How long til Grandma can hold him?

Ok, I was really tired when I posted that last one, so when I said we are only letting our immediate family hold Zeke, I forgot to mention that this is temporary! :) We'll only limit his holding until he bonds with us. Most people say that can take anywhere from 1-6 months depending on how old they are, how long they've been in the orphanage, personality, etc.

The tricky thing with orphanage kids is they've never had a chance to bond with anyone. They have so many different people caring for them, they can develop problems forming attachments with people. When we got Zeke, he came right to us, total strangers, without crying or protesting at all. He'd let anyone hold him. This is not good! But as we've spent time limiting his holding/feeding/changing to just us, we can see that he is beginning to form an attachment to us. Now when others reach for him, rather than leaning toward them, he grabs tighter on to me and tucks his face into my shoulder, which is so encouraging to see!! Adoptive "experts" tell us this is a good sign! Because the attachment is forming with us, it shows he's developing the ability to form attachments in general and will now also be able to bond with others, like grandparents. But if we'd let anyone hold him at any time, he'd be less likely to form attachments with anyone, at least that's the prevailing theory.

This, along with lots of prayer and love, is one of the ways we hope to help Zeke heal from a crazy first 6 months of life. It is such a joy to see him change and blossom just in the first month home with us. We're so thankful that God has chosen Zeke to be a Michaelian!