Separation anxiety and the prancing pony

Alice and her pa walked around the sofa four times this weekend. Sure, she was being held up from underneath her arms and taking steps as though she were in a dressage event, but it was her first ever movement while on her feet. She was really pleased with herself and all the applause that she received. We were very pleased too - there were high fives all round.

Aside from that, she has been a little off since last Sunday or so and seems to be going through a little phase of wanting to be with her Mummy. It's been hard for me to leave any room, whether she is awake or asleep and there have been quite a few tantrums when I have needed to do so - you know, to use the bathroom, make her meals etc. Happily her father was around at the weekend to put her to bed for naps and at night, which meant that she could get over me leaving the room before she was put into her cot and she could have her bedtime stories without snivelling.

Leaving her at daycare has been quite hard too. She has been crying in the mornings, although apparently calming quite quickly. Bless them, this was the very sweet e-mail I received last week when I enquired as to whether she had settled OK, after we had scarpered mid-tantrum:

"Alice had settled herself and was up in the high chair having some toast by the time you would have gotten to the end of the ramp. You definitely did the right thing for Alice, as it allowed her to put into action her own self settling techniques. Her emotional outburst was incredibly brief and she was laughing and chatting with Alex immediately after. It must feel horrible for you to leave her in that way, however it really is not detrimental to her, and we just need to understand that it is age appropriate. These morning episodes should be over soon enough if we can continue to encourage Alice to settle herself, as she is doing at the moment and doing it in reasonable time. If you have any other concerns or feel you wish to go about this any other way please don't hesitate to call or have a chat with us on collection."

We'll see how this week goes - she has another cold now - so I imagine that won't help much... I guess, as they say: colds, separation anxiety and tantrums - all completely "age appropriate".