Caylee's smile/behavior

[magic-cat]

WOW. I like how you took my rant and made it sound so elegant. Thank you

OK Kids, don't be afraid. Come out of your rooms and post. Just chill and be nice and I won't grow fangs and hair on my hands. All will be beautiful.

You're so funny Tricia and your avatar is funny too...:crazy:

And you are most welcome...I knew that was what you meant to say...

 

[magic-cat]

I saw genuine happiness in the pics/videos of Caylee with her grandparents. I saw the exact opposite in those with Casey.

Me too. I see a whole different Caylee when Casey is on the scene. I am sure that she loved her grandparents more than anything and counted on them to keep her safe and comforted more than they were even aware of. Poor little Caylee-she haunts me.

 

[JBean]

disagree with each other but don't get personal or I am giving out vacations to anyone involved.

 

[Bobbisangel]

I haven't seen any videos or pictures that disturbed me. Caylee seemed to be an average little girl doing little girl things. I love the video where she is reading her book. It seems that she is used to entertaining herself being an only child and that she is a happy little girl. I love to hear her sing and someone has spent time teaching her childhood songs. I would guess it was Cindy as she says "Nan's sunshine" in it.

I think she was probably cautioned to sit very still while sitting on Grandpa's lap as he is very old and if she jumps around she could hurt him or fall off.
You can tell that he loves that little girl and she loves him. While she is reading she asks him if he's tired. What a sweet little girl. I love all of the motions that she makes while she reads as if she is really reading the book.

Someone spent a lot of time taking pictures and videos of Caylee. It had to have been Cindy at the nursing home. They are blessed to have so many pictures of Caylee and also the videos. I doubt if they can even look at them now but someday they will treasure each and every one of them. Such a sweet baby.

 

[JaneInOz]

I haven't seen any videos or pictures that disturbed me. Caylee seemed to be an average little girl doing little girl things. I love the video where she is reading her book. It seems that she is used to entertaining herself being an only child and that she is a happy little girl. I love to hear her sing and someone has spent time teaching her childhood songs. I would guess it was Cindy as she says "Nan's sunshine" in it.

I think she was probably cautioned to sit very still while sitting on Grandpa's lap as he is very old and if she jumps around she could hurt him or fall off.
You can tell that he loves that little girl and she loves him. While she is reading she asks him if he's tired. What a sweet little girl. I love all of the motions that she makes while she reads as if she is really reading the book.

Someone spent a lot of time taking pictures and videos of Caylee. It had to have been Cindy at the nursing home. They are blessed to have so many pictures of Caylee and also the videos. I doubt if they can even look at them now but someday they will treasure each and every one of them. Such a sweet baby.

Yes I agree

It is my opinion from observations and from everything that i have researched that children with severe emotional issues from any number of things including abuse of any sort do one of two things

They are inward , shy, don't talk, don't interact, do not do eye contact, flinch, retreat etc

OR

They are completely opposite , they act out , act inappropriately have no manners , will not sit quietly, will not do as they are told ever , will be a abusive to a family pet , draw on walls , pee in inappropriate places and numerous other things.

Caylee from all the photos , from all the videos, from all the testimonies did non of these things in either group.

I think too much is being seen in the photos and videos.

She was just a little girl, who was happy. she wasnt backward, she was doing this age appropriate and she wasn't acting out

 

[openminded1]

I think there are many more "Caylees" out there than a lot of people realize. I have seen my fair share of girls getting pregnant but not wanting to grow up and act like somebody's mother. The child gets treated like an accessory. Mommy isn't going to set up playdates for her, she's going to take her to the pool at an apartment complex where the boys are. When she does get together with other mothers, it is with other teen mothers.

Caylee did not have a normal childhood by any stretch of the imagination. Her mom had no desire to fit in with women in or near thier 30's discussing diets, discipline, and development. That stuff was boring to her. The jobs Casey had were jobs for a young college student, not those of an adult woman looking toward a future for her family.

I think after Caylee was born, Casey tried to pretend. She got engaged to JG, who was an upstanding young man who would have expected an upstanding young wife. She couldn't hold up the charade very long. Just like a child, she could pretend to be an adult for short periods, but could never really act and think like an adult.

The dynamics in the household had to be tense, to put it lightly. Cindy and George weren't well settled financially. Now they had to not only support their adult daughter, but the child as well. Constant arguing between Cindy and Casey, Casey and George, and George and Cindy took it's toll on the child.

What I see in the videos is a confused child who wants desperately to please, which IMO fits perfectly with her home environment. Caylee was at the age where children learn about the world by mimicking the actions of the adult family members. Caylee's smile in pictures is very much like Casey's. It's very over-posed. That's what Casey's life was all about- posing for the picture- whether it was a family picture or a picture for "entertainment" .

