Owl Babies

     Tonight before bed I read Owl babies to Lidie. It's the same story we read last night as well. It's a sweet story about three baby owls who wake up and find their mother is gone.  They worry and wonder where she is, but eventually she returns. Its a great reminder to kids that mothers always return. I've read it many times at Clare Cherry at the start of a school year, or whenever a child needed some extra reassurance. Right now that child is Lidie. She is still very nervous about me leaving, or leaving her with someone else. Even when I step out of the room she gets a bit uneasy. She's having some major separation anxiety, and I can't really say that I blame her. Being separated from us last week was hard on all of us (but at least we could understand what was going on). Since she's only three she doesn't quite understand everything, and she's having a hard time processing it all. She is now left feeling a bit anxious. We're working hard to comfort her, and reassure her. One of the ways I've been doing that is reading Owl Babies by Martin Waddell.
   Amaya is also needing some comfort as well. She's having a hard time dealing with fear. Ever since her surgery last week she's been afraid (to move, to go potty, to take medicine, to go to physical therapy, mostly that she'll be in pain). She gets worked up, cries and whines. A week later I see huge improvements, but we still have a ways to go. Each time we have to carry her to bed, or move to the couch, car or toilet she gets nervous, and afraid that she will get hurt. Once she does it, she realizes that her fears didn't come true. It's a process, and we're working on it. Another thing that was causing her great stress was her fixator. She didn't even want to look at it (she thought it would hurt, said she didn't like it or want it). A week later, she's moved past that (somewhat). She's started to touch, allow others to touch, and even lift her leg by her fixator (and allowing us to do that too). The thing that still makes her feel uneasy are the pin sites. Right now their wrapped in gauze (to allow the sites to heal and protect them from any dirt), but when she gets a peak at them she starts to freak out a bit (sometimes a lot). Especially today, because the pins above her knee had some drainage. It's funny because she thinks its the fixator leaking, not her leg.  We tell her its "leakage or drainage" and that seems to be explanation enough for her. The pins were leaking a lot today; it would run down her leg and freak her out a bit. We added more gauze (which also made her nervous), and that helped the leaking stop, and comfort her nerves (out of sight out of mind). She asked if we could put the pins inside of her leg so she didn't have to see them. I bet it's a bit difficult to look down at your leg and see nine pins going into your leg. She says they look weird and gross. I try to comfort her, but I think this is a process of acceptance that she will have to come to terms with on her own. And I'm quite confident she will.
Thanks again for reading, writing, and the cards. We appreciate your love and support.