On Wednesday morning, I fed Baby A around 4AM. After eating and snoozing in my arms, she refused the crib and didn't want to co-sleep. Jeff held her as I was dead tired having stayed up to finish editing a senior honors thesis. The student was on a tight deadline. Jeff managed to get Baby A back to bed by 6AM, but then Henry decided to get up.
The drop off at school was fine. Miss R has been reluctant to let me leave her, which is sad. Henry seems pretty happy to go to his class (still the old class). And Baby A is always the easiest of the three of them.
The Twins had their final swim lesson of the session. We've signed them up for more lessons, which start the second week of July. Miss R will stay in the Flounders class, and Henry will move up to the Pollywogs. Miss Natalie said that Miss R needs to continue working on dunking and getting her face wet, but she's doing very well at floating. Henry is doing well at everything but floating.
We went to Grammy and Poppy's house afterward and went swimming. Henry and Miss R had fun riding me like a horse, using my swim suit straps at the back as reighs. Then, we had dinner. At 8:35PM, I rushed off to Sunflower to get my coconut milk before the store closed. Jeff drove the kids home. All three were asleep by the time they arrived.
That's all from here...
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Play-Doh and Dancing
On Tuesday, I dropped off the kids at school. It always takes longer than it should. They were supposed to start "transitioning" Henry to the 3 year old room, but the developmental coordinator was on a field trip, so they didn't try it. I guess it takes the title of "developmental coordinator" to walk a kid over to his new classroom and let him hang out there part of the day.
I picked up the kids at 4:15PM. Henry was laying on the floor. His friends thought I was funny b/c I hid behind a toy shelf so Henry wouldn't see me. They kind of gave me away though. Miss Valerie said that he had a good day.
When Henry and I appeared in Miss R's class, Miss R freaked out when other kids ran to me. She yelled, "That's my mommy, not your mommy!" several times. Baby A seemed to have had a good day and did some rolling for Miss Cecy.
We rushed home in time for our appointment with Christy from St. Nick's. The kids and dogs formed the welcoming committee. We signed a final form for her. I really like Christy. She has a happy disposition, but I can tell that she's also pragmatic in her assessments of the world. I like that combination. Not to mention that she always does what she says she is going to do. Very competent on paperwork. Why can't all caseworkers be like her?
Baby A was in fine form during the visit. She cooed as she played on the floor. Miss R was very happy and made "hamburgers" for me and Jeff as we signed paperwork. She and Henry really like making pretend food. Henry spent most of the time in the train room reading. He did, however, come out in his sparkly pink-jeweled high heels at one point, which made Christy laugh. His feet are the perfect length for those shoes, but his feet are getting a little wide for them. Nevertheless, he navigates the terrain pretty well in high heels (a benefit of all that toe-walking, I suppose).
After Christy left, we played with Play-doh (thanks Carolyn, Zak, Adelyn, and Spencer!). Henry ordered me to make animal cut outs in the Play-doh as he ate his snack. Then, we had dinner.
After dinner, Jeff took Baby A for a walk with the dogs. I stayed with the kids. They started to have a dispute on the slide. I ended up pulling Henry off the slide and kissing and tickling him to diffuse the situation. Then Miss R came down from the slide to be kissed and tickled too. I put on some music, and the kids danced. Miss R really wanted Henry to dance with her. But he kept saying "You are not my true love." So I danced with her. When Jeff came back from the walk, Miss R asked him to dance. And Jeff did...but only when the camera was off (he's as bad as The Twins). I asked Henry to dance, but he told me that I wasn't his true love either. Apparently, a true love is someone who will dance with you. That calls Jeff's and my "true love" status into question! ;)
Those are today's highlights. Signing off...
I picked up the kids at 4:15PM. Henry was laying on the floor. His friends thought I was funny b/c I hid behind a toy shelf so Henry wouldn't see me. They kind of gave me away though. Miss Valerie said that he had a good day.
When Henry and I appeared in Miss R's class, Miss R freaked out when other kids ran to me. She yelled, "That's my mommy, not your mommy!" several times. Baby A seemed to have had a good day and did some rolling for Miss Cecy.
We rushed home in time for our appointment with Christy from St. Nick's. The kids and dogs formed the welcoming committee. We signed a final form for her. I really like Christy. She has a happy disposition, but I can tell that she's also pragmatic in her assessments of the world. I like that combination. Not to mention that she always does what she says she is going to do. Very competent on paperwork. Why can't all caseworkers be like her?
Baby A was in fine form during the visit. She cooed as she played on the floor. Miss R was very happy and made "hamburgers" for me and Jeff as we signed paperwork. She and Henry really like making pretend food. Henry spent most of the time in the train room reading. He did, however, come out in his sparkly pink-jeweled high heels at one point, which made Christy laugh. His feet are the perfect length for those shoes, but his feet are getting a little wide for them. Nevertheless, he navigates the terrain pretty well in high heels (a benefit of all that toe-walking, I suppose).
After Christy left, we played with Play-doh (thanks Carolyn, Zak, Adelyn, and Spencer!). Henry ordered me to make animal cut outs in the Play-doh as he ate his snack. Then, we had dinner.
After dinner, Jeff took Baby A for a walk with the dogs. I stayed with the kids. They started to have a dispute on the slide. I ended up pulling Henry off the slide and kissing and tickling him to diffuse the situation. Then Miss R came down from the slide to be kissed and tickled too. I put on some music, and the kids danced. Miss R really wanted Henry to dance with her. But he kept saying "You are not my true love." So I danced with her. When Jeff came back from the walk, Miss R asked him to dance. And Jeff did...but only when the camera was off (he's as bad as The Twins). I asked Henry to dance, but he told me that I wasn't his true love either. Apparently, a true love is someone who will dance with you. That calls Jeff's and my "true love" status into question! ;)
Those are today's highlights. Signing off...
Monday, June 28, 2010
Potty Progress and Rolling
The morning started for me at 6AM, when Baby A started making noises. She usually cries out in desperation for her milk. She was noisy, but in a happy, playful kind of way. She'd managed to turn around 180 while on her back. That's definitely new. And she is enjoying her ability to lift her legs into the air.
In a big move this morning, Henry finally requested to use the potty when he got up! Yes! That's huge. He struggled with me yesterday, claiming that he didn't need to go. When I made him go, he pretty much could have doubled for Jimmy Dugan in the pee scene from A League of Their Own, which ends with Madonna's character Mae saying to Dugan "Boy, that was some good peeing." I have no doubt that Henry has great capacity to hold it, but there's no point on waiting for a misfire.
Getting the kids out of the house wasn't as chaotic as usual this morning. It helped that I had braided Miss R's hair last night, so she was ready to go once she got her clothes on. Baby A fell asleep in the car and was still sleeping when I handed her off to her teachers. Miss R didn't want to get out of the car, announcing that she was staying with me. When Jeff's mom, sister, and nephews visit in a couple weeks, she'll have extended no-school time then.
I talked with the developmental coordinator about moving Henry to a 3 year old classroom. She said that he had to have had no accidents for two weeks. I said that she could talk to Miss Stephanie or Miss Valerie and that he hadn't had an accident in three weeks. She said that they'd consider "transitioning" him...whatever that means.
I talked with our family specialist who sent off a response to Baby A's caseworker and the caseworker's supervisor. It basically said that she disagreed with the statements in Friday's email from the caseworker and the transport coordinator, but she thanked the caseworker for planning to provide a car seat. I'm sure that went over well with the caseworker (*sarcasm*). I decided not to respond as our family specialist pretty well said what needed to be said, and I'm trying to avoid a confrontation, although events later in the day suggest that she may have taken some subtle retaliatory measures against us.
We picked up The Twins at 3:30PM for swim lessons. Apparently, the developomental coordinator is creating a new test for Henry, seeing if he will wet himself if he is never asked to go potty, even though they do prompt the kids to go to the bathroom even in the potty-trained classrooms. She's really got a misguided authoritarian streak going on. At swim lessons, Henry was not excited about floating on his back. He wouldn't let go of the instructor's hair. I thought that Miss R did pretty well floating though. She also seemed to do a pretty good "froggy dive." The Twins favorite part was floating on the "magic carpet," which is a floating foam pad. We've gone ahead and signed them up for classes in July.
We headed back home after the lesson so that we'd be home when Baby A arrived. Dealing with more CPS nuttiness, but I'm not going to write about it. Simply too exhausting.
We had an early dinner b/c I had forgotten to eat lunch and was hungry. The kids watched Toy Story 2. While they did so, Baby A rolled over back to tummy!
I took Baby A on a walk with the dogs. We ran into Hal. Baby A grabbed Hal's finger and wouldn't get go so he walked with us for a couple minutes. Baby A was cooing at him the entire time. We parted from Hal and our other neighbor Jenine, her son, and grand daughter. We walked across the wash and up the road before the first house. A black car with major black tinting came our way. The window on the passenger side of the car rolled down. Hard to describe, but the cast of characters inside could have stepped out of Pulp Fiction. The driver wanted to know where a particular street was. I gave him directions, and they were off. They freaked me out. Perhaps it is all of the talk of drop houses being located in upper middle class neighborhoods owing to the past month's major bust. A house on the other side of our neighbors had suspicious nightly activity going on according to a couple neighbors. Perhaps it was the cop cars roaming our quiet out of the way neighborhood a couple days ago. Yeeesh.
Jeff played with The Twins. He did airplanes with them (where he holds their hands and lift them into the air with his legs). Miss R slipped on one, but she managed to rebound without distress. Henry decided that airplanes were most fun when he let go of Daddy's hands and then clung completely to Daddy's feet. The night ended without injury.
On tomorrow's agenda is a home visit from Miss R's caseworker from St. Nick's to sign some final paperwork.
Signing off from The Wild Kingdom...
In a big move this morning, Henry finally requested to use the potty when he got up! Yes! That's huge. He struggled with me yesterday, claiming that he didn't need to go. When I made him go, he pretty much could have doubled for Jimmy Dugan in the pee scene from A League of Their Own, which ends with Madonna's character Mae saying to Dugan "Boy, that was some good peeing." I have no doubt that Henry has great capacity to hold it, but there's no point on waiting for a misfire.
Getting the kids out of the house wasn't as chaotic as usual this morning. It helped that I had braided Miss R's hair last night, so she was ready to go once she got her clothes on. Baby A fell asleep in the car and was still sleeping when I handed her off to her teachers. Miss R didn't want to get out of the car, announcing that she was staying with me. When Jeff's mom, sister, and nephews visit in a couple weeks, she'll have extended no-school time then.
I talked with the developmental coordinator about moving Henry to a 3 year old classroom. She said that he had to have had no accidents for two weeks. I said that she could talk to Miss Stephanie or Miss Valerie and that he hadn't had an accident in three weeks. She said that they'd consider "transitioning" him...whatever that means.
I talked with our family specialist who sent off a response to Baby A's caseworker and the caseworker's supervisor. It basically said that she disagreed with the statements in Friday's email from the caseworker and the transport coordinator, but she thanked the caseworker for planning to provide a car seat. I'm sure that went over well with the caseworker (*sarcasm*). I decided not to respond as our family specialist pretty well said what needed to be said, and I'm trying to avoid a confrontation, although events later in the day suggest that she may have taken some subtle retaliatory measures against us.
We picked up The Twins at 3:30PM for swim lessons. Apparently, the developomental coordinator is creating a new test for Henry, seeing if he will wet himself if he is never asked to go potty, even though they do prompt the kids to go to the bathroom even in the potty-trained classrooms. She's really got a misguided authoritarian streak going on. At swim lessons, Henry was not excited about floating on his back. He wouldn't let go of the instructor's hair. I thought that Miss R did pretty well floating though. She also seemed to do a pretty good "froggy dive." The Twins favorite part was floating on the "magic carpet," which is a floating foam pad. We've gone ahead and signed them up for classes in July.
We headed back home after the lesson so that we'd be home when Baby A arrived. Dealing with more CPS nuttiness, but I'm not going to write about it. Simply too exhausting.
We had an early dinner b/c I had forgotten to eat lunch and was hungry. The kids watched Toy Story 2. While they did so, Baby A rolled over back to tummy!
I took Baby A on a walk with the dogs. We ran into Hal. Baby A grabbed Hal's finger and wouldn't get go so he walked with us for a couple minutes. Baby A was cooing at him the entire time. We parted from Hal and our other neighbor Jenine, her son, and grand daughter. We walked across the wash and up the road before the first house. A black car with major black tinting came our way. The window on the passenger side of the car rolled down. Hard to describe, but the cast of characters inside could have stepped out of Pulp Fiction. The driver wanted to know where a particular street was. I gave him directions, and they were off. They freaked me out. Perhaps it is all of the talk of drop houses being located in upper middle class neighborhoods owing to the past month's major bust. A house on the other side of our neighbors had suspicious nightly activity going on according to a couple neighbors. Perhaps it was the cop cars roaming our quiet out of the way neighborhood a couple days ago. Yeeesh.
Jeff played with The Twins. He did airplanes with them (where he holds their hands and lift them into the air with his legs). Miss R slipped on one, but she managed to rebound without distress. Henry decided that airplanes were most fun when he let go of Daddy's hands and then clung completely to Daddy's feet. The night ended without injury.
On tomorrow's agenda is a home visit from Miss R's caseworker from St. Nick's to sign some final paperwork.
Signing off from The Wild Kingdom...
Sunday, June 27, 2010
"Take my hand. Let's dance."
On Sunday, we had decided not to go anywhere. We usually go somewhere each weekend day, but today we wanted to have an easy going day. In retrospect, staying home with three children (especially two toddlers) can never be described as "easy going." Henry was in classic Henry form, driving Jeff crazy with his opposition at every turn.
I gave the kids showers in the morning. The carrot for getting them into the shower was pulling out Miss R's Beauty and the Beast Belle dress and Henry's Spiderman outfit. They happily took their showers so that they could wear their costumes. Once they were in their outfits, Henry said to Miss R, "Take my hand. Let's dance."
I went to Jeff's desk to get some CDs. Meanwhile, I heard Henry run after Miss R saying, "Kiss me. Kiss me. You're my true love." Henry was trying to reenact Beauty and the Beast. They'd been reading it in their Story Reader earlier in the morning. Once the music got going, Henry again asked Miss R to take his hand and dance. She said no. He again used the "true love" plea, but she wanted to go swimming in the ball pit. So Henry sat down with his Story Read and read instead. By then, of course, Miss R wanted to dance, but Henry said no. So she said, "But you're my true love." Her dancing plea fell on deaf ears however. Henry's attention was on the book. Jeff laughingly said, "I'm afraid that ship has sailed." Miss R sternly told him, "No, Daddy." The kids horsed around the living room throughout the morning. Henry enjoyed being Spiderman, and Miss R loved being Belle.
The kids had macaroni and cheese for lunch. They didn't protest too much when told it was time for a nap. I fed Miss R on the couch and fell asleep. She'd been up since 6AM. Once the kids were asleep, Jeff headed off the estate to get supplies at the grocery store. Henry got up before Miss R did, but both took decent naps.
I made steamed artichokes for an appetizer. Miss R really seemed to like it. Jeff thought that it was too much work for little food, and Henry refused to try it. The kids were pains about eating their dinner. Having talked about chicken nuggets for hours, Henry didn't want to eat those on his plate. Miss R did pretty well on her chicken nuggets and ate all of her corn, but she refused to try to fruit salad.
We let them watch a Sponge Bob episode before bed while I braided Miss R's hair. I am hoping that the braids stay in place come morning.
Tomorrow, Baby A has a visitation with bio mom. And I plan to talk with the daycare about getting Henry into the 3 year old potty trained classroom.