 

[They'llDanceInHeaven]

Respectfully I disagree and yes I am familiar with kids of all ages. I don’t read anything into Caylee sitting still and loving every minute of having her picture taken.

She might be tired, listening to his heart or growling tummy or any number of things. Maybe she was afraid of the nurses. I know I am.

I agree. I work with children of all ages. I also have two of my own. Although i believe things were exstreamly disfuncsional in Caylee's life I don't belive her smile says much. Often times kids pose for pictures and are not sure how to genuinely smile when put on the spot.

 

[Hermione]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tTAHDuDiqk&NR=1

She is getting NOTHING in return for her cute little "1 2 3 cheese!" even tho she keeps trying to engage the videographer...no doubt her mother. C & GA videos are much different, they engage with her.

This video sadden & angers me. How hateful & jealous Casey was......

RIP Caylee

Oh I so agree. :behindbar

I have 2 daughters, one a little younger than Caylee and the other a little older....and I couldn't take videos like this in complete silence- Caylee is such a beautiful and sweet little girl, and to me it sounds like she is saying "want cheese" "1-2-3 cheese" repeatedly, as if she's asking the videographer (KC) "Why aren't you pleased? Don't you want cheese (a smile)? What is it? Why aren't you happy with me?"

To me Caylee seems like she was such a BRIGHT child...intelligent and precious and just oh so sweet. KC always does this fake smile and you can tell she puts on, I do NOT understand someone who can't engage with their child but it's obvious she can't/couldn't. So sad.

This case (as with so many others but for some reason this one hits hard) rips my heart out as a mother to 2 little girls.

 

[Hermione]

As for whether you can tell anything by Caylee's still pics, such as if her smile's fake or real....I can put in 2 cents here like others have...my oldest girl is 4, and once she got out of the infant giggle stage, sometimes for no discernible reason, she would go in and out of phases of fake smiles.

I actually chide her just a little sometimes, for her big crocodile fake smile, telling her to relax and be natural No big deal but even my husband will tell her to "smile real, sweet pea". LOL.

Kids just do this...it's pretty common...it could be anything. Hamming it up, wanting to get the pic over with, sleepiness, or whatever....can't make too much of it. I will always have some laughs and fond memories over my oldest's "fake smiles" because boy she can do them.

I am no expert but when I look at Caylee's pics I just see a precious, beautiful, sweet, innocent, loving, intelligent kid. And yeah, she does look contemplative sometimes but I don't see anything in her pics that seems off, such as eyes hiding abuse or anything.

I doubt Caylee was abused but would not want to say that with 100% confident. But it seems like she was much loved by MOST people in her life and tolerated by one other for a time. :furious:

 

[Hermione]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhG0oBrqXIw&feature=related

Ok now I am HAUNTED.....Caylee in this video acts just like my youngest (almost 14 months old now). OMG.......it hurts to know what happened to Caylee, watching this short clip, her behavior and mannerism are SO much like my daughter every day....(I am sure most if not all kids go through this phase but it really struck me as my daughter currently acts just like this right down to the facial expressions and noises.....my baby is a blue eyed blonde though.

beautiful sweet Caylee.....I know she's in Heaven.

 

[Hermione]

Ok I also just want to say in CA's defense, since she has earned a rep for being controlling and people have been saying in the Papa video where Caylee is lying on him.....I saw it said that Caylee was laying there looking up for permission to get up as if it was unwilling, and CA chimes in and tells her to give Papa a hug and kiss......totally normal, everyone does this with their kids.

Young ones don't always know how to react around great grandparents and this is normal, when my kids visit theirs we often have to remind them (not command them) to give Great Grandpa a hug....I will be honest here, the kids just aren't used to someone who's bedridden and weak, and their GG's prone to dehydration so his hands are often peeling a lot, and his nails turn dark sometimes, so it takes some time for them to warm up. We aren't controlling, just trying to help foster the bonding because he loves them so much and their visits brighten him up, and being kids, they don't always know what to do and get really shy. I don't CA is anything less than normal here..in her defense. Not that her other behaviors are....but in the videos, this is some of the most normal I've seen...this and George;s losing his temper, these 2 things are some of the most understandable behavior from them in the case for me.

 

[quadlatte]

I saw genuine happiness in the pics/videos of Caylee with her grandparents. I saw the exact opposite in those with Casey.

IMO what we are seeing is COMFORT level.

Caylee just seems so TENTATIVE around KC, in the pics and videos.

Abused children have to be more perceptive to adults immediate moods, and thus they learn to read body language very early.

IMHO some of the footage of Caylee looks sadly like a child that has had to learn to be very discerning and wary of the adults around her.:waitasec:

Caveat: I also have 2 daughters close to Caylee's age, and I realize how subjective said footage can be when veiwed in hindsight...

