swaddling

Funny how true some of the 'adoption advice' is. One thing we were told is to place our daughter's emotional age at a newborn level when we first received her. According to that, Mae is 7 months old, in the 'newborn learning to trust in her parents' process. Today she had another of her emotional outbursts, 1.5 hours of screaming, writhing, scatching and generally freaking out. This time, after about 15 minutes, I swaddled her in her soft pink blankie and held her and rocked her. She calmed down (and wound herself back up a few times) and let me hold her. Eventually she zoned out and seemed exhausted, so we came downstairs for some water and a little snack. These episodes are few and far between these days, but this is a great trick to know. I think part of her hysteria was aided by her flailing limbs. Just like a 7month old, once she couldn't move so much, she calmed down somewhat.
Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. Ted's friend Jack is here now and we will head back to his house to celebrate with them tonight. This next week will be a bit frenzied but fun. All of Mae's 'firsts' are so much fun.