I gave the kids showers in the morning. The carrot for getting them into the shower was pulling out Miss R's Beauty and the Beast Belle dress and Henry's Spiderman outfit. They happily took their showers so that they could wear their costumes. Once they were in their outfits, Henry said to Miss R, "Take my hand. Let's dance."
I went to Jeff's desk to get some CDs. Meanwhile, I heard Henry run after Miss R saying, "Kiss me. Kiss me. You're my true love." Henry was trying to reenact Beauty and the Beast. They'd been reading it in their Story Reader earlier in the morning. Once the music got going, Henry again asked Miss R to take his hand and dance. She said no. He again used the "true love" plea, but she wanted to go swimming in the ball pit. So Henry sat down with his Story Read and read instead. By then, of course, Miss R wanted to dance, but Henry said no. So she said, "But you're my true love." Her dancing plea fell on deaf ears however. Henry's attention was on the book. Jeff laughingly said, "I'm afraid that ship has sailed." Miss R sternly told him, "No, Daddy." The kids horsed around the living room throughout the morning. Henry enjoyed being Spiderman, and Miss R loved being Belle.
The kids had macaroni and cheese for lunch. They didn't protest too much when told it was time for a nap. I fed Miss R on the couch and fell asleep. She'd been up since 6AM. Once the kids were asleep, Jeff headed off the estate to get supplies at the grocery store. Henry got up before Miss R did, but both took decent naps.
I made steamed artichokes for an appetizer. Miss R really seemed to like it. Jeff thought that it was too much work for little food, and Henry refused to try it. The kids were pains about eating their dinner. Having talked about chicken nuggets for hours, Henry didn't want to eat those on his plate. Miss R did pretty well on her chicken nuggets and ate all of her corn, but she refused to try to fruit salad.
We let them watch a Sponge Bob episode before bed while I braided Miss R's hair. I am hoping that the braids stay in place come morning.
Tomorrow, Baby A has a visitation with bio mom. And I plan to talk with the daycare about getting Henry into the 3 year old potty trained classroom.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
A Quarter
On Saturday morning, Baby A was the first one up. Jeff had fed her at 4AM, so I got up at 6AM. She was happy as could be. She did, however, vomit up breakfast, which got into her hair. As a result, she was bathed. Her hair was particularly curly after it.
We took the kids to the Children's Museum. We hadn't been there in a long time. Henry and Miss R loved it. It was a bit harder keeping track of the two of them while holding Baby A. We ran into the kids' dentist, Dr. Bunch. Jeff and I chatted with him for a little bit. He's a very nice person and an excellent pediatric dentist. When we first saw him, we had a hard time placing him as he was out of context for us. It was busy at the museum, but the kids got to see and touch everything that they wanted to. All in all, a good trip.
We had a late lunch at IHOP. Henry was loud and generally uncooperative, but he ate fairly well. Miss R ate some. After lunch, we headed to my parents' house. It was about 2:45PM and the kids had not yet napped. My parents offered to take care of them so that Jeff and I could watch a movie. Henry dosed in the car but became alert when I tried to put him on my parents' bed. Miss R slept soundly. Jeff got Henry back to bed, where he stayed for all of 20 minutes claiming to have napped.
Poppy asked Henry to go potty. Henry said no, he didn't want to go potty. My dad asked again for him to go potty. Henry said no. Then, Poppy said, "Henry, I'll give you a quarter if you go potty." Henry said, "Yeah!" and then ran off to the bathroom. So Henry managed to earn a quarter for peeing. Just wondering what kind of precendent this sets!
Jeff and I went to the Oracle View, a second-run theater, to see Kick-Ass, which is can be described as Kill Bill meets Napoleon Dynamite. We picked up dinner for everyone and came home. Before dinner, we went swimming with Henry and Miss R. Henry didn't eat well for dinner, but Miss R managed to polish off her rice and half of Henry's.
I'm sure that I'm missing cute Henry-isms and R-isms. But I'm exhausted. So I'm going to sign off.
We took the kids to the Children's Museum. We hadn't been there in a long time. Henry and Miss R loved it. It was a bit harder keeping track of the two of them while holding Baby A. We ran into the kids' dentist, Dr. Bunch. Jeff and I chatted with him for a little bit. He's a very nice person and an excellent pediatric dentist. When we first saw him, we had a hard time placing him as he was out of context for us. It was busy at the museum, but the kids got to see and touch everything that they wanted to. All in all, a good trip.
We had a late lunch at IHOP. Henry was loud and generally uncooperative, but he ate fairly well. Miss R ate some. After lunch, we headed to my parents' house. It was about 2:45PM and the kids had not yet napped. My parents offered to take care of them so that Jeff and I could watch a movie. Henry dosed in the car but became alert when I tried to put him on my parents' bed. Miss R slept soundly. Jeff got Henry back to bed, where he stayed for all of 20 minutes claiming to have napped.
Poppy asked Henry to go potty. Henry said no, he didn't want to go potty. My dad asked again for him to go potty. Henry said no. Then, Poppy said, "Henry, I'll give you a quarter if you go potty." Henry said, "Yeah!" and then ran off to the bathroom. So Henry managed to earn a quarter for peeing. Just wondering what kind of precendent this sets!
Jeff and I went to the Oracle View, a second-run theater, to see Kick-Ass, which is can be described as Kill Bill meets Napoleon Dynamite. We picked up dinner for everyone and came home. Before dinner, we went swimming with Henry and Miss R. Henry didn't eat well for dinner, but Miss R managed to polish off her rice and half of Henry's.
I'm sure that I'm missing cute Henry-isms and R-isms. But I'm exhausted. So I'm going to sign off.
Friday, June 25, 2010
A Day of Hearings
On Friday morning, I dropped off Henry and Baby A but took Miss R to an appointment with Henry's ENT. Sometimes it seems like she can't hear. Is that a reflection of a hearing problem or toddler stubbornness? Before Miss R's CMDP insurance ends, I figured that it was best to get her tested. She has fluid in one ear, where there is mild hearing loss, and a retracted ear drum in the other. Dr. Dean thinks that we should wait two months, have him look at the situation again, before moving to ear tubes.
I dropped Miss R off at school. Then headed to Baby A's hearing. I talked with her lawyer for a couple minutes before the hearing. He'd received the update from his assistant Martha. I told him that I wasn't sure it was a good idea to mention the whole car seat debacle. I really didn't want to anger the caseworker. In his opinion, it was appropriate to mention in court b/c he said that for liability reasons, we should NOT have to be providing the car seat for CPS' driving service. If they lost it, he didn't think that CPS would provide us with a new one. He didn't think that it was too much to ask for the driving service to provide the appropriate equipment to transport a child. He said that he'd also request that we be allowed to take Baby A out of state the second week of August for a family trip. On the breach of privacy over the daycare location issue, he recommended that we not mention it in court for now. His assistant had been appalled that the driving service would hand a sheet with the baby's daycare location to the bio mom. In his judgment, she hasn't shown enough initiative to suggest that she'd take action. So I said that it was fine to let it lie. He asked me if we were still contemplating adoption or whether we'd made a decision. I said that if reunification is not possible, we very much want to adopt Baby A.
Court. The judge to whom the case has been assigned was not there. Another judge heard today's case. She was legal poetry in motion. Efficient. Quick. Fair. Upholding the law. I can't get into the details, but she simply laid out what bio mom has to do in the next three months to get a continuance for more time to complete the case plan. Now that ball is in bio mom's court. Baby A's lawyer said that the baby was doing well. He also brought up the concerns over safe transportation. I'm quite sure that the caseworker wasn't expecting me to be proactive in discussing this with her lawyer. It is unfortunate that I had to have the lawyer bring up safety concerns in transportation. But we've been dealing with this transportation BS since the beginning of the case. I suspect that bio mom's lawyer was loving this. It isn't often that you have a foster parent basically say in court that CPS isn't doing its job right. It doesn't make "the state" look good. Anyway, Baby A's lawyer said that he thought that the driving service should come prepared. He didn't think that we should be providing our personal property to the state for liability reasons. But he said that I was willing to provide it if that was the only way to get the baby there safely. The judge lamented on the transportation sloppiness and thanked me for the offer but hoped that CPS would straighten this out. There is a permanency hearing set for the beginning of September. It will go back to the judge who has never heard this case (although it was technically assigned to him back in March). It is unlikely that Baby A would return to bio mom in September. Either she will make substantial effort on the case plan and get time extended or rights to Baby A will be severed.
A new CPS caseworker has been assigned to Baby A's case. She'll be taking over for the current one. I'm hoping that the current one hasn't poisoned the well. This afternoon, I was CC'd on an email where the current caseworker thanked the driving service for clarifying what had happened in the transportation mix up. The driving service was lying. They claimed to have provided car seats except when I wanted her transported in ours. LIE, LIE, LIE. He also said that it "could never happen" that a driver would take someone else's car seat. AHHH, DUDE, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED MONDAY. And then the current caseworker thanked him for clarifying the "miscommunication" and said it was unfortunate that I brought this matter up in court. Interesting that she never reiterated to him that she had personally requested that a car seat be provided by the driving service. She told me twice that she had put it in bold letters on the transportation order. I was totally ready to move past this, but these two jerks were obviously trying to cover their backsides b/c it was brought up in court. I haven't responded yet. But as they are trying to make it seem like I made all of this stuff up or am somehow confused, a response it going to happen. Our family specialist is taking up the issue with her management b/c they were the ones who had trouble with this particular caseworker before when they blew the whistle on some of her unethical activities. I just don't want her to retaliate by making bad decisions for Baby A. I'll be relieved when the case is in someone else's hands.
Daycare. Jeff and I don't see eye to eye on the daycare situation in terms of our evaluation of Daisy. No, Daisy isn't as pretty as CLA. And yes, the rooms are smaller so the feel is slightly more chaotic b/c they have a lot of stuff crammed in a smaller space. The rooms at CLA are huge. I suspect that part of Jeff's problem in making the comparison is that he hasn't spent as much time as I have at CLA when I see the chaotic nature of kids. I was the one after all who watched Henry get attacked by that one kid. Not just hit, but attacked. I am still vexed that the kid wasn't written up for it and was left in Henry's room for several weeks. I suspect that Jeff thinks that daycares should always look like Miss R's classroom. Miss Lulu and Miss Diana have an usual gift with toddlers. Their classroom is always in order. Maybe I should investigate to see if they've secretly replaced all of the kids in their class with Stepford kids or something.
It often looks kind of chaotic in Henry's classroom...although since the male-female ratio has changed, the feel of the class is completely different. Yesterday, when I picked up Henry, I noticed that all of the boys minus Henry were sitting in the kitchenette area. The teachers aren't allowed to give kids "timeouts" but sometimes they put them near a wall and let them think for a few minutes. Henry was with the gals in the class being read a book by Miss Valerie. Henry loves his books.
I obviously can't move the kids without compliance from Jeff. It didn't help his impression of the school when we entered the 2 year classroom, which was having PE instruction, and the teacher was holding a child who had bumped his head pretty good. The lump was pronounced, and the teacher was holding a bag of ice on it. I think that Jeff was more affected by seeing that than I was. I can only imagine that parents visiting CLA weren't impressed by Henry's blood gushing chin wound when a classmate hit him with a puzzle piece on the chin.
As Jeff mentioned, the daycare director did apologize yesterday and asked what we had decided to do. I said that I planned to talk about the matter with the baby's lawyer and see what he thought we should do. She also said that if we had to move, she wouldn't require the 2 weeks notice. So that was good. But there is still the issue of Henry. He simply can't stay in a 2 year classroom forever. In reality, I am cognizant of the fact that he isn't yet 3 adjusted. However, based on his developmental evaluations, he was in the 50th percentile for a 3 year old on many skills (slightly better than that for speech) when he was about 2.5 adjusted. That suggests to me that we should move him where he will be challenged.
Assuming that Henry gets moved into a 3 year old class, one of the potty trained classes without the child with the behavior problems, I think I'll be OK with keeping the kids where they are...for now. But I do want the kids to attend the Sonoran Science Academy for kindergarten. And being enrolled in Daisy will help that happen. In other words, come next year, he and Miss R should be enrolled there.
Jeff thought that we needed to do something fun tonight with the kids to take our minds off of the CPS fiasco. We picked up Baby A first, then Miss R, and then Henry. Miss R was in a different set of clothes from the ones she wore to school. She had an accident while waiting for another kid to use the bathroom. She tried to hold it, but the other kid took a long of time, too long. Henry was excited to see us. He got to show off Baby A to some of his classmates. Interestingly, it was his female classmates who surrounded me and Baby A. They wanted to touch her hair. They were very gentle. In comparison, his friend Joaquin came over, looked at the baby, and then hightailed it to where the action was and Baby A wasn't it! I had to wonder if gender difference really are programmed into us at such young ages.
We went to Monkey Business. Everyone had a good time. We played lots of games and ate cheese crisps, mushrooms, zucchini, and onion rings. Plus, we got homemade ice cream. Miss R was most thrilled with the fruit punch and the ice cream.
Henry tried to join in a game of tag with kids who were probably in fifth grade. He doesn't seem to notice age differences. He spent quite a bit of time with the Monkey Business monkey who got Henry to mimic him in a game of monkey see, monkey do. Monkey would raise the roof, so Henry would raise the roof. Monkey would clap, so Henry would clap. Miss R was very shy and hung out with me.
At one point, Henry bonked his head (again) while climbing on the plastic hippo. He started to make a crying-ish sound. He wasn't really crying as I saw no tears. But he needed comfort and recognition of his "wounds," so I said, "Henry, come here. Let me look at it. I am afterall a doctor" and then dropped my voice to add "of philosophy." And I kissed his head. I didn't think Henry was paying attention to my voice, but he said "Thank you doctor philosophy." It was so darn funny.
I read the kids some books when we came home. Henry got into trouble for not brushing his teeth and hitting Jeff. That earned him a timeout before bed. Baby A had a little bit of a bottle, but crashed shortly after and has been in bed ever since. Miss R went to sleep, but she's called out a couple times.
Signing off from the Wild Kingdom...
I dropped Miss R off at school. Then headed to Baby A's hearing. I talked with her lawyer for a couple minutes before the hearing. He'd received the update from his assistant Martha. I told him that I wasn't sure it was a good idea to mention the whole car seat debacle. I really didn't want to anger the caseworker. In his opinion, it was appropriate to mention in court b/c he said that for liability reasons, we should NOT have to be providing the car seat for CPS' driving service. If they lost it, he didn't think that CPS would provide us with a new one. He didn't think that it was too much to ask for the driving service to provide the appropriate equipment to transport a child. He said that he'd also request that we be allowed to take Baby A out of state the second week of August for a family trip. On the breach of privacy over the daycare location issue, he recommended that we not mention it in court for now. His assistant had been appalled that the driving service would hand a sheet with the baby's daycare location to the bio mom. In his judgment, she hasn't shown enough initiative to suggest that she'd take action. So I said that it was fine to let it lie. He asked me if we were still contemplating adoption or whether we'd made a decision. I said that if reunification is not possible, we very much want to adopt Baby A.