 

[FIND'HER]

I need some help with this I found a pic of KC with Caylee near a pool. Which I am sure others have seen the photo also. But something struck me. Didnt ZFG work at a motel also.

Someone please tell me how to post this pic,

 

[Ariane]

Find Her: Hit Post Reply then click on the icon of a picture above the message box, and paste in the URL of the image.
It might be a picture from Casey's boyfriend's apartment complex where there was a pool?

 

[MD MOMMY]

I need some help with this I found a pic of KC with Caylee near a pool. Which I am sure others have seen the photo also. But something struck me. Didnt ZFG work at a motel also.

Someone please tell me how to post this pic,

I've seen the pic you are talking about and I'm sure it's around here somwhere just don't ask me where LOL.

Do you have a photobucket account? If so you can upload the photo. If you do not it's free, open an account www.photobucket.com

You can upload the pic to PB and then copy and paste the IMG code right on a post.

That is how I post pictures, good luck!

 

[Ariane]

Some of the videos ARE disturbing, the ones we think Casey shot, like that 1 2 3 Cheese video. It's so sad how she is trying to please her mother and getting no response, and little Caylee looks unsure and uncomfortable.

But for some of the other things, well I think it's very easy to maybe read too much into photos and videos. A lot of kids seem to go through a stage of doing big fakey smiles in photos. And in the nursing home video, I thought perhaps the part on Papa's lap was at the end of a long day and she was tired. and just sort of snuggled up. She seemed affectionate to him elsewhere in the video, asking if he was tired... (What a very thoughtful 2 year old! She is more mature than her mother who at age 22 is still all about ME ME ME.
She does look up with a sort of fearful look, but as someone said maybe she thought the nurses were scary. Or who knows what strange medical objects she might have seen and been a bit scared of.... kids that age have incredible imaginations and develop strange fears. One of mine became terrified of the electric skillet that was sitting up high on top of the shelves! I think he somehow thought it looked like a monster -- a short squat bow-legged monster. I got it down (with him cringing!) and took it apart to show him what it was and how it worked and that it was a utensil, not an evil being.

 

[FIND'HER]

I've seen the pic you are talking about and I'm sure it's around here somwhere just don't ask me where LOL.

Do you have a photobucket account? If so you can upload the photo. If you do not it's free, open an account www.photobucket.com

You can upload the pic to PB and then copy and paste the IMG code right on a post.

That is how I post pictures, good luck!

 

[FIND'HER]

What Motel in in the Background, there is also a pic I found of her which Im sure others have also seen it is also at a motel...

 

[JaneInOz]

Well Im gobsmacked !

That is the first photo I have ever seen of Casey NOT smiling and not showing her teeth

It could be that she is not at the motel but that a public pool is opposite the motel complex.

 

[gitana1]

I've never started a thread before, so please be kind. I've been wanting to mention this for a while, but haven't seen a thread to talk about it.

My friend has been a teacher for many years — actually teaches elementary school teachers and principals for graduate degrees, etc. Last week, he was over when I had Nancy Grace on — and they were showing pictures of Caylee. He knows nothing about the case (I know, what rock has he been living under?) and he suddenly stopped and said, "Whoa, who's that? Those aren't real smiles." Basically, as he watched the show with me, he said that in nearly all of Caylee's pictures, her mouth formed into what she probably thought was a smile — but her eyes were telling a much different story. In others, she seems contemplative. In very few does she look truly happy, joyous as other young children her age.

But he was most amazed by the video of Caylee with her great-grand father on Father's day. He couldn't believe that a 3-year-old child would lie there for so long without moving a muscle—as if she was directed (off-camera) to do exactly as she was told. (Look at her eyes — they're waiting to be told she can move.) Then, after a very long while, she pops up her head and kisses him — but you can tell it's somebody off camera (Cindy, no doubt) telling her to kiss him. I mean, do you know any 3-year-olds who would sit still for that long?

My point is this: God knows in all those hours of being alone with KC (while she was "working" during the day) Caylee probably LEARNED she had to do exactly as she was told — or else. The more I look at her pictures I see sad, sad eyes — and a child willing to do anything to please.

Any thoughts?

Wow. I missed this thread but I must comment. My mom, who is 72 and very wise, very intelligent, very with it and sort of an earth mother who all little children and animals (really, just everyone) loves and adores, has been forced to learn about this case when I'm at her house and put in NG. She doesn't like the show but made one significant comment: "You know, that child never really looked happy. Her smiles all seemed forced or she wasn't smiling. The little girl seemed sad to me." I looked closer and thought that what my mom said was true about most of the photos we usually see. Now, I hear someone else thought the exact same thing. Interesting. I trust my mom's instincts. I'e never known her to be wrong.