I was up North this past weekend visiting this cute little thing! I stayed at my parents home in Antioch and my brother Kevin and his wife Vickie were kind enough to drop off their daughter, Sierra, for some aunt/niece bonding.
The first day didn't go as well as I would have liked. She's only 1 1/2 and since I live 400 miles away, she doesn't really know who I am. She would play with me and let me hold her, but as soon as my sister Lauren came around, Sierra would cry for her. At first I shook it off, ya know, tried to be tough, it's not a personal attack or anything. But after a while it started to get to me. When she broke down on Saturday night as I tried to give her a bath, I felt defeated. A baby brought me to tears...lots of them! I wasn't upset with her, I was upset with ME. I live 400 miles away and I'll always only get to see her a few times a year. What kind of relationship can I develop with her? I just felt helpless, I had SO wanted to be close with her.
After a long talk with my mom, I felt a little better...and embarrassed for reacting the way I did. I know that, while she may not know me now, eventually she'll be old enough to know that I'm the cool 'Disneyland Aunt'. Every time she visits me, she will get to visit Disneyland too. That'll improve our relationship, right? There's nothing wrong with bribing people to like you.
The next day went much better. I kept her with me at church and had so much fun with her. After church I fed her lunch and then we took a nap together...she laid on my chest, it was so sweet (except for the big sweat mark she left on me :). My brother came in and saw us sleeping and said it was 'picture perfect'. He went to get the camera, but she woke up just before he had a chance to capture the moment. After our nap, we played...inside and out. She no longer reached for Lauren over me. In fact, she even reached for ME a few times when Lauren was around. VICTORY!! (Now, next time I see her I'll have to work on that all over again)
Anyway, of course, just as things were getting better, it was time for her to go home. Kevin and Vickie came to pick her up and she was just ELATED to see them. I've never seen a kid squeal and smile as much as she did when she saw her parents walk in the door.
I was sad to see her go. BUT, Ryan said we'll have to visit more because she needs to know who we are, so that's great!
1 comment:
Awww... give it a year or two sweetie.
I swear my 3 year old son remembered BOTH trips to TN and totally warmed up to my Gramma and Papa right away. It's hard, but the older they get, the easier it is. :)
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