A Child Chosen - Perspectives of an Adoptive Parent

Sometimes…a Little Snuggle Goes a Long Way

by Marcie on April 24th, 2008

Most nights AJ settles into bed pretty easily. In fact, most recently he has been so tired that he has asked to go to bed, put his own pajamas on, and put himself into bed.

But sometimes he reverts back to that cuddle stage and calls out for me after I have given him kisses and left the room. Tonight, my husband went back to his room at my parent’s home (where we are staying during our home reconstruction). He cuddled with him for a few minutes, counted how many ears they had, how many mouths (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ummm teeth?). By the time I got back there (because he was still calling out for me) he was starting to count how many fingers were in the room.

When I got there he told his Papa to leave the room and shut the door…basically telling him that I was the one from which he wanted comfort.

Whenever he gets in that snuggle mode it takes me back to the first few weeks he was home with us. Because we wanted him to learn to sleep in his own bed and his own room we put a mattress in his room for us to sleep on and one of us slept there with him every night. In retrospect, he would have done much better if his crib was in our room right next to our bed. Hindsight, right?
Nonetheless, we slept on the mattress directly next to his bed every night. He fell asleep holding my hand or my husband’s hand every single night. Even now, when he falls asleep with one of us he snuggles in for warmth and seeks our touch. In my mind (and in my heart) I want to think that he is making sure we are not leaving him…that we will be there for him in those most tender and comforting moments of the day.

Picture by Marcie Pickelsimer at My Two Boys

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POSTED IN: AJ, Attachment, Countries and Domestic, Medical, My Family, Reflection, Russia, Sleep