3 Months

Last week marked being home 3 months with Olivia. The first two months were spent nearly entirely working on attachment and her getting used to her new life. I stayed at home almost all of the time with her. We only went out when it was necessary. This was difficult at times. Sometimes I had cabin fever. However, after 4 adoptions I can honestly say that this has been instrumental to Olivia's security.

We spent a lot of time playing together but we also just spent time "living togther." I didn't feel the need to fill her every moment with something. She needed to get used to the routing of our life and just be able to observe us as well as interact. She went from not even wanting me to hold her to crawling up in my lap and giving me hugs...all in her own time. Now that I've gotten to know her, I realize how very special this is. She is a very touchy, feely person. She loves cuddling and kissing and just touching skin to skin. It makes me so thankful that I didn't force her to hug me. Physical Touch (from the 5 love languages) is Olivia's way of showing love. She certainly didn't love me at first and wouldn't have wanted to show affection to me. I just eat it up now though! :)

This past month has been a drastic difference. I'm not seeing hardly any attachment issues. She's settled into our routine and seems really happy. As I said we've stayed at home almost all of the time and now when we go out somewhere and we get back in the car she always asks "Ibia (Olivia) home?" She does enjoy going to the baseball games. On game days she goes around the house saying "I LOOOOVE Baseball game!" It's so funny. After the last post about the ballgames and attachment I wore her in the sling the whole time at the next game. She did great. The next couple of games I made a point of making sure she stayed right with me. Now she acts entirely appropriate. She stays with me on her own. She will walk a short distance away but comes right back. She and I have become best friends. I ask her if she's my girl and she shakes her head yes. It's so sweet.

Her vocabulary is amazing. She is totally fluent in English. She says 4 and 5 word sentences. She understands everything we say to her. She can boss Jackson and Joe quite well! She is NOT good at sharing with other kids though. We are working on that.

Sometimes it's hard not to just sit and cry with joy when I watch her. I love her so much already and it just keeps growing!