Court. The judge to whom the case has been assigned was not there. Another judge heard today's case. She was legal poetry in motion. Efficient. Quick. Fair. Upholding the law. I can't get into the details, but she simply laid out what bio mom has to do in the next three months to get a continuance for more time to complete the case plan. Now that ball is in bio mom's court. Baby A's lawyer said that the baby was doing well. He also brought up the concerns over safe transportation. I'm quite sure that the caseworker wasn't expecting me to be proactive in discussing this with her lawyer. It is unfortunate that I had to have the lawyer bring up safety concerns in transportation. But we've been dealing with this transportation BS since the beginning of the case. I suspect that bio mom's lawyer was loving this. It isn't often that you have a foster parent basically say in court that CPS isn't doing its job right. It doesn't make "the state" look good. Anyway, Baby A's lawyer said that he thought that the driving service should come prepared. He didn't think that we should be providing our personal property to the state for liability reasons. But he said that I was willing to provide it if that was the only way to get the baby there safely. The judge lamented on the transportation sloppiness and thanked me for the offer but hoped that CPS would straighten this out. There is a permanency hearing set for the beginning of September. It will go back to the judge who has never heard this case (although it was technically assigned to him back in March). It is unlikely that Baby A would return to bio mom in September. Either she will make substantial effort on the case plan and get time extended or rights to Baby A will be severed.
A new CPS caseworker has been assigned to Baby A's case. She'll be taking over for the current one. I'm hoping that the current one hasn't poisoned the well. This afternoon, I was CC'd on an email where the current caseworker thanked the driving service for clarifying what had happened in the transportation mix up. The driving service was lying. They claimed to have provided car seats except when I wanted her transported in ours. LIE, LIE, LIE. He also said that it "could never happen" that a driver would take someone else's car seat. AHHH, DUDE, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED MONDAY. And then the current caseworker thanked him for clarifying the "miscommunication" and said it was unfortunate that I brought this matter up in court. Interesting that she never reiterated to him that she had personally requested that a car seat be provided by the driving service. She told me twice that she had put it in bold letters on the transportation order. I was totally ready to move past this, but these two jerks were obviously trying to cover their backsides b/c it was brought up in court. I haven't responded yet. But as they are trying to make it seem like I made all of this stuff up or am somehow confused, a response it going to happen. Our family specialist is taking up the issue with her management b/c they were the ones who had trouble with this particular caseworker before when they blew the whistle on some of her unethical activities. I just don't want her to retaliate by making bad decisions for Baby A. I'll be relieved when the case is in someone else's hands.
Daycare. Jeff and I don't see eye to eye on the daycare situation in terms of our evaluation of Daisy. No, Daisy isn't as pretty as CLA. And yes, the rooms are smaller so the feel is slightly more chaotic b/c they have a lot of stuff crammed in a smaller space. The rooms at CLA are huge. I suspect that part of Jeff's problem in making the comparison is that he hasn't spent as much time as I have at CLA when I see the chaotic nature of kids. I was the one after all who watched Henry get attacked by that one kid. Not just hit, but attacked. I am still vexed that the kid wasn't written up for it and was left in Henry's room for several weeks. I suspect that Jeff thinks that daycares should always look like Miss R's classroom. Miss Lulu and Miss Diana have an usual gift with toddlers. Their classroom is always in order. Maybe I should investigate to see if they've secretly replaced all of the kids in their class with Stepford kids or something.
It often looks kind of chaotic in Henry's classroom...although since the male-female ratio has changed, the feel of the class is completely different. Yesterday, when I picked up Henry, I noticed that all of the boys minus Henry were sitting in the kitchenette area. The teachers aren't allowed to give kids "timeouts" but sometimes they put them near a wall and let them think for a few minutes. Henry was with the gals in the class being read a book by Miss Valerie. Henry loves his books.
I obviously can't move the kids without compliance from Jeff. It didn't help his impression of the school when we entered the 2 year classroom, which was having PE instruction, and the teacher was holding a child who had bumped his head pretty good. The lump was pronounced, and the teacher was holding a bag of ice on it. I think that Jeff was more affected by seeing that than I was. I can only imagine that parents visiting CLA weren't impressed by Henry's blood gushing chin wound when a classmate hit him with a puzzle piece on the chin.
As Jeff mentioned, the daycare director did apologize yesterday and asked what we had decided to do. I said that I planned to talk about the matter with the baby's lawyer and see what he thought we should do. She also said that if we had to move, she wouldn't require the 2 weeks notice. So that was good. But there is still the issue of Henry. He simply can't stay in a 2 year classroom forever. In reality, I am cognizant of the fact that he isn't yet 3 adjusted. However, based on his developmental evaluations, he was in the 50th percentile for a 3 year old on many skills (slightly better than that for speech) when he was about 2.5 adjusted. That suggests to me that we should move him where he will be challenged.
Assuming that Henry gets moved into a 3 year old class, one of the potty trained classes without the child with the behavior problems, I think I'll be OK with keeping the kids where they are...for now. But I do want the kids to attend the Sonoran Science Academy for kindergarten. And being enrolled in Daisy will help that happen. In other words, come next year, he and Miss R should be enrolled there.
Jeff thought that we needed to do something fun tonight with the kids to take our minds off of the CPS fiasco. We picked up Baby A first, then Miss R, and then Henry. Miss R was in a different set of clothes from the ones she wore to school. She had an accident while waiting for another kid to use the bathroom. She tried to hold it, but the other kid took a long of time, too long. Henry was excited to see us. He got to show off Baby A to some of his classmates. Interestingly, it was his female classmates who surrounded me and Baby A. They wanted to touch her hair. They were very gentle. In comparison, his friend Joaquin came over, looked at the baby, and then hightailed it to where the action was and Baby A wasn't it! I had to wonder if gender difference really are programmed into us at such young ages.
We went to Monkey Business. Everyone had a good time. We played lots of games and ate cheese crisps, mushrooms, zucchini, and onion rings. Plus, we got homemade ice cream. Miss R was most thrilled with the fruit punch and the ice cream.
Henry tried to join in a game of tag with kids who were probably in fifth grade. He doesn't seem to notice age differences. He spent quite a bit of time with the Monkey Business monkey who got Henry to mimic him in a game of monkey see, monkey do. Monkey would raise the roof, so Henry would raise the roof. Monkey would clap, so Henry would clap. Miss R was very shy and hung out with me.
At one point, Henry bonked his head (again) while climbing on the plastic hippo. He started to make a crying-ish sound. He wasn't really crying as I saw no tears. But he needed comfort and recognition of his "wounds," so I said, "Henry, come here. Let me look at it. I am afterall a doctor" and then dropped my voice to add "of philosophy." And I kissed his head. I didn't think Henry was paying attention to my voice, but he said "Thank you doctor philosophy." It was so darn funny.
I read the kids some books when we came home. Henry got into trouble for not brushing his teeth and hitting Jeff. That earned him a timeout before bed. Baby A had a little bit of a bottle, but crashed shortly after and has been in bed ever since. Miss R went to sleep, but she's called out a couple times.
Signing off from the Wild Kingdom...
The Roller Coaster
Today we had an early call from our foster care agency rep. Apparently our agency blew the whistle on our CPS case worker for baby A at some time in the past (nothing in regard to us or baby A). That might explain the poor relationship we have had with her.
We took the kids to see a new daycare we are considering moving them to. Kate and I had visited earlier in the week. It has a lot going for it. Kate was ready to fill out the paper work. I had a very negative reaction to what I saw today. It seemed very crowded last time. This time it was the noise and chaos that got to me. Kate pointed out that if the facilities were bigger, they are a rather small daycare with moderate sized rooms with lots of kids and things in them, then I probably wouldn't notice as much. That is true but they aren't so I did.
Henry made himself at home. He didn't seem to interact with the kids but he played with toys and one of the teachers showed him how to use scissors which is a scary prospect in his hands. Until he learns to treat the cats better I don't think he'll be having scissors at home any time soon.
Miss R was rather shy as we would expect. I think a transition to a new daycare would be hardest on her. She is the teachers pet in her current classroom and I think it will be a bit traumatic even moving classrooms in her own school. However, I believe I thought that last time she moved rooms and was pleasantly surprised at how well she did.
I'm not concerned about baby A. She can sleep in a bouncy seat in pretty much any daycare.
I dropped the kids off at school. They were slow but fairly cooperative. I tried to pay a bit more attention to how things compared to the other daycare we looked at. I have to say that Miss R's class is rather amazing. They tend to have a fairly good number of kids in there and often have 3 teachers in the room. Almost every time I'm there everyone is sitting quietly listening to a story. I'm wondering if they slip a little something in the sippy cups at snack time because it's almost unreal how well behaved all those kids are.
Henry's class was a bit more authentic. One child comes up and shows whoever enters the room the neat underwear he is wearing that day. He also decided to take his shoes off and throw them across the room. Another boy was trying to take something from a little girl. Repeated warning from the teacher eventually convinced him to give it up. A bit more noise, a bit more chaos. Still didn't seem nearly as bad as the other daycare we visited.
Henry went and worked on a puzzle in the middle of the room. I felt a sad feeling that he was either bored or unhappy. I want him to want to go to daycare. He loves to learn things and he is very bright and social. If he is left to his own devices he gets into trouble but when is directed for the most part he is focused and engaged. We are already planning on pushing to get him moved up to an older classroom, which he should be in. We want him to be potty trained so he can skip the room with Attila the Hun Jr which is for those still being potty trained.
I received a message from baby A's lawyers office trying to schedule a visit. It is required by the court that the lawyers visit with their clients at least once between court appearances. So of course the day before they are calling and trying to work out a last second visit so the judge doesn't rap them on the knuckles. Much like CPS it seems they have no concept that people may have other commitments that might require more than 30 minutes notice. They even considered having us bring the baby to court so that the lawyer could see her a few minutes before hand. That's quality time.
The lawyer's assistant did make it out to see us in the evening. The visit was pretty mundane until she asked, "How is your relationship with CPS?" Well, about an hour later Kate finished recounting all the guffaws regarding transport and privacy etc. The assistant said that transport is a problem for many foster families right now. My theory is that they contract the transport to the lowest bidder which happened to be a bunch of high school or elementary school drop outs who have no clue about what they are doing besides green means go and red means stop and yellow means go really fast.
The assistant is going to relay our issues to the lawyer. If the lawyer should feel that the privacy breach regarding baby A's daycare warrants relocating her to another daycare we will do so. However, I think Kate has relented on moving the kids otherwise. When she picked up the kids this afternoon the director finally apologized for the security breach which was part of what we wanted. Now if they would just adjust their policy so that they would not send the daily info sheet with CPS unless explicitly directed to that would be a true victory. Frankly I could do without the sheets all together. Just tell me what they did that day and if they ate well and napped well and when they went potty last and keep the paper. I've got enough paper at home that I don't know what to do with.
The kids ate reasonably well for dinner. Kate took baby A for a walk with the dogs. As per usual she fell asleep on the walk and then woke up as soon as Kate put her in her crib. I played with the kids in their playhouse where we did "Patty Cake" and "Duck Duck Goose". The latter is more like everyone chasing each other around the living room than anything else.
Henry has been up a few times for water. Kate slept in the rocking chair with baby A for a while. Baby A is doing something rather strange when lying down. She is arching her back and turning on her side. It almost looks like she is going to roll over from back to front. However, the arching just looks a bit strange and she's sleeping like that. It only started a day or two ago. I hope it's not anything serious.
In fun news baby A is trying to grab her toes. She gets to her knee regularly and has made some attempts at her toes. I don't know if we have an official grab yet. I'm sure it will be any day now.
I'm blogging to you from my newly configured treadmill desk. I'm walking a whopping 1mph while typing. Hoping it works out and I lose 30lbs while I work. We'll see. It probably doesn't help that I'm also drinking a glass of wine. Let's see you do that with Taibo! At least the treadmill is being used for exercise instead of as a platform for a dead printer, a cat bed and any junk we don't feel like putting in it's proper location.
Tomorrow is court for baby A and a hearing check for Miss R.
We took the kids to see a new daycare we are considering moving them to. Kate and I had visited earlier in the week. It has a lot going for it. Kate was ready to fill out the paper work. I had a very negative reaction to what I saw today. It seemed very crowded last time. This time it was the noise and chaos that got to me. Kate pointed out that if the facilities were bigger, they are a rather small daycare with moderate sized rooms with lots of kids and things in them, then I probably wouldn't notice as much. That is true but they aren't so I did.
Henry made himself at home. He didn't seem to interact with the kids but he played with toys and one of the teachers showed him how to use scissors which is a scary prospect in his hands. Until he learns to treat the cats better I don't think he'll be having scissors at home any time soon.
Miss R was rather shy as we would expect. I think a transition to a new daycare would be hardest on her. She is the teachers pet in her current classroom and I think it will be a bit traumatic even moving classrooms in her own school. However, I believe I thought that last time she moved rooms and was pleasantly surprised at how well she did.
I'm not concerned about baby A. She can sleep in a bouncy seat in pretty much any daycare.
I dropped the kids off at school. They were slow but fairly cooperative. I tried to pay a bit more attention to how things compared to the other daycare we looked at. I have to say that Miss R's class is rather amazing. They tend to have a fairly good number of kids in there and often have 3 teachers in the room. Almost every time I'm there everyone is sitting quietly listening to a story. I'm wondering if they slip a little something in the sippy cups at snack time because it's almost unreal how well behaved all those kids are.
Henry's class was a bit more authentic. One child comes up and shows whoever enters the room the neat underwear he is wearing that day. He also decided to take his shoes off and throw them across the room. Another boy was trying to take something from a little girl. Repeated warning from the teacher eventually convinced him to give it up. A bit more noise, a bit more chaos. Still didn't seem nearly as bad as the other daycare we visited.
Henry went and worked on a puzzle in the middle of the room. I felt a sad feeling that he was either bored or unhappy. I want him to want to go to daycare. He loves to learn things and he is very bright and social. If he is left to his own devices he gets into trouble but when is directed for the most part he is focused and engaged. We are already planning on pushing to get him moved up to an older classroom, which he should be in. We want him to be potty trained so he can skip the room with Attila the Hun Jr which is for those still being potty trained.
I received a message from baby A's lawyers office trying to schedule a visit. It is required by the court that the lawyers visit with their clients at least once between court appearances. So of course the day before they are calling and trying to work out a last second visit so the judge doesn't rap them on the knuckles. Much like CPS it seems they have no concept that people may have other commitments that might require more than 30 minutes notice. They even considered having us bring the baby to court so that the lawyer could see her a few minutes before hand. That's quality time.
The lawyer's assistant did make it out to see us in the evening. The visit was pretty mundane until she asked, "How is your relationship with CPS?" Well, about an hour later Kate finished recounting all the guffaws regarding transport and privacy etc. The assistant said that transport is a problem for many foster families right now. My theory is that they contract the transport to the lowest bidder which happened to be a bunch of high school or elementary school drop outs who have no clue about what they are doing besides green means go and red means stop and yellow means go really fast.
The assistant is going to relay our issues to the lawyer. If the lawyer should feel that the privacy breach regarding baby A's daycare warrants relocating her to another daycare we will do so. However, I think Kate has relented on moving the kids otherwise. When she picked up the kids this afternoon the director finally apologized for the security breach which was part of what we wanted. Now if they would just adjust their policy so that they would not send the daily info sheet with CPS unless explicitly directed to that would be a true victory. Frankly I could do without the sheets all together. Just tell me what they did that day and if they ate well and napped well and when they went potty last and keep the paper. I've got enough paper at home that I don't know what to do with.
The kids ate reasonably well for dinner. Kate took baby A for a walk with the dogs. As per usual she fell asleep on the walk and then woke up as soon as Kate put her in her crib. I played with the kids in their playhouse where we did "Patty Cake" and "Duck Duck Goose". The latter is more like everyone chasing each other around the living room than anything else.
Henry has been up a few times for water. Kate slept in the rocking chair with baby A for a while. Baby A is doing something rather strange when lying down. She is arching her back and turning on her side. It almost looks like she is going to roll over from back to front. However, the arching just looks a bit strange and she's sleeping like that. It only started a day or two ago. I hope it's not anything serious.
