conversation when they are clearly not interested is another. Before I went to Target, I went to get a sandwich. I was waiting for my food and was carrying the car seat with the sleeping baby in it. This woman and her male companion were standing by me and she let out a shriek of pleasure and said "Ohhhhh! He's SOOO cute!!" I smiled and said thank you and turned slightly away. She asked "How old is he?" I said 4 months with a smile and turned back to stare at the counter. "Oh does he have blue eyes? Just like you I bet!" I said "Yep he does..." with a smile. Turn away again. "How much does he weigh? I bet he weighs a lot! And having to carry that car seat?? I bet you have great muscles!" Heh, heh... I guess I do... He weighs 16 pounds. Turn away again, willing the guy at the counter to call my number. "What's his name?" I found this too impertinent of a question for a stranger to ask but was too chicken to say that out loud. "Gabriel." I say with less of a smile this time, now angry at the slow sandwich makers, not because they actually were slow but because I had to stand next to this woman who was not getting the hint from my one word answers and back-turning. The car seat on my arm was starting to get too heavy so I set it down on an adjacent bar stool. The force caused him to wake up and now she could clearly see his blue eyes. This warrants another shriek of delight. He looks around and she trills "Oh Gabriel! Hi Gabriel! Over here Gabriel!" Thankfully, my number was called, I grabbed my sandwich and my puzzled baby and ran.
Now I like small talk as much as the next socially awkward person but was I being a little overly bugged or was this just too much baby attention?
