First, Mike went back to work, so there was that adjustment to only having a helping hand in the evenings. Then he went to sea for 3 weeks so I went to being a single parent with Dania having only 2 weeks transition before he went away and absolutely no concept of what I mean when I saw Daddy will be back in 20 sleeps. The first week went alright. I was tired and let a lot of housework slide... then the weekend hit and all hell broke loose. Dania started trying to change her own diaper. Three full bedding washes and 4 days while double checking EVERYTHING in her room for any hint of eau de poop. Back into a onesie while she sleeps has worked so far since then. Then the dog decided to become insanely jealous or protective or something else stupid and unnecessary, but while we were playing in our next-door-neighbour's back yard, she must have continuously thrown herself against the patio screen door until knocking it off the tracks. The back yard is fenced in, but that doesn't mean the cat can't jump or climb it and run away. I was more pissed than anything at first because I know the cat is smart enough to come home. Then it started to get dark and still no Howie. We have a coyote population in this neighbourhood. Howie is an aggressive cat and would get eaten. I started to get upset. Just when I full on panicked and posted a help add on our neighbourhood facebook group, I hear the collar bell ringing and he jumps back over the deck and into my arms. PHEWF! THE NEXT DANG DAY! Leia decides to run away after barging out while Dania and I are coming inside. Seriously?!?! I just bought you a new squeak toy and a new ball that we can kick for you without you biting a hole in it! Ungrateful bitch. She's female... it's allowed. She ran around for over an hour and a half until a neighbour caught her. She will NOT come when you call her and you can't chase her because then she thinks it is a game. Plus, I have Dania and can't just leave her while I run after Leia's darts here and there. I got a pretty bad sunburn from this unexpected jaunt outside. (On another note, Mike is home now and she did run out again today as she went after the UPS guy when I had my hand full with the package he delivered and he stepped back for that one split second to shut the door - zoooom. Seriously, I'm over her. Anyone want a dog?)
Week 2 began with Dania suddenly not asking for Dada anymore. I thought that was weird. Then when someone she knew came over she went bananas and started scrambling up me wanting to be held, crying, screaming 'mamaaaaa,' and hyperventilating to the point of puking. This wasn't a stranger either. I thought maybe it was a one time event until she did it two more times with people coming over, and with me talking to someone on the street, AND with her Mima who comes to play with her every Wednesday morning. I honestly think she was panicking about Mike suddenly not being here and her not wanting me to go the same way. She may not remember leaving the orphanage exactly but it was the same thing, her familiarity GONE. The adoption training touched on this saying that the kids don't have specific memories but they still have the feelings associated with change and upset and she probably just didn't know how to deal with them. I had to keep assuring her over and over that I wasn't leaving. I also just kept saying Daddy was coming home but she doesn't understand that. It broke my heart. I pretty much carried her or at least held her hand constantly for week 3 of Mike's deployment. We went to other people's houses and she was great there, but did not like the thought of me out of sight. Even Mike's homecoming was marred by her confusion over not wanting to leave me but excited to see him. I think she was thinking she only gets one or the other of us now.
It's been one week of mike being home - and taken that long to feel like I have caught up on things. She is doing alright now. She still gets clingy when tired, but otherwise is her old self. She is loving the warmer weather and wants to be outside all the time. She discovered how much she loves slides and even makes them for her stuffed animals. She back flips off her bed, can go downstairs by herself if there are rungs to hold on to, and learned the sign language for cereal all by herself by watching it on Baby Einstein. Mike and I had no idea what she kept trying to tell us and then one day I saw the video clip and put it all together. She is telling us she wants cereal... clever girl.
Her last speech pathology was kind of a bust because she wanted just to hold on to me (it was while Mike was away) but she is definitely comfortable at that office now and next month should prove more successful. We missed her hearing appointment yesterday... oops, my bad... but they haven't even called to tell me I missed it. We will see what happens. Perhaps I wrote it down wrong and we have yet to miss it but will again since I don't know when it is... We are also still waiting on her referral to the eye clinic at the kid's hospital. If it hits the 2 month mark, I will call the eye doctor for another referral.
I'm getting excited because we will be swimming in the lake pretty soon! It is still just a tad too cold right now, but we can still play on the shore and in the sand! She LOVES sand and gravel. Each time I have to tell her not to throw it because (I swear this is what it is! I can see her devious mind churning) it's not the same handful I just told her she couldn't throw. After a bit, she gets it and just drops it after a 3-2-1 countdown. I had to make her shorts out of a bunch of old tights since her waist is still fitting in her 3-6 month shorts from LAST summer. She is all torso! Almost 33 inches now. She didn't seem to mind the transition to shorts and no socks. I think she prefers bare feet like me. I did find the cutest little sandals for her. They are actually thongs with a heel strap. Her ankles and feet are too skinny for any of the strappy sandals. She kept tripping on them. We did get one pair to wear in the water but the flip flops are her go-to pair now. No blistering between the toes and they didn't freak her out because I wear them. Just like the earrings.
Ok, I think I need a nap. Here are a couple pics. xoxo