In fun news baby A is trying to grab her toes. She gets to her knee regularly and has made some attempts at her toes. I don't know if we have an official grab yet. I'm sure it will be any day now.
I'm blogging to you from my newly configured treadmill desk. I'm walking a whopping 1mph while typing. Hoping it works out and I lose 30lbs while I work. We'll see. It probably doesn't help that I'm also drinking a glass of wine. Let's see you do that with Taibo! At least the treadmill is being used for exercise instead of as a platform for a dead printer, a cat bed and any junk we don't feel like putting in it's proper location.
Tomorrow is court for baby A and a hearing check for Miss R.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Lack of Common Sense
On Wednesday, I had an uneventful morning getting the kids into daycare. It really has struck me how easy Henry has been to get to class the last couple weeks, coinciding with the "promotion" of the kid who attacked him to the next level. It makes me sad, however, to think how Henry had unnecessarily felt threatened for several weeks when the "developmental coordinator" did not follow through on her promise to remove the offender.
Daycare. Jeff finally made contact with the "regional director" who basically parroted the director's statement on how everything is supposed to be sent home at the end of the day, but said it wasn't a policy per se but it was just what they usually did. The regional director tried to get into the particulars of Baby A's case (obviously, she hasn't been affected by their stupidity yet...but we aren't really interested in taking that chance). She couldn't seem to grasp how sending the location of the daycare to the bio parents of foster children would be a problem (but maintained they never give information over the phone) and basically said that it was CPS' problem and that they should have screened everything. In short, another idiot in child care administration. Great. Doesn't anyone in administration in the child care industry have common sense?
I spent the day at my new office, organizing files and cleaning drawers. I met up with Jeff, Henry, and Miss R at the Sunshine Swim Center for the kids' swim lesson. Miss Natalie dunked each child four times in a row. Miss R didn't cry over being dunked (let alone four times!), which is a first. She seems to be turning a corner and doing much better in the water. Henry had to sit out of the pool b/c he wouldn't stay seated on one of the steps while Miss Natalie was working with the other kids. Henry had trouble floating on his back on his own this time. Jeff says that he doesn't like putting his arms out to make it happen.
After their swim lesson, they played in the play room at the swimming place for a little bit. There was an interesting moment when a mother and her daughter walked into the playroom. They were black. Miss R seemed fascinated with them. It isn't as though she hasn't seen people of color aside from her bio family. Our side of town and her daycare are multiracial/multiethnic. But from the way she was looking at them, I was wondering if something had changed in her and she is noticing racial differences. One of my friends from grad school has a son was born in Guatamala. She told me that he picked up on skin differences between him and them by the time he was a young toddler. Interestingly, our kids have never mentioned their differing skin colors before. And, I wonder if we are now entering a new phase of "same" and "different"...at least with Miss R.
When Jeff asked the kids to go to the changing room, Miss R went with him easily. Henry did not, because he wanted to play. Miss R marched back to the play room and commanded "Hurry up, Henry!"
We had Chinese food for dinner. Miss R ate very well. Henry ate some, but it wasn't a stellar showing. I took a walk with Baby A and the dogs. She fell asleep but promptly woke up when I got home. Jeff rushed out to Best Buy, trying to get there before they closed at 9PM. That meant I had to comfort a fussy Baby A while getting The Twins' teeth brushed and ready for bed. They eventually did go to bed, but they were very chatty when I left their room. I could hear them talking and laughing. I let them do that for 10 minutes before reminding them to go to bed. That didn't stop Henry of course. I could hear him whispering "I love you, R."
Early this evening, Jeff seemed set to move the kids to a new daycare. He's cooled down, but now I'm riled up again. I think that the best thing is to make the change. Make a decision. Move on. Our plan is to drop off Baby A tomorrow and take the kids to visit Daisy. We'll see what their reaction is.
Daycare. Jeff finally made contact with the "regional director" who basically parroted the director's statement on how everything is supposed to be sent home at the end of the day, but said it wasn't a policy per se but it was just what they usually did. The regional director tried to get into the particulars of Baby A's case (obviously, she hasn't been affected by their stupidity yet...but we aren't really interested in taking that chance). She couldn't seem to grasp how sending the location of the daycare to the bio parents of foster children would be a problem (but maintained they never give information over the phone) and basically said that it was CPS' problem and that they should have screened everything. In short, another idiot in child care administration. Great. Doesn't anyone in administration in the child care industry have common sense?
I spent the day at my new office, organizing files and cleaning drawers. I met up with Jeff, Henry, and Miss R at the Sunshine Swim Center for the kids' swim lesson. Miss Natalie dunked each child four times in a row. Miss R didn't cry over being dunked (let alone four times!), which is a first. She seems to be turning a corner and doing much better in the water. Henry had to sit out of the pool b/c he wouldn't stay seated on one of the steps while Miss Natalie was working with the other kids. Henry had trouble floating on his back on his own this time. Jeff says that he doesn't like putting his arms out to make it happen.
After their swim lesson, they played in the play room at the swimming place for a little bit. There was an interesting moment when a mother and her daughter walked into the playroom. They were black. Miss R seemed fascinated with them. It isn't as though she hasn't seen people of color aside from her bio family. Our side of town and her daycare are multiracial/multiethnic. But from the way she was looking at them, I was wondering if something had changed in her and she is noticing racial differences. One of my friends from grad school has a son was born in Guatamala. She told me that he picked up on skin differences between him and them by the time he was a young toddler. Interestingly, our kids have never mentioned their differing skin colors before. And, I wonder if we are now entering a new phase of "same" and "different"...at least with Miss R.
When Jeff asked the kids to go to the changing room, Miss R went with him easily. Henry did not, because he wanted to play. Miss R marched back to the play room and commanded "Hurry up, Henry!"
We had Chinese food for dinner. Miss R ate very well. Henry ate some, but it wasn't a stellar showing. I took a walk with Baby A and the dogs. She fell asleep but promptly woke up when I got home. Jeff rushed out to Best Buy, trying to get there before they closed at 9PM. That meant I had to comfort a fussy Baby A while getting The Twins' teeth brushed and ready for bed. They eventually did go to bed, but they were very chatty when I left their room. I could hear them talking and laughing. I let them do that for 10 minutes before reminding them to go to bed. That didn't stop Henry of course. I could hear him whispering "I love you, R."
Early this evening, Jeff seemed set to move the kids to a new daycare. He's cooled down, but now I'm riled up again. I think that the best thing is to make the change. Make a decision. Move on. Our plan is to drop off Baby A tomorrow and take the kids to visit Daisy. We'll see what their reaction is.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
More Lunacy
A week ago, I contacted CPS to see if Miss R had a visit with her siblings scheduled. I was told no, there were no visits scheduled. Did I want to schedule one for next month? I said yes. The next visitation scheduled for July 6.
Fast forward to this afternoon. My parents were going to pick up the toddlers and take them to Barnes & Noble. My parents went to pick them up, but there was no Miss R. She'd been picked up by CPS' driving service. WTH?!?!? By the time I got back with Baby A, it was 5:20PM. I went to my home office to get CPS' contact information. By the time I was about to contact them, the driving service had pulled up with Miss R. I'm at a loss over how an organization can be so dysfunctional. Argh.
I had picked up Baby A after my massage. Miss Jennifer, Baby A's afternoon teacher, was very apologetic over what happened yesterday. Apparently, the front desk staff ordered her to send everything along on the visit, which she hadn't planned to do b/c the morning teacher Miss Stephanie had told her that we didn't want any of Baby A's belongings, bottles, or daily sheet sent on the visits. In any event, she apologized. I felt bad that she felt bad when it was really the front desk personnel's fault.
Jeff left a message with Children Learning Adventure's corporate office this afternoon. The regional director hasn't called him back. I think that our decision to move the kids is going to depend in part how the regional director responds.
When Miss R came home, she wanted to watch Mamma Mia!. She knows parts of the lyrics to several songs. She is so cute when she sings Money, Money, Money or Honey, Honey.
My parents dropped off Henry around 7:30PM. They had bought him a Toy Story book with CD. After they left, I took Baby A on a dog walk. Henry, Miss R, and Jeff stayed home and listened to the CD of the Toy Story book three times.
Miss R was cute feeding her baby doll Eve a bottle as I fed Baby A a bottle. She did, however, get into trouble with Daddy when she refused to brush her teeth. Henry didn't want to go to bed, but that's not exactly new.
We are hoping that tomorrow is a CPS-free day. Crossing our fingers that they don't mysteriously abscond with one of our children.
Fast forward to this afternoon. My parents were going to pick up the toddlers and take them to Barnes & Noble. My parents went to pick them up, but there was no Miss R. She'd been picked up by CPS' driving service. WTH?!?!? By the time I got back with Baby A, it was 5:20PM. I went to my home office to get CPS' contact information. By the time I was about to contact them, the driving service had pulled up with Miss R. I'm at a loss over how an organization can be so dysfunctional. Argh.
I had picked up Baby A after my massage. Miss Jennifer, Baby A's afternoon teacher, was very apologetic over what happened yesterday. Apparently, the front desk staff ordered her to send everything along on the visit, which she hadn't planned to do b/c the morning teacher Miss Stephanie had told her that we didn't want any of Baby A's belongings, bottles, or daily sheet sent on the visits. In any event, she apologized. I felt bad that she felt bad when it was really the front desk personnel's fault.
Jeff left a message with Children Learning Adventure's corporate office this afternoon. The regional director hasn't called him back. I think that our decision to move the kids is going to depend in part how the regional director responds.
When Miss R came home, she wanted to watch Mamma Mia!. She knows parts of the lyrics to several songs. She is so cute when she sings Money, Money, Money or Honey, Honey.
My parents dropped off Henry around 7:30PM. They had bought him a Toy Story book with CD. After they left, I took Baby A on a dog walk. Henry, Miss R, and Jeff stayed home and listened to the CD of the Toy Story book three times.
Miss R was cute feeding her baby doll Eve a bottle as I fed Baby A a bottle. She did, however, get into trouble with Daddy when she refused to brush her teeth. Henry didn't want to go to bed, but that's not exactly new.
We are hoping that tomorrow is a CPS-free day. Crossing our fingers that they don't mysteriously abscond with one of our children.
The Apathetic Director
On Tuesday morning, I woke up at 3:30AM to fed Baby A. She'd had a bottle a couple hours earlier (Jeff gave it to her). Guess she isn't ready to sleep through the night. I fell asleep with her in my arms up on my shoulder. I put her back in her crib around 5:35AM. She then got up again around 6AM (Jeff took care of her). When I woke up around 7:15AM, I found Jeff holding Baby A on one side and Henry looking lovingly at Baby A on the other. The three of them were very cute together.
Miss R was a snoozy bear and didn't get up until after 8AM...with some prodding from Jeff. After breakfast, the toddlers took a shower. Miss R is doing much better getting her hair wet willingly, so that was great.
Jeff went with me to the daycare. The dropoff with the kids was fine. One of the teachers from Baby A's room said something about the CPS driver taking the wrong car seat (which is admittedly idiotic). But I pointed out that it was disturbing that the front desk personnel were so disorganized that they let people walk off with other people's property.
We met with the director. Jeff told her our concerns. She was not apologetic. She said, "We didn't know." I said, "You are never supposed to reveal private information to anyone but the foster parents." She just said, "Our policy is to send reports home." Idiot. She said that they never give private information over the phone. But the [fill-in-the-blanks] are willing to send along private information on CPS visits. Jeff is going to call their corporate office. He thinks that the director is just kind of clueless. It took us several weeks to figure out that she was the new director when the old one left. She conveys no sense of leadership, that's for sure.
At this point, even if CPS says that bio mom probably isn't a safety issue, I'm so irked at the daycare's lack of organization and unwillingness to accept responsiblity (how about an apology?) that we very well may find other accommodations.
We began our search today by stopping by one of the places that we had visited in our initial daycare search. The advantage of this particular daycare is that they are a feeder daycare into one of the top charter schools in the state. There are a couple disadvantages: (a) the facility isn't quite as nice as Children's Learning Adventure, and (b) Miss R really likes her teacher Miss Diana. One of the reasons why we discounted the daycare last year was because the play yard was...sad. It was basically an open yard of dirt with a couple plastic slides. We were very pleased to find that since last year, they have made vast improvements with the yard. The yard is now covered with grass. They have planted several trees around the yard (a lot of citrus). And, they have a garden that currently contains many sunflowers.
There is only one class per level. Consequently, Henry and Miss R would be in the same class most of the time. This was a particular concern when it was unclear what was going to happen with Miss R. Had she left us, we thought it would have been especially devasting for Henry if he had spent all of his time with her at school and home. Now that she will be with us forever, that concern doesn't exist. I confess that in a more ideal setting, we'd still like them to be in separate classes so that they have the opportunity to develop their own identities independent of each other.
The curriculum. At CLA, they do a good job pretending like they spend a lot of time doing "curriculum development" and their promotional material claims that their curriculm utilizes research on brain development (blah, blah, blah). Given who they have currently in charge of "curriculum development" at the moment (the one who lies and can think her way out of a wet paper sack), I pretty much think that their whole "brain development" based on research is probably a load of horse poop. I suspect that the "curriculum" is no better or worse than your average daycare. They claim to teach Spanish and sign language. We have yet to hear or see either out of our kids, except that Henry definitely knows how to count in Spanish (probably has to do with his time in Miss Diana and Miss Lulu's class, who are both native Spanish speakers).
At Daisy (the new daycare we are considering), counting to 20 is on their list of things expected out of kids in the 2-3 year old room before they move to the 3 year old room. I don't think that we've ever gone past 10 with the kids, so that would be new. And Henry would have to be completely potty trained before moving to the 3 year old room. The other things on the list were things like colors and shapes, which Henry definitely knows, and Miss R somewhat knows. In addition to Spanish and sign language, Daisy also teaches the kids Turkish. Why Turkish? Because the director of the charter school and daycare is from Turkey. The local paper did a piece on the charter school a couple months ago and basically implied that the director is using the school (and others like it) as a funnel for bringing Turkish citizens into the country. I haven't researched the situation enough to take a position on it, but in terms of educational standards, it does seem like the school so far as done well in teaching math and science in the K-12 school (winning awards and whatnot). I believe that all students in the K-12 are required to take a couple years of Turkish and/or Turkish culture. Going to Daisy would secure a spot at the K-12.
We probably won't make a decision today, but we'll be thinking long and hard over the next couple days. I'm still mad, mad, mad. I've been unhappy since being lied to by the "development coordinator" when she promised that the child who attacked Henry several weeks ago would be moved and then she didn't do it for nearly two months (see April 15 post entitled "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"). During April and May, Henry did not want to go to school. And funny thing, since they switched the "older kids" (minus Henry) to the older classrooms, Henry hasn't complained about going to school. Sure, the boys in the class sometimes hit each other (some more than others), but he doesn't have to worry about being "attacked."
Alright. I have litter pans to wash today and papers to organize. In happy news, I have a massage scheduled for 3PM and it is very much needed!
Miss R was a snoozy bear and didn't get up until after 8AM...with some prodding from Jeff. After breakfast, the toddlers took a shower. Miss R is doing much better getting her hair wet willingly, so that was great.
Jeff went with me to the daycare. The dropoff with the kids was fine. One of the teachers from Baby A's room said something about the CPS driver taking the wrong car seat (which is admittedly idiotic). But I pointed out that it was disturbing that the front desk personnel were so disorganized that they let people walk off with other people's property.
We met with the director. Jeff told her our concerns. She was not apologetic. She said, "We didn't know." I said, "You are never supposed to reveal private information to anyone but the foster parents." She just said, "Our policy is to send reports home." Idiot. She said that they never give private information over the phone. But the [fill-in-the-blanks] are willing to send along private information on CPS visits. Jeff is going to call their corporate office. He thinks that the director is just kind of clueless. It took us several weeks to figure out that she was the new director when the old one left. She conveys no sense of leadership, that's for sure.
