Is this normal (20 month DS) "watches" everything...

[choochootrain1]

My DS is 20 months and when I take him out for a walk, he will just stop and refuse to walk and stare at something (like a person, or a truck, or a car) we live on a quiet road and when we're walking along and he hears a car coming he will stop and turn towards it and then watch it as it drives slowly past until it disappears out of sight. Almost as if he's never seen a car before! or sometimes it will be a person/cat/dog etc.

If I want to get anywhere, I need to take the pushchair or carry him as it takes forever even to get over the road to the corner shop. If I take his hand and tell him to come along, I get a tantrum.

He even does it in the park sometimes, but less so. Will just sit at the top of a climbing frame and "watch" the other children go past him.

Is my DS just plain odd...or are there other "watchers" out there?

Everyone is different. Some children observe, some get stuck in straight away, some seem away with the fairies most of the time!
It's just different styles of learning. So long as you see progress developmentally he's fine.

Thanks for the reply drinkyourmilk he is on schedule I think developmentally, it's just a bit embarrassing that we have to wait for everything to have passed and be out of sight before he'll move his butt LOL

A neighbour waved to him and said hello today, he then stopped and stood waving back and watched until she'd disappeared out of sight which took well over 2 minutes to walk for her to walk round the corner into another road. With me calling him, trying to take his hand to pull him along, and each time he batted me away and zoned out my prompts.

Sounds exactly like my 19 month old. He does the stopping and staring thing too and won't budge until the person/vehicle etc. is out of sight. Loves watching other children Think he just finds the world fascinating!

I have a starer, till staring aged 5. Used to take ages getting from A to B. Would watch bin men, the garage down the road, the cat, poor person trying to park would get particular attention :)). Some days at play group she didn't really play but just watched other kids.
It used to infuriate me, but I have got used to it, in fact now I find it rather funny and lovely. The reason I am calmer about it is that I have realised how much DD was learning by watching. She notices a lot more and a lot more details than some other kids and iis very precise. It gets easier as they get older with a better concept of time, but the other day a lorry was delivering a skip, and yes, we had to stand there and watch it all.

Ah that is a relief to me that it is normal, and it sounds quite cute now I'm reading it back so I think I'll just relax and go with it from now on and just enjoy that he is learning in the moment. Thanks!