It has been a crazy week in terms of appointments. My co-authors and I submitted our book manuscript to the editor. I, however, still have to finish my chapter on absentee/early voting, which will hopefully be done by week's end.
On Monday, we picked up the kids at daycare around 2:30PM. We took them to their check up appointments at the pediatrician's office. Henry weighed 26 lbs 12 ozs. Miss R broke the 23 lbs mark. The great news is that their ear infections have cleared. Henry still has a little fluid, but it isn't infected. Jeff had the brilliant idea of picking up Eeegee's and feeding the kids before Miss R's lawyer came over to the house at 4:30PM to meet her for the first time. We usually have appointments with caseworkers around the 5PM hour. They often run over an hour and the kids get really crabby when their meal schedule is delayed. We got home at 4:10PM. The kids ate a ham and cheese sandwich and some french fries. Miss R likes lettuce. Henry wouldn't try it. Jeff's suggestion was brilliant b/c the kids were happy during the lawyer's visit. He said that with little ones, there isn't much for him to do meeting them, but he observed her and talked with me about the UA. He went there as an undergraduate and had some interesting anecdotes about the professors. We gave him our perspective on Miss R's progress in our home. He observed her and Henry playing together. They were having a fine old time making high squeaky sounds at one another, which is their current hobby. Who can make the loudest, highest pitched squeal? The meeting ended with Miss R and Henry wrestling on the floor. Miss R was on top of Henry. He was pinned and said "Help! Help!"
Poor Henry. Hopefully we are not guided by a gender bias, but we tend to rescue him less than we do Miss R. Given that he's about 5 inches taller than her, we tend to take his actions more seriously than hers. Plus, if he gets a scratch, he'll recover. If she gets a scratch, she'll recover but we'll have to file an "incident report," which is a bit of a pain. I've mentioned to Jeff how we are a bit more discipline-oriented with Henry too, when it comes to saying "please" and "thank you." That's been driving in part by Miss R being less verbally inclined, although she is coming along so well. We're going to have to be "please" and "thank you" task masters as she gets more vocal. The one area where I don't let Miss R get away with anything is hitting. Henry's no saint but he isn't a hitter. Miss R is. I think that it is her way of playing b/c she smiles as she does it. She also doesn't take our warnings of "we don't hit in this family" (said in a stern voice) seriously b/c she laughs at us.
We desperately need a new "timeout" location. It used to be their room. But now that they are sleeping there, we don't want it to be perceived as a no-fun room (or they'll never want to sleep there).
We went on a family walk after the lawyer left. We ran into Yvonne and her dogs Chocolate and Banjo. When Henry saw them, he said "Precious!" Precious was Yvonne's dog who passed away in February. Yvonne told Henry that Precious was no longer with us, but I'm sure he didn't understand. He brought up Precious again several minutes later. Hopefully, the reminder didn't make Yvonne too sad but made her happy that her beloved dog is remembered.
On Tuesday, Jeff went to a CFT. The bio parents weren't there. Jeff gave his report on how Miss R is doing. Most of the time was spent on the other siblings, which I suppose makes sense given that Miss R isn't receiving any special services. My mom picked up Henry at school and spent the afternoon with him. Miss R was picked up by the CPS driving service as she had a visit with her siblings and mother. She was returned around 6:30PM. Jeff went and got Henry. I stayed with Miss R and we snuggled on the couch and read the "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book several times. I was pleased that she had initiated us reading a book together. Not only can she point to objects when asked, but if I pointed to an object, she could tell me what it was. Usually, it is Miss R who is a "Krabby Patty" in the evening right before bed. Last night, it was Henry. He had cried in the car on the way home and was very moody in the living room. So, with much protest, we brushed their teeth and put them to bed.
Miss R was the first on up this morning. She woke at 6:30AM. Henry didn't want to get up. As usual, she was as happy as a clam to see her teachers. Henry laid a major guilt trip on me but eventually have me a strained "happy face."
Miss R's appointment week continues as we have a dependency hearing to attend at 4PM. My mom will be picking up the kids. Jeff and I will head to court. Per usual, we will continue to be vague about Miss R's status and family situation. We don't expect any major decisions to be made at this particular hearing. The point of the hearing is to update the court on the status of the case. We'll probably give a short report on Miss R, her medical check ups and how she is doing in our home, which is very well.
No comments:
Post a Comment