The advice to parents of 16 month olds says to know your child’s temperament then accommodate situations accordingly to best suit him.
Meghan and I have noticed Cash assesses before he acts. Take him to a gathering and he’ll take in the surroundings before he engages.
So, as tuned in parents, we won’t force him to prematurely interact before he’s ready to. And to be clear with us and him that this doesn’t make him standoffish or cold. It doesn’t make him any less of a people person. Truth is, he is giddy at the sight of other kids. He loves every extended family member he meets. He smiles at strangers and wins over passersby all the time. He just prefers to observe his environment before he becomes a part of it.
Basically, he may not hug you when he enters the room but likely will when he exits.
We won’t criticize this disposition or make him feel its wrong. The fact he generally thinks before he acts is a positive attribute that I’m proud of and one I think will serve him well. I’m very similar. Apparently, I was the same way as a child and that has pretty much held true my whole life.
I enjoy observing and taking in my environment-lends itself nicely to my being a writer.
Not saying I’m a wallflower but I don’t need to be center stage. Often, the “center stagers” while entertaining, aren’t usually very good at being aware of the room beyond what they are doing.
Meghan is more of a dive in and find out after. She jokes that as a child she would grab the stove top burner, then ask, “Is this hot?!” while her the skin of her palm scorched. In contrast, Cash points to the burner and says, “hot.” I’m thankful for that awareness and so are the palms of his hands.
So our parental wish? We want Cash to be a risk-taker…but a calculated one.
Because Cash is the type who looks before he leaps, we know he’s going to land on his own two feet.
Wisconsin Dadger 
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