At this point, even if CPS says that bio mom probably isn't a safety issue, I'm so irked at the daycare's lack of organization and unwillingness to accept responsiblity (how about an apology?) that we very well may find other accommodations.
We began our search today by stopping by one of the places that we had visited in our initial daycare search. The advantage of this particular daycare is that they are a feeder daycare into one of the top charter schools in the state. There are a couple disadvantages: (a) the facility isn't quite as nice as Children's Learning Adventure, and (b) Miss R really likes her teacher Miss Diana. One of the reasons why we discounted the daycare last year was because the play yard was...sad. It was basically an open yard of dirt with a couple plastic slides. We were very pleased to find that since last year, they have made vast improvements with the yard. The yard is now covered with grass. They have planted several trees around the yard (a lot of citrus). And, they have a garden that currently contains many sunflowers.
There is only one class per level. Consequently, Henry and Miss R would be in the same class most of the time. This was a particular concern when it was unclear what was going to happen with Miss R. Had she left us, we thought it would have been especially devasting for Henry if he had spent all of his time with her at school and home. Now that she will be with us forever, that concern doesn't exist. I confess that in a more ideal setting, we'd still like them to be in separate classes so that they have the opportunity to develop their own identities independent of each other.
The curriculum. At CLA, they do a good job pretending like they spend a lot of time doing "curriculum development" and their promotional material claims that their curriculm utilizes research on brain development (blah, blah, blah). Given who they have currently in charge of "curriculum development" at the moment (the one who lies and can think her way out of a wet paper sack), I pretty much think that their whole "brain development" based on research is probably a load of horse poop. I suspect that the "curriculum" is no better or worse than your average daycare. They claim to teach Spanish and sign language. We have yet to hear or see either out of our kids, except that Henry definitely knows how to count in Spanish (probably has to do with his time in Miss Diana and Miss Lulu's class, who are both native Spanish speakers).
At Daisy (the new daycare we are considering), counting to 20 is on their list of things expected out of kids in the 2-3 year old room before they move to the 3 year old room. I don't think that we've ever gone past 10 with the kids, so that would be new. And Henry would have to be completely potty trained before moving to the 3 year old room. The other things on the list were things like colors and shapes, which Henry definitely knows, and Miss R somewhat knows. In addition to Spanish and sign language, Daisy also teaches the kids Turkish. Why Turkish? Because the director of the charter school and daycare is from Turkey. The local paper did a piece on the charter school a couple months ago and basically implied that the director is using the school (and others like it) as a funnel for bringing Turkish citizens into the country. I haven't researched the situation enough to take a position on it, but in terms of educational standards, it does seem like the school so far as done well in teaching math and science in the K-12 school (winning awards and whatnot). I believe that all students in the K-12 are required to take a couple years of Turkish and/or Turkish culture. Going to Daisy would secure a spot at the K-12.
We probably won't make a decision today, but we'll be thinking long and hard over the next couple days. I'm still mad, mad, mad. I've been unhappy since being lied to by the "development coordinator" when she promised that the child who attacked Henry several weeks ago would be moved and then she didn't do it for nearly two months (see April 15 post entitled "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"). During April and May, Henry did not want to go to school. And funny thing, since they switched the "older kids" (minus Henry) to the older classrooms, Henry hasn't complained about going to school. Sure, the boys in the class sometimes hit each other (some more than others), but he doesn't have to worry about being "attacked."
Alright. I have litter pans to wash today and papers to organize. In happy news, I have a massage scheduled for 3PM and it is very much needed!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Multiple Points of Failure: Daycare, Driving Service, and CPS
As I sit and type, my heart is thumping hard, and I'm quite sure that my blood pressure hasn't been this high since I had pre-eclampsia. To add today's colossal screw up by the daycare and CPS' driving service, I discovered in a bag brought home with Baby A that the daycare had sent along her daily report, which contains the daycare's name, and the driver had passed it off at the visit. Given that I found it in a bag sent along by bio mom, that means that bio mom now knows where Baby A goes to daycare. A HUGE, HUGE, HUGE breach in privacy. Given the unstable family histories that often accompany fostering, CPS is supposed to protect the foster families' privacy and not reveal foster families' names, locations, and that includes daycare for obvious reasons.
I called the daycare and said "Why did you send the paper along?" The person answering the call is the one who has shown incredibly poor judgment in the past. She said, "Well since she wasn't coming back to school, we sent everything with her." I said, "Well, on prior visits and with our other foster child, the teachers seemed to know that you never reveal the daycare location to potentially unstable bio parents. This is a huge breach of privacy." She said, "Oh" as her response. I am so livid with their collective lack of brain power. This is supposed to be a professional company who should know something about foster care given how many foster children that they have there. I said, "Well, we may be pulling all of our kids from your school since you've compromised our safety" and then hung up the telephone.
We really didn't need this right now. And what I said is true. We very well may have to pull everyone out of this daycare b/c of the staff's stupidity. I don't have time to find a daycare just for Baby A and then keep the other two where they are. I just don't have the time to make multiple stops every morning and evening. I'm white heat angry right now (after 3 hours of "cooling down").
Jeff took The Twins to their swim lesson. Miss Natalie is recommending that Henry advance to the "Pollywog" class level given his skill development in the water. Jeff said that today, Henry managed to float on his back without her holding him. She is recommending that Miss R remain in the "Flounder" class and continue to work on submersions. Miss R is improving but hasn't quite mastered the skills to move onto the next class. So I guess for better or worse, they might not be in the same class in July.
We had a evening of TV-free fun with the kids. I had a party with Henry and Miss R in their playhouse. We partied to Patty Cake. Then, Jeff and I taught them how to play Duck Duck Goose. The problem was that they both wanted to be the Goose at all times. :-)
I took Baby A for a walk with the dogs at dusk. The night air was a perfect temperature. And Baby A liked the wind through her hair. The Twins and Jeff caught up with us at the halfway mark. The Twins had fun pointing out the horse poop on the road. Miss R was particularly exuberant about pointing out the poop, waving her hand in front of her voice and shouting "Peee Yewww! Stinky Poo!"
Signing off from the Wild Kingdom...
I called the daycare and said "Why did you send the paper along?" The person answering the call is the one who has shown incredibly poor judgment in the past. She said, "Well since she wasn't coming back to school, we sent everything with her." I said, "Well, on prior visits and with our other foster child, the teachers seemed to know that you never reveal the daycare location to potentially unstable bio parents. This is a huge breach of privacy." She said, "Oh" as her response. I am so livid with their collective lack of brain power. This is supposed to be a professional company who should know something about foster care given how many foster children that they have there. I said, "Well, we may be pulling all of our kids from your school since you've compromised our safety" and then hung up the telephone.
We really didn't need this right now. And what I said is true. We very well may have to pull everyone out of this daycare b/c of the staff's stupidity. I don't have time to find a daycare just for Baby A and then keep the other two where they are. I just don't have the time to make multiple stops every morning and evening. I'm white heat angry right now (after 3 hours of "cooling down").
Jeff took The Twins to their swim lesson. Miss Natalie is recommending that Henry advance to the "Pollywog" class level given his skill development in the water. Jeff said that today, Henry managed to float on his back without her holding him. She is recommending that Miss R remain in the "Flounder" class and continue to work on submersions. Miss R is improving but hasn't quite mastered the skills to move onto the next class. So I guess for better or worse, they might not be in the same class in July.
We had a evening of TV-free fun with the kids. I had a party with Henry and Miss R in their playhouse. We partied to Patty Cake. Then, Jeff and I taught them how to play Duck Duck Goose. The problem was that they both wanted to be the Goose at all times. :-)
I took Baby A for a walk with the dogs at dusk. The night air was a perfect temperature. And Baby A liked the wind through her hair. The Twins and Jeff caught up with us at the halfway mark. The Twins had fun pointing out the horse poop on the road. Miss R was particularly exuberant about pointing out the poop, waving her hand in front of her voice and shouting "Peee Yewww! Stinky Poo!"
Signing off from the Wild Kingdom...
Govt Bureaucracy Strikes Again
On Monday morning, we had a visit with Liz from the Blake Foundation. Baby A demonstrated her spit up skills several times. Liz was a little bit concerned over some body stiffening that sometimes happens. Not a big concern, but one of those little concerns to "keep monitoring." Henry and Miss R were delightful during the visit. They mostly played in the train room.
Right now, I'm at home, writing this post, instead of at my kids' swim lesson. Why? Because of yet another CPS driving service/daycare screw up. So Baby A got picked up at daycare. Once again, the driving service with whom CPS has a contract did NOT bring the legally required baby seat. So they walked off with someone else's car seat from the daycare. The daycare called to inform us that another child's car seat was missing. Apparently, they didn't check to make sure that the car seat actually belonged to Baby A (even though I told them when I enrolled her that CPS' driving service was required to bring the car seat themselves). So that child's family couldn't bring the baby home b/c there was no car seat. On top of that, the car seat that the driving service took did NOT have a base. So basically, our Baby A is riding around in an unsafe seat. CPS' subcontractors are not following the law. Lovely. I'm trying to coordinate the return of the car seat to the family. No calls for awhile now, so who knows what is going on.
Jeff went to pick up The Twins and take them to their swim lesson. I'm vexed that I'm missing it. Grrr.
Right now, I'm at home, writing this post, instead of at my kids' swim lesson. Why? Because of yet another CPS driving service/daycare screw up. So Baby A got picked up at daycare. Once again, the driving service with whom CPS has a contract did NOT bring the legally required baby seat. So they walked off with someone else's car seat from the daycare. The daycare called to inform us that another child's car seat was missing. Apparently, they didn't check to make sure that the car seat actually belonged to Baby A (even though I told them when I enrolled her that CPS' driving service was required to bring the car seat themselves). So that child's family couldn't bring the baby home b/c there was no car seat. On top of that, the car seat that the driving service took did NOT have a base. So basically, our Baby A is riding around in an unsafe seat. CPS' subcontractors are not following the law. Lovely. I'm trying to coordinate the return of the car seat to the family. No calls for awhile now, so who knows what is going on.
Jeff went to pick up The Twins and take them to their swim lesson. I'm vexed that I'm missing it. Grrr.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Locked Out
On Sunday, Baby A had a bottle at 4:45AM (Super Dad gave it to her), and she returned to sleep shortly thereafter. Around 7AM, I was wide awake in bed wondering how it was possible that the kids were still asleep and how strange it was getting to sleep in. I think that Baby A started to stir around 7:45AM. I got a bottle ready for her. By the time I got back to the bedroom, she was already snoozing again. She got up sometime after 8AM. The toddlers were still asleep. Jeff was asleep. This is the way things should be on the weekends! I fed Baby A and cuddled with her.
Eventually, The Twins got up. Miss R got up first and after saying good morning to me, she crawled into bed to snuggle with Jeff. Then, Henry got up. I suggested that he say Happy Father's Day to Jeff. He suggested that I get him a present (him being Henry). I explained that it was Daddy's day. So he ran into the bedroom and said Happy Father's Day to Jeff.
Then, Henry "helped" me make waffles. He dubbed them "pancake waffles" because I used the mix that we use to make pancakes. Henry, unfortunately, wet his underwear before breakfast, so Jeff had to give him a shower. After breakfast, the kids played around the house. Henry had a quick second shower after peeing in underwear pair number two (after sitting on my lap of course).
Later in the morning, I gave Miss R a bath. I had her sit in the tub while I filled it. When there was an inch of water, I asked her to lay back and she did. I eventually filled it to about 1.5 inches deep, so she got her ears a little wet and was OK with that. She blew bubbles once, but much preferred being on her back than laying on her front. I think that for her, the bath tub will be a good way to get her used to being underwater. Next time, I'll fill it 2 inches deep.
Shortly after noon, Baby A was taking her nap, so Jeff decided to run some errands (fun ones like Home Depot, Target, etc.). About 1 minute after he pulled out of the drive way, I decided to water the Sega Palms that were looking droopy in our atrium. I wasn't wearing any shoes. When I closed the door, Henry and Miss R whined that they wanted to help to. I said not this time. I was just doing a quick bucket of water between the two palms. Henry decided to fiddle with the door and locked me out of the house. Yes, the boy locked me out. Through the glass door (the front door is primarily glass), I sternly told Henry to let me in. He smiled. I counted to three. That had no effect. I asked Miss R to unlock the door. She looked confused. In my bare feet, I went down the front steps to the garage door but it was locked as it usually is. We don't have a hidden key around the house. I came back and told Henry again that he'd be put in timeout if he didn't let me in by the count of three. He turned around and started to walk away. As a desperate last resort, I told Henry that I let him watch Toy Story if he let me back into the house. My other option was to walk in bare feet on the hot desert road to our neighbors' homes to use a telephone and call Jeff. In our neighborhood, everyone lives on at least three acres, so the homes are spaced far apart from each other. After telling Henry that I'd let him watch Toy Story, however, he unlocked the latch. I had no idea that Henry knew how to work the locks in the house.
Henry and Miss R went down for a nap after their lunch. Miss R was a good eater. She enjoyed the mac and cheese, macadamia nuts, and mandarin oranges. Henry ate two pieces of Baby Belle cheese. He tried one mandarin orange slice but proclaimed it yucky. And he had a couple bites of mac and cheese. Miss R announced she was tired after lunch, so it didn't take much effort to get the kids into their beds.
Baby A had been up during lunch. She wanted attention and enjoyed the interaction. Jeff was home shortly after 3PM or so. Around 4PM, I headed to my work for a little bit to finish up some last minute cleaning of my old office. I immensely dislike it when people leave their work spaces dirty. So I made sure that mine was in excellent condition. There's no question that the work space had vastly improved while I occupied it. Repainted. Floors redone. Clean.
I came back home. Jeff was watching the last couple putts of the U.S. Open. Then, we piled everyone into the car and headed to Grammy and Poppy's for Father's Day dinner. Aunt Gloria, Aunt Erin, and Uncle Brian were also there.
Miss R was shy at first. She insisted that I hold her. She didn't eat very well at dinner, but Uncle Brian convinced her to eat most of her bread. She and Henry were loud as usual. Baby A was awake during dinner, but she seemed to be content in her swing while Jeff and I ate, which was nice. Maybe she knew it was Father's Day.
Tomorrow morning, we have a visit from Liz from the Blake Foundation for her monthly assessment of Baby A. As she saw Baby A at the CFT, I suspect the visit won't be long. And Baby A is doing very well, so the assessment won't be complicated.
Eventually, The Twins got up. Miss R got up first and after saying good morning to me, she crawled into bed to snuggle with Jeff. Then, Henry got up. I suggested that he say Happy Father's Day to Jeff. He suggested that I get him a present (him being Henry). I explained that it was Daddy's day. So he ran into the bedroom and said Happy Father's Day to Jeff.
Then, Henry "helped" me make waffles. He dubbed them "pancake waffles" because I used the mix that we use to make pancakes. Henry, unfortunately, wet his underwear before breakfast, so Jeff had to give him a shower. After breakfast, the kids played around the house. Henry had a quick second shower after peeing in underwear pair number two (after sitting on my lap of course).
Later in the morning, I gave Miss R a bath. I had her sit in the tub while I filled it. When there was an inch of water, I asked her to lay back and she did. I eventually filled it to about 1.5 inches deep, so she got her ears a little wet and was OK with that. She blew bubbles once, but much preferred being on her back than laying on her front. I think that for her, the bath tub will be a good way to get her used to being underwater. Next time, I'll fill it 2 inches deep.
