Honeymoon Woes

My honeymoon period with Everlee temporarily ended this past weekend.  We had a four day courtesy of Uncle Sam, and considering E's been doing unusually well, we headed to Florida.  Nate and Vanessa were hosting a lobster fest to reveal their baby's gender, and our besties JaNae' and Steve hadn't met her yet.  That was importante a mi.  She was not "bad" or out of character, but our typical weekend with family was vastly different and I began resenting how she took me away from my boys.  Her defiance has picked up too, probably because she feels more and more comfortable with us.  She is adopted.  She is two.  She is learning.  I am aware of all of these factors.  But, selfishly, I struggled with her this weekend.  It's my own issue, and I was over it by the time we arrived home.  The time away was simply not the way it used to be.  Shocker, Jess.  The five of us were too often divided, like we weren't there together.  Being home is easier.  Home already has a new routine, so I don't feel it here.  Oh, how I felt it there!

One of the biggest issues I have is reminding myself that her physical age is not her developmental age. I have to stop seeing her as she looks and retrain my brain to see her as a 1-year-old.  Although close to Penn in age, I can not expect the same behavior.  I. Have. To. Remind. Myself.

When I observed my nephew, Jaxon, I did not think twice about his touching of wine bottles on display, throwing toys around, or rummaging through the cabinets.  When she did the same, it would get under my skin.  In actuality, they are in a similar stage of development.  She's been so unexposed for so long, that every little thing gets her attention.  And it should.

The other thing about E is how BUSY she is.  She's all over the place.  Anyone who's around us for more than three minutes comments on it.  She doesn't stop moving and she doesn't focus for long.  It all stems back to her lack of environmental exposure.  She's just so curious.  We try to read daily, but she hasn't sat for more than a minute.  She sees something else, gets down, and moves on.  She's trying to make up for lost time!  It is appropriate and expected, but boy is it tiring on Mom and Dad.  And it drains the boys too.  

Don't we all wish the honeymoon would last forever?