First, a confession – prior to the baptism day, I had been feeling pretty self-righteous and successful about our attachment efforts. Things had been going very well and I was pretty proud of the fact that we were doing such a good job even with transitioning to child care in the short two months that we have been home.
Unfortunately, that confidence led to Michael and I allowing her to be passed around among the 46 people that were at our house on baptism day. And led to a week of problems for us and Olivia. The first thing we noticed was that she would not make eye contact with Michael. Then she started SCREAMING again when we would change her diaper. Then she started fighting the car seat again. More clingy, less affectionate. More distant. Crying when we dropped her off at child care.
So, back to square one for us – lots of Mama and Daddy time. Saturday, we did not leave the house, all three of us in our pajamas all day. Lots of activities to encourage eye contact. Lots of on the floor time.
Fortunately, it has paid off and we have made gains again. We are not back to where we were before the baptism, but we have made a lot of progress. And last night, she played a new game with me that just melted my heart. She would crawl across the floor as fast as she could wanting me to “chase” her. She would stop and with me right next to her would laugh so hard she would fall over. We crawled around the house like this until I would have to have her stop for fear of her wearing herself out. Once she caught her breath, she started right back up again! It was so wonderful.
2 comments:
I am so glad to hear this Gina, I could picture the two of you crawling around the floor. LOL This has been a hard transition and I am always worried something may trigger set backs with Lily. We have seen a little more whining and a few days of screaming in the carseat when I picked her up from daycare which she has never done. So we must all hang in there and and hopefully the support from loved ones and of course travelmates will hep us get through each hurdle in this amazing journey.
Love, Amy
Gina, you are doing great with her. Bonding and transition are a process ... these children bud and blossom and unfold like beautiful little flowers, right in front of your eyes. Every time I feel like I know Abby 100% and we are "there" she surprises me and shows me another side of her that I never saw before. And we're home 3.5 years! Each day is a new step in the journey, keep enjoying them like you are!
Hugs,
Lisa S
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