Separation Anxiety

I love my little Layla.  She is the baby of our family.  MY baby.  She was the last child to grow in my womb.  The last child to nurse from my breast.  The last baby to keep me up all night.  I will not be birthing anymore children so (unless we adopt in the future) she will forever be my baby.  

And she's by far had the worst separation anxiety of the three of my girls.

Since Madalyn is three years older than Layla I had forgotten about the reccurance of separation anxiety at around 18 months old.  Thinking back, Madalyn also went through a clingy phase at that age during which I had to constantly carry/hold her.  I even bought a sling specifically to get us through that clingy time.

But still, she had nothing on Layla.  Layla will not let me out of her sight.  Sometimes, she won't let me get more than 10 feet away from her.  Last week during our trip to Busch Gardens and Water Country I left her with my friend and her mom so that Annagrace and I could go ride a waterslide.  They said she would not allow them to hold her or play with her and instead she sat on the lounge chair and screamed...the ENTIRE 20 minutes!  I returned to find her still screaming.  I picked her up and cuddled her for a few minutes and she was fine.

Later the same day I left her sitting in a chair and walked about 10 feet away to go watch Madalyn on a water slide and although Layla could still see me, she fell all to pieces at the thought that I MIGHT be leaving her.  She hopped off that chair and came running at me crying the entire way!

She is very anxious around my parents (who she sees all the time).  When we pull up to my friend Catherine's house she immediately starts crying because she's scared I'm going to leave her.  If I say "I'm going bye-bye" she will come running and fling herself at me screaming.

It is insane.

And although it is aggravating at times--mama needs a break sometimes!--I have to admit that one day I know I'll miss this.  I'll miss her crying for mama.  I'll miss her wanting to be with me all the time.  I'll long for the days when all she wanted to do was sit on mama's lap.

So I'm trying to enjoy all the snuggles.  I'm trying to remind myself that her love for me and her sense of security is a good thing.  I'm trying to love every minute of this time because all too soon it will have passed.