Four Feet More

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions! We have begun implementing a few of them and we'll see how they work. First of all, we've put all writing instruments up out of reach (a bit of a pain, but we'll get used to it after a while). We've also stopped making as big of an issue out of the E's. We kind of figured that the negative attention was what Eamon was after, so we're trying not to give it to him. Instead, we have done a modified version of the "time-in." Eamon sits by us and writes "E"s on a piece of paper. He's getting a lot of praise about how great his writing looks as well as comments about how nice it is to have it on paper (he can show it to his teachers or bring it to Babushka's house). He's filled up almost 2 sheets of paper with little "E"s already and is very proud of his achievement. Perhaps I should have him "graduate" to writing his entire name? He already knows how to do this, but the additional practice might help him as he goes into kindergarten. I just have to be careful because we don't want it to seem like a punishment or a chore - then he may learn to dislike writing.

Another technique we are using is called an "E Hug." It is kind of like what Maggie suggested, but with the added element that the E handshake (we hold three fingers out like an "E") ends with a hug. We've also made a "V Hug" for Vika. Both kids love this, and Eamon has been asking for "E Hugs" a lot.

One thing we haven't tried, which I think we will begin to, is the 5-minutes-of-eye-contact time-in that BT suggested. Thanks for delurking BT, and sharing your experience with us. It is a bit scary to think that attachment issues can surface after a couple years at home, but now that we know it's a possibility, we can re-think the way we approach some of these situations. Revisiting some of those attachment exercises and practicing them on a regular basis sounds like a good idea. While I wouldn't have said Eamon had attachment issues before, I have seen a definite increase in his testing of the rules and our love for him over the past 6 months (he has even taken to shouting "I hate you!" when he's really upset - something that is very out of character for him). So maybe his attachment isn't as secure as we had thought. I bet these techniques would work well with Vika too, since she was closer to their birth mom and has had more difficulty adjusting to her life with us.

Thanks again to all who offered suggestions and support. I will keep you posted on our progress.