Shortly after noon, Baby A was taking her nap, so Jeff decided to run some errands (fun ones like Home Depot, Target, etc.). About 1 minute after he pulled out of the drive way, I decided to water the Sega Palms that were looking droopy in our atrium. I wasn't wearing any shoes. When I closed the door, Henry and Miss R whined that they wanted to help to. I said not this time. I was just doing a quick bucket of water between the two palms. Henry decided to fiddle with the door and locked me out of the house. Yes, the boy locked me out. Through the glass door (the front door is primarily glass), I sternly told Henry to let me in. He smiled. I counted to three. That had no effect. I asked Miss R to unlock the door. She looked confused. In my bare feet, I went down the front steps to the garage door but it was locked as it usually is. We don't have a hidden key around the house. I came back and told Henry again that he'd be put in timeout if he didn't let me in by the count of three. He turned around and started to walk away. As a desperate last resort, I told Henry that I let him watch Toy Story if he let me back into the house. My other option was to walk in bare feet on the hot desert road to our neighbors' homes to use a telephone and call Jeff. In our neighborhood, everyone lives on at least three acres, so the homes are spaced far apart from each other. After telling Henry that I'd let him watch Toy Story, however, he unlocked the latch. I had no idea that Henry knew how to work the locks in the house.
Henry and Miss R went down for a nap after their lunch. Miss R was a good eater. She enjoyed the mac and cheese, macadamia nuts, and mandarin oranges. Henry ate two pieces of Baby Belle cheese. He tried one mandarin orange slice but proclaimed it yucky. And he had a couple bites of mac and cheese. Miss R announced she was tired after lunch, so it didn't take much effort to get the kids into their beds.
Baby A had been up during lunch. She wanted attention and enjoyed the interaction. Jeff was home shortly after 3PM or so. Around 4PM, I headed to my work for a little bit to finish up some last minute cleaning of my old office. I immensely dislike it when people leave their work spaces dirty. So I made sure that mine was in excellent condition. There's no question that the work space had vastly improved while I occupied it. Repainted. Floors redone. Clean.
I came back home. Jeff was watching the last couple putts of the U.S. Open. Then, we piled everyone into the car and headed to Grammy and Poppy's for Father's Day dinner. Aunt Gloria, Aunt Erin, and Uncle Brian were also there.
Miss R was shy at first. She insisted that I hold her. She didn't eat very well at dinner, but Uncle Brian convinced her to eat most of her bread. She and Henry were loud as usual. Baby A was awake during dinner, but she seemed to be content in her swing while Jeff and I ate, which was nice. Maybe she knew it was Father's Day.
Tomorrow morning, we have a visit from Liz from the Blake Foundation for her monthly assessment of Baby A. As she saw Baby A at the CFT, I suspect the visit won't be long. And Baby A is doing very well, so the assessment won't be complicated.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Baby A Sleeps Through the Night!
On Friday morning, Jeff took the kids to school while I took Baby A to the CFT (child-family team meeting). Baby A looked super cute in a new outfit that her mom had sent home with her a couple weeks ago. Bio mom, however, did not show up to the meeting. As I've stated before, I can't go into details about the case for privacy reasons (hence the pseudonyms). I can say that the CPS caseworker and developmental coordinator from the Blake Foundation were not thrilled at the particular judge assigned to the case. They said that this particular judge is known for biasing the system for the bio families giving them extensions to "work the case plan" time and time again. In their opinion, he ignores the recommendations of CPS and likes to play father to the bio parents and thinks he can be their "savior." So the children involved cases assigned to his court room often are in the system a very long time. That's not good news for those of us who believe the system should be geared toward putting children first.
I took Baby A to work for a couple minutes as I had to pick up a form for a new key to my new office. Nancy and Tina commented on what a beautiful baby she is. And Baby A is truly a gorgeous child. She's got a beautiful head of hair and a stellar smile. Then, I took her to daycare.
In the afternoon, Jeff and I picked up The Twins early from daycare and took them to Toy Story 3. They liked it. Henry had his loud moments of course, but both he and Miss R were pretty good overall. After the movie, they wanted to see it again.
As we walked back through the mall to the car, Henry got whiny. He scrunched up his face and said in a pouty but demanding voice, "I Want Toys!" It was one of those frustrating parental moments. He pretty much gave the air of the quintessential spoiled American kid who is too preoccupied with objects, a product of consumer culture. As Jeff put it later when the kids were a sleep, it was the first time that Henry looked "ugly." While he is an incredibly good looking boy, with the attitude and the scrunched up face, I concurred. We love him so much. I have never been much of a shopper, but I do enjoy buying things for him and Miss R. But we are going to pull back the reigns on unnecessary consumption. Henry is going to have to wait for Christmas before he sees another present. I really don't want him to act spoiled.
We picked up Baby A and headed home. We had a nice dinner. I took Baby A for a walk with the dogs. Jeff got The Twins ready for bed. Baby A took her last bottle of the night before midnight.
Around 6AM on Saturday, I heard Baby A cry and Jeff got up and attended to her. I asked him when she had last fed and was surprised when he said midnight. At 3.5 months old, Baby A slept through the night (or at least pretty darn close!). Hoping that she does it again tonight!
In comparison to Henry, of course, her feeding and sleep needs have been a breeze, even if that meant holding her through the night for the first nine weeks or so. For the last couple weeks, her pattern has been that she has a bottle around 8 or 9PM, sleeps until 11PM and takes another smaller bottle. Sleeps until 1AM and has a bottle but goes back to sleep fairly quickly. Then has a bottle around 4AM and usually goes back to sleep OR has a bottle around 5AM but wants to play a little bit after her bottle. Then takes another nap.
Jeff got Baby A's bottle, but I fed her. He went back to bed. She was clearly in a playful mood after her bottle and ready to get started on the day. So she and I took the dogs for a morning walk. The kids got up shortly after we got back. They got Jeff up. We had a family breakfast, which included eggs at Henry's request. We thought about taking the kids somewhere, but realized that we very rarely just spend time at home. We let the kids play with their toys. They played in the ball pit and pretended that they were blowing bubbles under water. They played in their house.
After breakfast, the kids were playing in Lily's dog cage. Jeff heard an "Ouch!" coming from Henry and walked into the room finding Henry hitting Miss R. She wailed. I asked her what she'd done to Henry and she denied that she'd done anything wrong (which is her MO even when she has clearly been the initial aggressor). Meanwhile, Jeff put Henry in the timeout chair and he was upset. He called out for me, and I talked with him. He claimed that Miss R had bitten him. I got him out of the chair, and Jeff found a clear bit mark on his upper back. That landed Miss R in timeout for biting and lying about it.
As I took a shower, they played in our clothes closet and both took shirts of mine. Henry was in a nice white cotton blouse. Miss R chose one of my maternity shirts that I never really wore given Henry's early arrival. The way it hung on her reminded me of a Farrah Fawcett type outfit from the actress during the Charlie's Angels days. The shirt had straps that tie in the back. Henry used them instead as a leash. They pretended that Miss R was the puppy, and Henry was the dog walker.
Around noon, I took off for school. I was told on Tuesday that I'd be switching offices, but they had to do the move within a week. There are three offices involved in the move with the movers only coming on one day (this Tuesday). That means for the move to actually work, someone had to make the first move (that'd be me). So I spent a couple hours moving things from my cabinets and desk down to my new space. Jeff came around 3PM after dropping off the kids at my parents' house. He helped me move my three book cases and books, not a small feat given the new office is one flight down and the book cases are big. We are both going to be very sore tomorrow.
Apparently, Henry and Miss R refused to take naps. Henry bopped Miss R at the beginning of the nap and that didn't set a relaxing tone. Unlike Miss R who never claims to doing wrong to Henry, Henry was perfectly willing to admit to hitting Miss R when asked point blank. He hasn't developed a sense of shame. Not sure what his punishment for hitting was. Grammy told him that he wasn't allowed to watch TV unless he napped. Being super stubborn, he stuck to his guns.
Jeff took the kids swimming upon his return. Henry was as bold as ever. He went under water several times. Miss R begged Jeff to dunk her under water. After repeated requests, he obliged and she was upset about it. She still hasn't figure out how to blow bubbles out of her nose.
We had a nice dinner. Henry ate very well. Miss R ate pretty well. Then, it was homeward bound. Baby A fell asleep in the car.
Jeff has been putting the kids to bed without water cups. This is to cut down on the chances of them having an accident. Henry is having a hard time with this because he used to drink over a cup of "cold water" every night at bed. He got up about a half hour after being put to bed and wanted some. I let him have a couple sips. Hope that isn't his undoing.
I took Baby A to work for a couple minutes as I had to pick up a form for a new key to my new office. Nancy and Tina commented on what a beautiful baby she is. And Baby A is truly a gorgeous child. She's got a beautiful head of hair and a stellar smile. Then, I took her to daycare.
In the afternoon, Jeff and I picked up The Twins early from daycare and took them to Toy Story 3. They liked it. Henry had his loud moments of course, but both he and Miss R were pretty good overall. After the movie, they wanted to see it again.
As we walked back through the mall to the car, Henry got whiny. He scrunched up his face and said in a pouty but demanding voice, "I Want Toys!" It was one of those frustrating parental moments. He pretty much gave the air of the quintessential spoiled American kid who is too preoccupied with objects, a product of consumer culture. As Jeff put it later when the kids were a sleep, it was the first time that Henry looked "ugly." While he is an incredibly good looking boy, with the attitude and the scrunched up face, I concurred. We love him so much. I have never been much of a shopper, but I do enjoy buying things for him and Miss R. But we are going to pull back the reigns on unnecessary consumption. Henry is going to have to wait for Christmas before he sees another present. I really don't want him to act spoiled.
We picked up Baby A and headed home. We had a nice dinner. I took Baby A for a walk with the dogs. Jeff got The Twins ready for bed. Baby A took her last bottle of the night before midnight.
Around 6AM on Saturday, I heard Baby A cry and Jeff got up and attended to her. I asked him when she had last fed and was surprised when he said midnight. At 3.5 months old, Baby A slept through the night (or at least pretty darn close!). Hoping that she does it again tonight!
In comparison to Henry, of course, her feeding and sleep needs have been a breeze, even if that meant holding her through the night for the first nine weeks or so. For the last couple weeks, her pattern has been that she has a bottle around 8 or 9PM, sleeps until 11PM and takes another smaller bottle. Sleeps until 1AM and has a bottle but goes back to sleep fairly quickly. Then has a bottle around 4AM and usually goes back to sleep OR has a bottle around 5AM but wants to play a little bit after her bottle. Then takes another nap.
Jeff got Baby A's bottle, but I fed her. He went back to bed. She was clearly in a playful mood after her bottle and ready to get started on the day. So she and I took the dogs for a morning walk. The kids got up shortly after we got back. They got Jeff up. We had a family breakfast, which included eggs at Henry's request. We thought about taking the kids somewhere, but realized that we very rarely just spend time at home. We let the kids play with their toys. They played in the ball pit and pretended that they were blowing bubbles under water. They played in their house.
After breakfast, the kids were playing in Lily's dog cage. Jeff heard an "Ouch!" coming from Henry and walked into the room finding Henry hitting Miss R. She wailed. I asked her what she'd done to Henry and she denied that she'd done anything wrong (which is her MO even when she has clearly been the initial aggressor). Meanwhile, Jeff put Henry in the timeout chair and he was upset. He called out for me, and I talked with him. He claimed that Miss R had bitten him. I got him out of the chair, and Jeff found a clear bit mark on his upper back. That landed Miss R in timeout for biting and lying about it.
As I took a shower, they played in our clothes closet and both took shirts of mine. Henry was in a nice white cotton blouse. Miss R chose one of my maternity shirts that I never really wore given Henry's early arrival. The way it hung on her reminded me of a Farrah Fawcett type outfit from the actress during the Charlie's Angels days. The shirt had straps that tie in the back. Henry used them instead as a leash. They pretended that Miss R was the puppy, and Henry was the dog walker.
Around noon, I took off for school. I was told on Tuesday that I'd be switching offices, but they had to do the move within a week. There are three offices involved in the move with the movers only coming on one day (this Tuesday). That means for the move to actually work, someone had to make the first move (that'd be me). So I spent a couple hours moving things from my cabinets and desk down to my new space. Jeff came around 3PM after dropping off the kids at my parents' house. He helped me move my three book cases and books, not a small feat given the new office is one flight down and the book cases are big. We are both going to be very sore tomorrow.
Apparently, Henry and Miss R refused to take naps. Henry bopped Miss R at the beginning of the nap and that didn't set a relaxing tone. Unlike Miss R who never claims to doing wrong to Henry, Henry was perfectly willing to admit to hitting Miss R when asked point blank. He hasn't developed a sense of shame. Not sure what his punishment for hitting was. Grammy told him that he wasn't allowed to watch TV unless he napped. Being super stubborn, he stuck to his guns.
Jeff took the kids swimming upon his return. Henry was as bold as ever. He went under water several times. Miss R begged Jeff to dunk her under water. After repeated requests, he obliged and she was upset about it. She still hasn't figure out how to blow bubbles out of her nose.
We had a nice dinner. Henry ate very well. Miss R ate pretty well. Then, it was homeward bound. Baby A fell asleep in the car.
Jeff has been putting the kids to bed without water cups. This is to cut down on the chances of them having an accident. Henry is having a hard time with this because he used to drink over a cup of "cold water" every night at bed. He got up about a half hour after being put to bed and wanted some. I let him have a couple sips. Hope that isn't his undoing.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Haircut
On Thursday, my mom met me at Gadabout. I had an appointment with Todd. Todd frequently gives Henry a quick haircut during my appointments. My mom watches Henry during my cuts b/c he has been known to get into trouble unless watched closely. While we waited for Todd, a person named Fitz was giving sample 5-minute massages in a chair. I sat down while my mom watched Henry run around the lobby area. Henry came over to Fitz and said "What are you doing to my Mommy?" My face was in the loop of the massage chair and Henry tried to poke his face through to see me. I told him I was getting a massage. Henry told Fitz, "That's my mommy! Not your mommy!" which made Fitz laugh. I'm pretty sure that Fitz was 10 years older than me. I could tell that Fitz knew pressure points and what he was doing, but I wasn't completely relaxed owing to Henry running around. It was fine though. Todd gave Henry a haircut while I had my hair washed. I gather that Henry didn't sit still very well. The back wasn't what Todd had intended, but his hair won't be in his eyes anymore at least. While I had my haircut, Henry tried to turn my chair. I wasn't thrilled about that. He also told Todd, "That's my mommy! Not your mommy!" Not sure what was up with Henry's possession of me today. Todd is incidentally my age.
Jeff had picked up Baby A and Miss R at daycare. Alison was at our house by the time Henry and I got back home. Can't say that there's a lot to report. She is extending our license to three kids in case circumstances arise where that would be needed. Miss R checked the house with Alison. Alison was impressed with Baby A's tummy time skills.
Henry polished off a big bowl of tomato soup for dinner. The Twins went to sleep without too much fuss. Baby A was a different story. She went to sleep around 8:30 but got up shortly after 10:45PM. Stayed up until 1AM or so. At one point, she clearly wanted to play and gave me some dazzling smiles. I wasn't in the mood for play. I let her co-sleep with me eventually b/c I was tired and really needed some sleep myself. She got up at 4:30AM. Jeff gave her a bottle. I walked the dogs.
This morning, I'll be going to Baby A's CFT (child-family team meeting). It is the monthly meeting where the CPS caseworker meets with the developmental coordinator and bio parent(s) to make sure the case plan is being followed and determine what additional services might be needed. As bio mom hasn't seen Baby A in three weeks, I've decided that I'll bring Baby A along so that they can see each other. That means we have to leave the house rather early to get The Twins to school.
