Teen Mom’s Amber Portwood Takes ‘Big Step’ in Relationship With Estranged Daughter Leah

usmagazine.com:

One step at a time. Amber Portwood and her estranged daughter, Leah, are putting in the effort to improve their strained relationship.“We’re working on our relationship and I’m being patient,” the 32-year-old MTV personality said during the Tuesday, September 6, series premiere of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter. “Last year, my daughter asked for space and I’m doing my best to be present for her while respecting her boundaries.”During the episode, Amber attended Leah’s 13th birthday celebration.

She brought her daughter a gift and the pair exchanged a hug at the end of the event.After the party, the teenager told her father, Gary Shirley, that she appreciated her mom being there.“I want us to be friendly together and not have any issues or anything.

I don’t want to have any tension or for it to be awkward with her,” she said. “I feel like we’re taking a big step. It is still awkward because I don’t know what to say most of the time, but we’re taking a big step into having something.”Amber, who is also mom to James, 4, with ex Andrew Glennon, expressed optimism about the mother-daughter dynamic during a later confssional.“It seems like we’re moving pretty close to where we need to get to.

We’re moving at least. We are just trying still. We’re trying to really find where we’re at and where we want to be at,” she said.The reality TV personality lost custody of James in July.