New Furniture

On Monday, Jeff spent the late afternoon and early evening with the kids. They were in bed when I got home, which always makes me a little sad about Monday nights. Jeff reported that they had had a good time together, but that time went so quickly after he picked them. They played a little while, but then there was dinner, walking the dogs, a little more playtime and bed. Jeff was surprised by how much dried fruit Henry ate. He said that Henry just kept requesting it and requesting it

On Tuesday morning, Miss R was playing in our bedroom as I took a shower. When I got out of the shower, I heard "I'm stuck. I'm stuck in the muck." She'd been playing in the dog kennel. Miss R has come such a long way on her language skills. Jeff said that Henry had a full packet of oatmeal plus another third of a second packet. He said that Henry ate about as much as he does in the morning. Henry sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" for me, and he did an excellent job brushing his teeth. He earned a pumpkin sticker much to his delight. Miss R did OK on teeth brushing, which earned her a sticker as well. She gave me a hard time when it came to braiding her hair. I always braid her hair on Tuesdays as they are bio parent visitation days. Henry played in a box to his new toy organizer. The kids were good in the car. They requested the train song on the Mymo CD.

We took Miss R to her room first. She and Henry were just about as cute as two kids can get when it came to saying goodbye. I asked Henry if he wanted to give her a goodbye hug. He ran over to her and she opened her arms.

My parents were a little down b/c it didn't look like we were going to be able to schedule a grandparent pick up day. My dad loves picking them up at daycare and seeing how excited the kids get when they see him and my mom. On Tuesdays, one of us spends one-on-one time with Henry while Miss R has her bio parent visitations. They canceled last week's visitation after the driving service had already picked up Miss R. On Wednesday, my parents have a faculty reception to attend; my dad was lobbying to bring the kids, but I nixed that idea. I guess people have brought babies to the reception before, but I wouldn't put it passed my high energy toddler to pull the table clothes off the tables and generally cause mayhem. On Thursday, we meet Miss R's CASA for the first time. A CASA is a court appointed advocate for a foster child. Given how unpredictable some of Miss R's so-called advocates have been (the La Fronterra person still hasn't called, nor has Miss R's lawyer), we are pleased that she has been assigned a CASA. And my parents have plans Friday.

Jeff ended up calling my mom and asking her if she wanted to see Henry today. She said yes. So Jeff forfeited his Henry day. As it turned out, the driver from CPS called me at 4:15PM to say that the bio parent visitation had been cancelled and where did I want Miss R to be dropped off (home or school). I said school. Then, my parents picked up both Henry and Miss R.

Jeff spent the afternoon putting toy organizers and book shelves together. These items were put in the toy room. Definitely not going to return to a dining room any time soon. The organizer is now holding toys that had been in the playpen. We figure that they'll get a lot more use now that Henry and Miss R will be able to get the toys without our assistance.

While Jeff finished the furniture, I walked the dogs. I ran into the sister of one of our neighors. She commented on how big Miss R is getting and how devious Henry looked the other day. She said that she and her brother were commenting the other day on how amazing Henry looks given his early birth.

Jeff picked up the kids at my parents' house. As he was trying to get the kids out the door, Henry got very upset and started to cry. We don't know what caused it, but it took several minutes to calm him down. While Jeff was driving the kids home, my mom called me b/c she was concerned. She also mentioned that Miss R had been out of sorts when they picked her up. She had just been returned to school by the CPS driver. She was clingy for a long time after they arrived at my parents' house. My mom thinks that Miss R has a hard time on visitation days. I've wondered whether visitation days invoke a clingyness response in her. I haven't kept a log of her reactions (maybe I should), but it kind of seems to me like she gets especially upset when I don't hold her immediately for a couple days after visitations. I think that she really likes routine. And the visitations, which sometimes happen, sometimes don't, sometimes partially happen for just a few minutes with older siblings, sometimes involve her being driven to the meeting site where the visitation is then announced canceled, are difficult for her to understand. There isn't anything that we can really do about it other than give her emotional support when she comes back to us.

When the kids arrived home, I read them "Bambi" at Miss R's request. I was pleased that she was adamant about what she wanted, and she listened to all but a page or two of the story (and it is a long one).

Miss R gave Jeff a very hard time about teeth brushing. Henry did a really good job, earning a sticker to put on his d-backs ball. Then, it was time for bed.

When the kids were in bed, Jeff and I organized toys. Jeff commented that our dining room looks like a kindergarten. It does. But I like it.

Here's Lily looking forlorn this evening. "Oh woe is me. The toys have been picked up and I have no objects to destroy."