Nature and Man-made Fun

Saturday was a beautiful day so we took advantage of the fun we could have as a family around the area.

We first went hiking along a creek.




Brrr! Cold water! We found firsthand today how body fat does a lot to keep a kid warm. West froze the entire time and Creed was fine!Creed and West love the water. Creed had no fear and was all over the place. Unfortunately, he would fall face forward, and while he floats wonderfully, it doesn't help much if his face was down!
After a little lunch sitting in the creek, we headed toward the park to this great fountain area for kids to play in.Creed does a happy big baby dance in the fountains.

The Thing About Attachment . . .

I haven't gone off on a speel about attachment stuff in a while. But here goes one. . . .

Attachment is an on-going process and it is not something you mess with by being too overconfident with it. Right when you think your child knows who is number 1 in their lives . . . . that is right when they will fall all over the cashier at the grocery store and scream when you say "bye-bye".

I hear a lot of parents after being home with their child for just a few short weeks, say things like:
"My child is so attached to me"
"It's going so well that I don't see why we need to follow through with . . . .(not allowing them to go to other people, going too public, too quickly, giving up "time-ins"*, not insisting on some "holding time"* *etc)
"He is so affectionate, he must be so attached to me"

You'll find that when someone asks me how attachment is going with Creed, it is never a short answer. It is going well, but I know from experience that these things ebb and flow. What may be an amazing day of full trust, comfortable and loving behavior, can turn the next day into distrust and desire to find more attention from someone else.

I say, give it a year before any big judgments are made about attachment. Yeah, a year. At 6 months with West being home, I thought 6 months was enough, and then at 8 months things got even better and then finally a year went by and THEN things seemed settled with West and me.

That's not saying strategies can't be adjusted or you can relax a little, but my opinion is that attachment is so related to trust, and trust comes with time. It's not about one child being better or worse, it's just about time.

Okay, I've stepped down from my soapbox . . . . please fire away at the comment box.


Phrases defined:
*time-ins -- instead of time-outs, it is recommended that adoptive parents (and others with potential attachment issues) do not send their child away for punishment. Instead they are to restrain them gently for the time-in. The idea is to make sure the child knows he is loved no matter what and not sent away when he is bad.

**holding time -- can be defined differently, but what I'm referring to is when you insist that your child be held in your arms to be comforted or loved. For instance, at bedtime I insist that Creed allow me to hold him for just a few minutes while I talk to him or sing. Creed caught on pretty quickly and would stop resisting this sweet time with mom.

Just Add Water . . . .

you don't need much else. Who needs an in-ground pool with water features, when a $20 inflatable pool is great fun!

This photo collection is one in which technology actually HINDERS the beauty of it. What these next few photos need is to be stapled together, and then the pages flipped forward so you can see little Creed in action. (You know, like those short, fat books with Coyote chasing Road Runner at the bottom of the pages so that when you flipped through the book, you could see Coyote getting hit with an anvil in motion)

Up the slide . . . . .
Leg over the top -- this is the most challenging of the steps.
Now the slide -- hoping that his toes don't stick to the slide and his top-heavy self doesn't tumble forward (happens 1 out 5 times on the slide)
And for the splash down!!!
Keep sliding forward from the momentum of the slide, topple forward upon hitting the edge . . . .

fall out of the pool, jump up and run to the steps, ready to do it all over again.

See what I mean?? You could almost see it in motion . . . . I guess I could have just uploaded video on here. But not nearly as nostalgic.

West loves the water. He's been singing songs about summer for weeks (using his creative talents). He's been talking about surfing and worked hard to try to stand on this little kickboard in his 4 foot wide pool (adds to the challenge when you may fall on grass rather than the water). Add his surfing desire, with his blonde hair and little body that darkens within minutes of being in the sun, and I'll have to hope I can get him to college before he heads off to California.
Sliding was fun for about 2 runs. Jumping off the top of the slide was much more exciting!