Jeff had picked up Baby A and Miss R at daycare. Alison was at our house by the time Henry and I got back home. Can't say that there's a lot to report. She is extending our license to three kids in case circumstances arise where that would be needed. Miss R checked the house with Alison. Alison was impressed with Baby A's tummy time skills.
Henry polished off a big bowl of tomato soup for dinner. The Twins went to sleep without too much fuss. Baby A was a different story. She went to sleep around 8:30 but got up shortly after 10:45PM. Stayed up until 1AM or so. At one point, she clearly wanted to play and gave me some dazzling smiles. I wasn't in the mood for play. I let her co-sleep with me eventually b/c I was tired and really needed some sleep myself. She got up at 4:30AM. Jeff gave her a bottle. I walked the dogs.
This morning, I'll be going to Baby A's CFT (child-family team meeting). It is the monthly meeting where the CPS caseworker meets with the developmental coordinator and bio parent(s) to make sure the case plan is being followed and determine what additional services might be needed. As bio mom hasn't seen Baby A in three weeks, I've decided that I'll bring Baby A along so that they can see each other. That means we have to leave the house rather early to get The Twins to school.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
"Between the Pee and the Poop!"
On Tuesday afternoon, I finally got an email response from the CPS caseworker asking her assistant to call us in the future when bio mom cancels visits. I guess the one comfort is that bio mom wasn't sitting around waiting. Hopefully, CPS will inform us of schedule changes of which they are fully aware in the future.
At night, Jeff read a Curious George story to the kids. It involved Curious George going to the library, going down a ramp, hitting the encyclopedias, and landing between the O and the P. Henry decided to retell the story as Curious George going "up in the air and landing between the pee and the poop!" Obviously, Henry hasn't picked up on the idea of homonyms yet.
On Wednesday morning, the kids discovered some small baseball gloves and balls that I had picked up for them. The gloves have velcro in them for easy catching of the fuzzy "baseballs." They looked cute running around with them.
The Twins had a swim lesson in the afternoon. They continue to improve. Henry is getting a lot more confident, which Jeff repeatedly says isn't necessarily a good thing. He has been the first to volunteer for exercises. He has no hesitation getting into the water. He's pretty much the star student of the class, doing just about every task asked of him. BUT he is also quite willing to go off on his own when he isn't supposed to. I'm quite sure that "Henry" is the more frequently word used in class by his teacher. "Henry, stay put." "Henry, don't get out of the pool." "Henry, listen." "Henry, watch." "Henry, Henry, Henry." Kind of sounds like home to him, I'm sure. Miss R still isn't excited about getting her face wet. So the instructor is continuing to work on that. We haven't had her practice in the bathtub b/c she has been very excited about showers. I'll try to encourage a bath for her tonight.
After class, we went to my parents and swam with the kids. Henry was bold as usual. My parents have a 5' fence around the pool, which is a good thing. If Henry can get to the side of the pool, he can get himself out of the pool without problem. We worked with Miss R a little bit on blowing bubbles. I tried to show her how one could blow bubbles out of one's nose so that water doesn't go in it. While Jeff held her, I went underwater and put her hand near my nose and mouth so that she could feel how bubbles were coming out. I'm not sure how much she learned from it, but she found it hilarious. I guess she hadn't seen me go under water before; seeing me under the water was highly amusing. I performed several encores of Mommy Under Water b/c of her "again, again" requests. I then showed her how I could do sommersaults under the water too. She was also entertained by Jeff jumping of the diving board, which he did a couple times. The kids loved it.
Henry ate very well at dinner. Taco meat. Corn tortilla. Blue berries. And vanilla ice cream. Miss R wasn't as keen on dinner.
When we got home, Baby A was asleep. So I took Miss R to the rocking chair and held her for a long while b/c she just seemed like she needed some snuggle time. I ended up taking her to bed for additional snuggle time. I hadn't planned on me falling soundly asleep, so she stayed by my side throughout the night. At 4AM, I woke up b/c Baby A was crying and I figured that Jeff had done the previous shift (he had at 1AM). So I fed Baby A. Meanwhile, Henry got up b/c he'd wet his bed. Jeff got his wet clothes off, got a new nightgown for him, and let him join us in our bed with Miss R. Sounds cozy, but as Jeff put it, it pretty much amounted to a miserable night's sleep for him. I honestly slept pretty well. Probably had something to do with going to bed three hours earlier than I normally would have.
Today (Thursday), I have a hair appointment with Todd. I'm bringing Henry for a quick cut too. And then, Alison from A Place to Call Home has a monthly visit with us at 5:30PM.
At night, Jeff read a Curious George story to the kids. It involved Curious George going to the library, going down a ramp, hitting the encyclopedias, and landing between the O and the P. Henry decided to retell the story as Curious George going "up in the air and landing between the pee and the poop!" Obviously, Henry hasn't picked up on the idea of homonyms yet.
On Wednesday morning, the kids discovered some small baseball gloves and balls that I had picked up for them. The gloves have velcro in them for easy catching of the fuzzy "baseballs." They looked cute running around with them.
The Twins had a swim lesson in the afternoon. They continue to improve. Henry is getting a lot more confident, which Jeff repeatedly says isn't necessarily a good thing. He has been the first to volunteer for exercises. He has no hesitation getting into the water. He's pretty much the star student of the class, doing just about every task asked of him. BUT he is also quite willing to go off on his own when he isn't supposed to. I'm quite sure that "Henry" is the more frequently word used in class by his teacher. "Henry, stay put." "Henry, don't get out of the pool." "Henry, listen." "Henry, watch." "Henry, Henry, Henry." Kind of sounds like home to him, I'm sure. Miss R still isn't excited about getting her face wet. So the instructor is continuing to work on that. We haven't had her practice in the bathtub b/c she has been very excited about showers. I'll try to encourage a bath for her tonight.After class, we went to my parents and swam with the kids. Henry was bold as usual. My parents have a 5' fence around the pool, which is a good thing. If Henry can get to the side of the pool, he can get himself out of the pool without problem. We worked with Miss R a little bit on blowing bubbles. I tried to show her how one could blow bubbles out of one's nose so that water doesn't go in it. While Jeff held her, I went underwater and put her hand near my nose and mouth so that she could feel how bubbles were coming out. I'm not sure how much she learned from it, but she found it hilarious. I guess she hadn't seen me go under water before; seeing me under the water was highly amusing. I performed several encores of Mommy Under Water b/c of her "again, again" requests. I then showed her how I could do sommersaults under the water too. She was also entertained by Jeff jumping of the diving board, which he did a couple times. The kids loved it.
Henry ate very well at dinner. Taco meat. Corn tortilla. Blue berries. And vanilla ice cream. Miss R wasn't as keen on dinner.
When we got home, Baby A was asleep. So I took Miss R to the rocking chair and held her for a long while b/c she just seemed like she needed some snuggle time. I ended up taking her to bed for additional snuggle time. I hadn't planned on me falling soundly asleep, so she stayed by my side throughout the night. At 4AM, I woke up b/c Baby A was crying and I figured that Jeff had done the previous shift (he had at 1AM). So I fed Baby A. Meanwhile, Henry got up b/c he'd wet his bed. Jeff got his wet clothes off, got a new nightgown for him, and let him join us in our bed with Miss R. Sounds cozy, but as Jeff put it, it pretty much amounted to a miserable night's sleep for him. I honestly slept pretty well. Probably had something to do with going to bed three hours earlier than I normally would have.
Today (Thursday), I have a hair appointment with Todd. I'm bringing Henry for a quick cut too. And then, Alison from A Place to Call Home has a monthly visit with us at 5:30PM.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Out of the House Before 8AM
On Tuesday, we somehow managed to get the crew into the car by 8AM. Henry was super unhappy at being awakened at 7AM instead of 7:45AM. Can't get frustrated at his whininess though because I am not a morning person either. He completely takes after me in that department.
We had to get out of the house early because Baby A had a weight check at 8:40AM. Miss R was fairly easy to get into her class. Henry was harder to coax but he liked that I had Baby A with us. He got to show her off to his friends. He told them, "Baby A has an appointment with Dr. Bianchi to get her weight checked."
The weight check was fine. Dr. Bianchi is happy with her weight gain. She's now 11 lbs 2 ozs. I confess that I had hoped that she would be closer to 12 lbs, though I'm not surprised at where she is. The last few days have been a struggle getting her to take more than 3 ozs in one sitting. Her reflux medication is helping, but I sensed that it wasn't helping enough. The doctor is going to try to get her Prevacid, but it make take some work to get that through "the system."
No word from CPS on their failure to pick Baby A up yesterday or contact us about schedule changes. Also no word on whether or not Miss R has a visit with her bio brothers today. I won't hold my breath.
We had to get out of the house early because Baby A had a weight check at 8:40AM. Miss R was fairly easy to get into her class. Henry was harder to coax but he liked that I had Baby A with us. He got to show her off to his friends. He told them, "Baby A has an appointment with Dr. Bianchi to get her weight checked."
The weight check was fine. Dr. Bianchi is happy with her weight gain. She's now 11 lbs 2 ozs. I confess that I had hoped that she would be closer to 12 lbs, though I'm not surprised at where she is. The last few days have been a struggle getting her to take more than 3 ozs in one sitting. Her reflux medication is helping, but I sensed that it wasn't helping enough. The doctor is going to try to get her Prevacid, but it make take some work to get that through "the system."
No word from CPS on their failure to pick Baby A up yesterday or contact us about schedule changes. Also no word on whether or not Miss R has a visit with her bio brothers today. I won't hold my breath.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Tinkerbell in Spanish
On Monday afternoon, I picked up The Twins around 3:40PM because they had swim lessons.
As I passed by the baby room, I was surprised to see Baby A on the floor. She was supposed to have a visitation with bio mom from 3-5PM. Once again, we weren't called about any changes to the schedule. As far as we knew, she should have been picked up at 2:30PM and returned to our place at 5:30PM. This same situation happened last week. CPS didn't bother calling us when the driving service didn't show up with the baby to the visitation.
Henry and Miss R did well at their swim lesson. Henry is getting pretty good at being dunked and getting his face in the water. Miss R still hasn't figured out how to hold her breath or blow bubbles, so the experience of going under water is not fun for her. But I think that she liked (or at least didn't mind) the other parts of the lesson. She does pretty well with floating on her back, although she doesn't like the feeling of water in her ears. I think that we'll be able to get Miss R more comfortable in water by having her practice in the bath tub. That won't work for Henry, unfortunately, because he isn't supposed to get bath tub water in his ears because of his tubes (chlorinated water is OK though). After class, the kids said goodbye to their classmate Amir, who also isn't terribly keen on the under water part of the lesson. I can't really blame them. I vaguely remember that feeling of going under water for the first few times. It wasn't always fun. But someday soon, it will be.
Jeff took The Twins home. I went to Sunflower for coconut milk and other essentials and then got Baby A who was smiley as usual. Jeff made dinner: grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup. and broccoli. Henry went crazy over the tomato soup, which was one of Jeff's favorites as a kid.
Henry and Miss R played a little bit. Henry angled for watching Tinkerbell. I let him but in Spanish (our new house rule). The kids seem OK these days with Spanish television, which is good. The movie is pretty short (probably a half-hour or 45 minutes). Jeff got Baby A to sleep. I got the kids' teeth brushed. Miss R is doing everything well by herself for the most part. She just has to be reminded about brushing each section of her mouth. Henry did really well, but he needs a bit more direction and help when it comes to manipulating the tooth brush. Then, Jeff read to the kids as they climbed into bed, and I headed off to Walmart to get Baby A's ready-made formula. The house is currently quiet.
As I passed by the baby room, I was surprised to see Baby A on the floor. She was supposed to have a visitation with bio mom from 3-5PM. Once again, we weren't called about any changes to the schedule. As far as we knew, she should have been picked up at 2:30PM and returned to our place at 5:30PM. This same situation happened last week. CPS didn't bother calling us when the driving service didn't show up with the baby to the visitation.
Henry and Miss R did well at their swim lesson. Henry is getting pretty good at being dunked and getting his face in the water. Miss R still hasn't figured out how to hold her breath or blow bubbles, so the experience of going under water is not fun for her. But I think that she liked (or at least didn't mind) the other parts of the lesson. She does pretty well with floating on her back, although she doesn't like the feeling of water in her ears. I think that we'll be able to get Miss R more comfortable in water by having her practice in the bath tub. That won't work for Henry, unfortunately, because he isn't supposed to get bath tub water in his ears because of his tubes (chlorinated water is OK though). After class, the kids said goodbye to their classmate Amir, who also isn't terribly keen on the under water part of the lesson. I can't really blame them. I vaguely remember that feeling of going under water for the first few times. It wasn't always fun. But someday soon, it will be.
Jeff took The Twins home. I went to Sunflower for coconut milk and other essentials and then got Baby A who was smiley as usual. Jeff made dinner: grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup. and broccoli. Henry went crazy over the tomato soup, which was one of Jeff's favorites as a kid.
Henry and Miss R played a little bit. Henry angled for watching Tinkerbell. I let him but in Spanish (our new house rule). The kids seem OK these days with Spanish television, which is good. The movie is pretty short (probably a half-hour or 45 minutes). Jeff got Baby A to sleep. I got the kids' teeth brushed. Miss R is doing everything well by herself for the most part. She just has to be reminded about brushing each section of her mouth. Henry did really well, but he needs a bit more direction and help when it comes to manipulating the tooth brush. Then, Jeff read to the kids as they climbed into bed, and I headed off to Walmart to get Baby A's ready-made formula. The house is currently quiet.
Handful
On Sunday, my parents came to the house at 10:30AM to pick up Henry and Miss R and take them to Costco. My dad gave Jeff and me Diamondbacks tickets. We headed up to Phoenix to watch the D-backs play the Cardinals. We took Baby A with us. We dressed her in Henry's old D-backs outfit (back when the uniforms were a cool purple instead of their new drab red color). She looked cute. She was a perfect sweet heart the entire trip. She seemed to like watching the scene, drank her bottle, and snoozed. She was a bit perturbed at the cheers when Chris Young hit his second home run of the game in the 9th inning with two outs winning the game though.
We called Grammy from the stadium. She said that Henry had been a handful and refused to nap. Grammy told him that he wasn't allowed to watch TV until he napped, so he went to her room for 5 minutes then came back out claiming to have napped.
My second cousin John was in town. He'd spent the afternoon with my parents and The Twins. Jeff, Baby A, and I made it back in time for dinner with him and the family, which was nice.
On Monday morning, Henry was in a mood. Probably had to do with not enough sleep. He told me that "Daddy wasn't nice." I asked, "What did you do, Henry?" He said, "Daddy brushed my teeth!" Unfortunately, that wasn't enough evidence to get Daddy in trouble.
As I pulled up to daycare with the kids, Henry told me that he wanted to go on the "kids' playground." Basically, he is stuck on the 2 and under equipment until he gets into a 3 year old classroom. As I tried to get him into his class, he told me that he wanted to be in another class. So I'll have to talk to Jeff about it. Right now, he isn't fully potty trained...at least not at home. So I'm not sure what we can do about getting him into a 3 year old classroom. Sigh.
We called Grammy from the stadium. She said that Henry had been a handful and refused to nap. Grammy told him that he wasn't allowed to watch TV until he napped, so he went to her room for 5 minutes then came back out claiming to have napped.
My second cousin John was in town. He'd spent the afternoon with my parents and The Twins. Jeff, Baby A, and I made it back in time for dinner with him and the family, which was nice.
