Peaceful parents, peaceful baby?

We were in a shop a few weeks back, with Rodney carrying Xavier in the baby backpack. The shopkeeper commented, "What a calm and happy baby!" I said something like, "Yeah, we really got lucky." And she responded, "Well, you know, peaceful parents, peaceful baby."

I should start off by saying that I don't completely buy into that. A friend who is one of the most even-keeled, laid back people I know has a baby who apparently will not stop crying for hours on end. I suspect some babies are just wired to be cranky while others are wired to be easy.

But we have also seen some truth in the idea that nervous adults can make for nervous babies. Xavier has met a lot of new people in the past few months. A good number of them seem eager to look for signs that something is wrong. One actual comment from an office baby shower (delivered in the same tone used when something is on fire): "He's chewing on his sleeve! Shawn!! He's chewing on his sleeve!!!" Um. Okay. And that is a crisis because...?

We have also gotten our share of "You just wait..." comments when we tell people what a happy baby he is. As in, "You just wait until he starts teething/crawling/walking/talking/etc. You'll be sorry then!"

We might be going through an easy phase and about to hit some tougher ones. Xavier will be who he will be, and I know some days/months/years will be harder than others.

But for now, we are thankful to have such a peaceful, happy baby. And we are doing our best to remain peaceful, happy parents and to enjoy this phase for as long as it lasts.