2 months with us

I can't believe I forgot yesterday that Katie has been with us for 2 months. She has done amazingly well, but every once in awhile I am reminded that there are issues lurking beneath the surface for us.

1. Katie will not fall asleep with us holding her anymore. She did so in China, but now, she refuses. She squirms, she tries to get up, she fusses. She wants to lay down in her crib and fall asleep...alone. I'm not entirely sure this is a good thing.

2. She will not give us kisses. She will give us hugs, without us asking for them. But she will not give us kisses. :(

3. She hates to be cradled and rocked. She will gaze into my eyes though if I can sit still with her cradled. She much prefers to sit facing out.

4. She fell down (you know, from squatting) today and cried. I picked her up and loved on her, and she snuggled on my chest...with her face INWARD. This was a huge step, but it only lasted about 5 seconds. She turned out, and then soothed herself.

5. We are not hearing the teeth grinding as much at home. I hear it when we go to the doctor's office though. I think it is definitely a "stress" thing for her. Makes me sad to think how stressed she was when we brought her home.

6. We are not seeing the dissociative looks as much these days. THAT is a good thing! When we do see them, they are much briefer.

7. She still soothes herself with the sucking on her tongue with fingers/hand up next to her mouth but not touching it. She isn't doing this as much in the house or with us. We see it at night, when she's tired, when she's not feeling good, when she is sad...and in new situations, such as standing in the grass.

8. We think we found a food aversion - slimy textured foods. I can't stand mushrooms because they are slimy. Yet another "fit" for our family. We will work with that if it becomes an issue. It seems that only the Gerber graduate peaches, pears, and carrots are affected by this aversion so far. Although I've not tried other fruits cut up.

9. We've not left her with anyone else yet, but there have been a few moments where one of us has stepped out of the room at church nursery (to get a coke or go to the bathroom). She did not mind. However, she gets upset during the transition times, and when other kids are dropped off by their parents and those kids cry. She gets a little teary sometimes. It's not as bad as the little babies getting dropped off, that really made her cry hard.

10. In new situations, or stressful situations, Katie still prefers Daddy to hold her. She will come to me, but I can tell that I do not calm her nearly as well as Daddy does. She simply does not trust me as much yet. She cares about me, but I'm not sure she completely trusts and loves me yet. For that matter, I'm not sure if she 100% there with Dh as well. I truly do not feel like she knows we will always be there for her at this point....it's a work in progress, and it is much better than when we were in China.