Mckayla has definitely developed a sense of “object permanence”. According to the books, babies begin to learn that things and people exist even when they’re out of sight. They typically start to play the “I drop & you pick-up” game, when they drop things over the side of the high chair, look for them, and expect the adult to retrieve what they’ve dropped. Mckayla has mastered this “I drop & you pick-up” game well. And the same thing occurs with their parents. Babies realize that there’s only one Mommy/Daddy, and when they can’t see Mommy/Daddy, that means Mommy/Daddy’s gone away. At this point, babies don’t understand the concept of time and don’t know if or when Mommy/Daddy will come back. And they will do whatever they can to prevent this from happening – for Mckayla, it’s crying and screaming on the top of her lungs.
This morning, Mckayla got up around 7:30, shortly after I got out of the shower. I tried to put her back to sleep, after I changed her diaper and fed her. But she refused to go back to bed and wanted to be held. So I held her in one arm with her legs wrapped around me like a koa la bear, while MeiMei followed behind us, got ready for work. Mckayla was fine when I handed off her to Nanny when she showed up. She gave the Nanny a big smile and her usual legs kicking and arms swinging to show her excitement. She watched me as I grabbed my bags and keys to head out the door. The moment I walked out of her sight, she started screaming. I turned around and played with her for a little bit, but it didn’t seem to help. She was crying even louder with tears coming down her cheeks. So I picked her up to hug her and she finally calmed down. This time, I tried the “proper farewell” – kissed and hugged her, then told her that I’m going to work and will be back in the evening. As I hand her off to the Nanny, tears already filled her eyes again. I resisted the temptation and walked out the door while she started to cry. Poor Mckayla, I hope this phase of separation anxiety passes soon.
