Tiny Tim and the First Pang of Jealousy

Yesterday we were at the park and met an 11-month-old Albanian named Tim. He thought that I was hysterical and I have been trying to improve my relations with other babies*, so I was oohing and ahhing, and making him laugh. His grandmother was laughing, too, and Besnik was just sitting quietly and watching. Then, all of a sudden I realized that Besnik was looking confused and sad. He got down from his chair and went to sit at another table all by himself. Meanwhile, Nick had joined us and he got Besnik to return to us, but he still seemed a bit out of it. He feigned interest in Tim while Nick was there and then sort of wandered away and fell over (to be picked up by one of the cafe employees.)

For at least the next 30 minutes, he was so quiet and strange. He played with Nick, his new ball, and the pigeons but definitely wasn't his usual self. And, he showed no interest in returning to me (strange, as he is usually stuck to me like glue.) I was devastated... making the boy experience jealousy for the first time! It's hard to imagine what it must be like to feel something so strong for the very first time... must be a little scary.

Anyway, after some byrek and watching the men clean the fountain at our other park (somehow really exciting for Besnik)... he warmed up and now all is forgiven (I think.)


*Note: Just about everyone here LOVES babies. So, for example, when we run into another woman with a baby, she will go WILD for Besnik and will call him "shpirti tetes" (auntie's love) and the like. I usually just say hi to the other babies but that is definitely not the Albanian way, so I was experimenting with acting more Albanian. The experiment may have failed, but I guess it's good for us to know that B is a jealous monkey before we think about giving him a brother or sister...