On Monday morning, Henry was in a mood. Probably had to do with not enough sleep. He told me that "Daddy wasn't nice." I asked, "What did you do, Henry?" He said, "Daddy brushed my teeth!" Unfortunately, that wasn't enough evidence to get Daddy in trouble.
As I pulled up to daycare with the kids, Henry told me that he wanted to go on the "kids' playground." Basically, he is stuck on the 2 and under equipment until he gets into a 3 year old classroom. As I tried to get him into his class, he told me that he wanted to be in another class. So I'll have to talk to Jeff about it. Right now, he isn't fully potty trained...at least not at home. So I'm not sure what we can do about getting him into a 3 year old classroom. Sigh.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
An Evening at Adelyn's
On Saturday morning, Baby A decided that 5AM was a good time for her bottle. She kicked around, looking ready to play, as I waited for her bottle to heat. Once she ate it, she fell asleep...but only if I was holding her. As soon as I put her in the crib, she woke up. I held her, and she fell asleep again. So I did a first with her, which was bring her to bed with me and co-sleep. That actually worked incredibly well. In fact, she and I slept an additional three hours, which was much longer than I had anticipated. I'm not planning to co-sleep as a regular thing. She actually doesn't quite well in her crib, so I think that we'll stick with that. But I may snuggle with her in bed on occasion.
It has been quite hot in our area. So playing outside was out of the question. I took the kids to the movies instead. I tried to make a 10:25 showing of Shrek in 3D, but the kids were too slow getting out the door. As we drove to the theater, I could hear Miss R taking off her shoes. I said in my stern voice, "R, if you take off your shoes, you will not get to see Shrek. It is naughty to take off your shoes when we are trying to get somewhere." Henry said in his stern voice, "You no say that to R. That's not nice." I told Henry that we were in a hurry. They knew we were in a hurry, so the shoes were a must. Otherwise, no movie. We ended up having to wait at the light for a train, so we went to the non-3D version of Shrek at 11:15AM instead. The kids held hands in the parking lot. Once instead the mall, I had to tell Henry not to point at people while shouting "You scruvy swabs!"
The kids liked the movie (again), and they very much enjoyed the popcorn. In fact, they wanted more in the middle of the movie, but I said that they had to wait for food until after the movie. After the movie, I got the kids a snack and then we picked up some food at Eegee's for lunch. After eating fries in the car, they both fell asleep.
In the early evening, we went to our friends Carolyn, Zak, Adelyn, and Spencer's house. We had an excellent meal, great conversation, and swimming. Their pool was a fantastic 93 degrees. Perfect for Henry who got to swim a long time b/c he didn't freeze in the water. Henry's swimming skills were coming through. He blew bubbles, dunked himself under water several times, did an excellent job kicking his feet, and was able to pull himself onto the cool deck from the side of the pool on his own. Miss R is still working on the blowing bubbles part. She enjoyed counting to 3 as if she was going to dunk herself under water. She didn't quite do it though. She seemed to like being in the pool, which is a great start for future swimming skills. We stayed at Adelyn's house until about 10:15AM when we decided it was time to come home...although I'm quite sure that Henry would have been content to stay a lot longer.
It has been quite hot in our area. So playing outside was out of the question. I took the kids to the movies instead. I tried to make a 10:25 showing of Shrek in 3D, but the kids were too slow getting out the door. As we drove to the theater, I could hear Miss R taking off her shoes. I said in my stern voice, "R, if you take off your shoes, you will not get to see Shrek. It is naughty to take off your shoes when we are trying to get somewhere." Henry said in his stern voice, "You no say that to R. That's not nice." I told Henry that we were in a hurry. They knew we were in a hurry, so the shoes were a must. Otherwise, no movie. We ended up having to wait at the light for a train, so we went to the non-3D version of Shrek at 11:15AM instead. The kids held hands in the parking lot. Once instead the mall, I had to tell Henry not to point at people while shouting "You scruvy swabs!"
The kids liked the movie (again), and they very much enjoyed the popcorn. In fact, they wanted more in the middle of the movie, but I said that they had to wait for food until after the movie. After the movie, I got the kids a snack and then we picked up some food at Eegee's for lunch. After eating fries in the car, they both fell asleep.
In the early evening, we went to our friends Carolyn, Zak, Adelyn, and Spencer's house. We had an excellent meal, great conversation, and swimming. Their pool was a fantastic 93 degrees. Perfect for Henry who got to swim a long time b/c he didn't freeze in the water. Henry's swimming skills were coming through. He blew bubbles, dunked himself under water several times, did an excellent job kicking his feet, and was able to pull himself onto the cool deck from the side of the pool on his own. Miss R is still working on the blowing bubbles part. She enjoyed counting to 3 as if she was going to dunk herself under water. She didn't quite do it though. She seemed to like being in the pool, which is a great start for future swimming skills. We stayed at Adelyn's house until about 10:15AM when we decided it was time to come home...although I'm quite sure that Henry would have been content to stay a lot longer.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Sea Creatures
This morning, Henry was in a mood. He got upset because Miss R put her mermaid toy on the Tinkerbelle placemat. Why was this a problem? Only Henry knows. He was also upset because Miss R roared at him at the kitchen table.
It was "Bring your favorite sea creature" to school day. Miss R brought her mermaid to school, and Henry brought his deep sea book. That theme actually helped get the kids out of the car. Miss R wanted to show Miss Diana her mermaid, and Henry wanted to show her his book. I dropped off Baby A first, and then we spent some time in Miss R's classroom. Henry quite happily marched into his classroom. Miss Valerie was pleased to see Henry's book and promised him that they could read it as a class during reading time.
Henry has been great at school in terms of using his big boy underwear. We could probably make a request to get him into the three year old classroom in a week or two (the one that requires potty trained kids). With the move of three boys out of his current classroom and girls now in their places, the class has had a more balanced gender split and just seems a lot calmer. It's nice.
We picked up the kids after going to the bank. Then, we headed for Grammy and Poppy's house, where we went swimming and had a nice dinner. As soon as the pool gate was openned, he marched right to the step and hopped in. No reservations. He had a good time swimming, but once again, his lack of body fat meant that he has difficult staying in the water for more than 10-15 minutes. Miss R had a wonderful time in the water. She really loves it.
My mom made a great dinner. Henry was stubborn about eating until I said "Fine. I'll eat your bread." I did that several times with the result of Henry eating because he didn't want me to have it. Miss R didn't eat particularly well. She doesn't jump at the chance to not let me eat her food, so I don't bother trying that technique with her. The one thing that she did OK on eating was her salad surprisingly enough.
The kids went to bed shortly after we got home. Miss R and I had the following conversation:
KATE: Who do I love more than peaches?
MISS R: Me!
KATE: Who do I love more than pizza?
MISS R: Me!
KATE: Who do I love more than...
MISS R: Snakes?
KATE: OK. Who do I love more than snakes?
MISS R: Bad snakes?
KATE: Who do I love more than bad snakes?
MISS R: Very bad snakes?
KATE: Who do I love more than very bad snakes?
MISS R: Very bad snakes over there? [Pointing off in the distance.]
KATE: Who do I love more than very bad snakes over there?
MISS R: Dangerous. Don't step on the snakes over there.
KATE: Who do I love more then very bad snakes over there who I won't step on because they are dangerous?
MISS R: Me!
That was an unexpected twist in the conversation.
It was "Bring your favorite sea creature" to school day. Miss R brought her mermaid to school, and Henry brought his deep sea book. That theme actually helped get the kids out of the car. Miss R wanted to show Miss Diana her mermaid, and Henry wanted to show her his book. I dropped off Baby A first, and then we spent some time in Miss R's classroom. Henry quite happily marched into his classroom. Miss Valerie was pleased to see Henry's book and promised him that they could read it as a class during reading time.
Henry has been great at school in terms of using his big boy underwear. We could probably make a request to get him into the three year old classroom in a week or two (the one that requires potty trained kids). With the move of three boys out of his current classroom and girls now in their places, the class has had a more balanced gender split and just seems a lot calmer. It's nice.
We picked up the kids after going to the bank. Then, we headed for Grammy and Poppy's house, where we went swimming and had a nice dinner. As soon as the pool gate was openned, he marched right to the step and hopped in. No reservations. He had a good time swimming, but once again, his lack of body fat meant that he has difficult staying in the water for more than 10-15 minutes. Miss R had a wonderful time in the water. She really loves it.
My mom made a great dinner. Henry was stubborn about eating until I said "Fine. I'll eat your bread." I did that several times with the result of Henry eating because he didn't want me to have it. Miss R didn't eat particularly well. She doesn't jump at the chance to not let me eat her food, so I don't bother trying that technique with her. The one thing that she did OK on eating was her salad surprisingly enough.
The kids went to bed shortly after we got home. Miss R and I had the following conversation:
KATE: Who do I love more than peaches?
MISS R: Me!
KATE: Who do I love more than pizza?
MISS R: Me!
KATE: Who do I love more than...
MISS R: Snakes?
KATE: OK. Who do I love more than snakes?
MISS R: Bad snakes?
KATE: Who do I love more than bad snakes?
MISS R: Very bad snakes?
KATE: Who do I love more than very bad snakes?
MISS R: Very bad snakes over there? [Pointing off in the distance.]
KATE: Who do I love more than very bad snakes over there?
MISS R: Dangerous. Don't step on the snakes over there.
KATE: Who do I love more then very bad snakes over there who I won't step on because they are dangerous?
MISS R: Me!
That was an unexpected twist in the conversation.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
The Many Faces of Henry
On Thursday afternoon, I headed 29 miles south to Sahuarita to buy a triple stroller that someone was selling on Craiglist list. It looked like a good stroller. I said that I'd buy it if it fit in the car. Sadly, it didn't fit in the car. So our hopes and dreams of a reasonably priced triple stroller were dashed.
I picked up the kids who were in good moods. I got Miss R first, Henry second, and then Baby A last. Henry was excited to see a couple other babies in Baby A's room. He met one boy and said "Hi, Baby!"
Henry ate well at dinner. Very well. Yvonne had made him beans the other day, so we had those, which were tasty. Henry and Miss R also had tacquitos. Henry had 5 halves. Then, he "helped" me make fresh whipped cream for the ginger bread that Jeff had baked late this afternoon. Henry enjoyed making and tasting the whipped cream via the beaters. He licked his dollops of cream off his ginger bread, so I gave him additional whipped cream. He finally ate the ginger bread too. Miss R did well too. She spent a good part of her time trying to eat the ginger bread without a utensil and without using her hands. Not sure why she abandon her hands and the utensils, but she ate a notable amount.
Baby A slept from the time she came home until 11PM. We're assuming that she is having a growth spurt OR being on reflux medications is finally helping her to relax.
After Henry ate his dessert, we played the faces game. I call out an emotion and the kids try to convey it with their faces. Sometimes I just call out an action. Below is a mix:
Henry giving a kissy face
Henry looking mad
Henry looking happy
Henry with air in his cheeks
Henry pretending to be scared
Henry looking shocked
Miss R played the game too. I have many pictures of her. Can't wait until July when I can post pictures of her as well.
I picked up the kids who were in good moods. I got Miss R first, Henry second, and then Baby A last. Henry was excited to see a couple other babies in Baby A's room. He met one boy and said "Hi, Baby!"
Henry ate well at dinner. Very well. Yvonne had made him beans the other day, so we had those, which were tasty. Henry and Miss R also had tacquitos. Henry had 5 halves. Then, he "helped" me make fresh whipped cream for the ginger bread that Jeff had baked late this afternoon. Henry enjoyed making and tasting the whipped cream via the beaters. He licked his dollops of cream off his ginger bread, so I gave him additional whipped cream. He finally ate the ginger bread too. Miss R did well too. She spent a good part of her time trying to eat the ginger bread without a utensil and without using her hands. Not sure why she abandon her hands and the utensils, but she ate a notable amount.Baby A slept from the time she came home until 11PM. We're assuming that she is having a growth spurt OR being on reflux medications is finally helping her to relax.
After Henry ate his dessert, we played the faces game. I call out an emotion and the kids try to convey it with their faces. Sometimes I just call out an action. Below is a mix:
Henry giving a kissy face
Henry looking mad
Henry looking happy
Henry with air in his cheeks
Henry pretending to be scared
Henry looking shockedMiss R played the game too. I have many pictures of her. Can't wait until July when I can post pictures of her as well.
Sweetness
On Thursday morning, The Twins were being extraordinarily cute. I witnessed one of those sweet moments when one's heart melts, the highlight of being a parent.
Henry and Miss R were playing in our bed after breakfast. They pretty much think that Jeff's and my bed is a trampoline. I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard fits of giggles coming from the bed. Henry and Miss R were lying next to one another laughing when one would put their feet on the other. Under other circumstances, this might have caused tears, but this morning it caused giggles so loud that Jeff could hear them in the kitchen. Then, the kids had the following conversation:
HENRY: I love you, R!
MISS R: You're so cute, Henry.
We tell the kids that we love them a hundred times a day. I also tell them how cute, beautiful, and handsome they are. I love it when they give each other joy and can see the beauty in each other.
Henry and Miss R were playing in our bed after breakfast. They pretty much think that Jeff's and my bed is a trampoline. I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard fits of giggles coming from the bed. Henry and Miss R were lying next to one another laughing when one would put their feet on the other. Under other circumstances, this might have caused tears, but this morning it caused giggles so loud that Jeff could hear them in the kitchen. Then, the kids had the following conversation:
HENRY: I love you, R!
MISS R: You're so cute, Henry.
We tell the kids that we love them a hundred times a day. I also tell them how cute, beautiful, and handsome they are. I love it when they give each other joy and can see the beauty in each other.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Underwear, Swimming, and Swenson's
On Wednesday morning, Henry surprised me by announcing that he wanted to wear underwear. Although he was doing brilliantly with his potty training last week, it had gotten derailed by his bout of stomach flu. While the fever didn't last long and his energy levels had high for all but one day, the residual effects made it such that underwear wasn't a good idea. Today seemed like a good day to get back to underwear, and I was pleased that Henry brought it up as his idea.
We picked up the toddlers early today because they had their swim lesson at 4PM. That went fairly well. Whenever the teacher says who wants to go first, Henry is quick to volunteer his sister's name. The kids weren't fond of being dunked under water a couple times, but they did pretty well. Miss R in particular is hypersensitive when it comes to getting her face wet. Out of the three kids in the class, Henry was the only one willing to put his face in the water of his own volition (just up to the forehead). After 15 minutes, Henry announced that he was done and wanted his mommy. But they stuck with the lesson for the full 25 minutes. The teacher's name is Natalie. She wanted to get them started on safety, but they didn't make it quite that far (other than clinging to the side of the pool, which is definitely a good start). She thinks that they need to be more comfortable with getting their faces wet before she takes them much further on skills.
Jeff and I accidentally left the swim diapers in the Element, so we put Henry in a pull-up during the lesson. That wasn't a good idea. When he got out of the pool, it was swollen up like something out of a cartoon. That may have been part of the reason why Henry wanted to be done. When we got to the changing room, he announced that he had a little bit of poop in his pants. No poop was actually in there. But it was the largest diaper that I've ever seen. Incidentally, for those wondering how much liquid a pull-up can hold, the answer is five times as much as you think one could hold.
After their lesson, we went back to daycare and picked up Baby A who had just woken up crying. She's really not a fussy baby at all, but if she wakes up from a nap hungry, look out!
Henry announced that he wanted ice cream and french fries at Swenson's. We didn't have a better idea for dinner, so we called Grammy and Poppy and met them at the restaurant. Henry kept trying to climb out of the booth by scaling the partition, so it wasn't exactly a relaxing dinner. But as my mom said, she's seen Henry worse than tonight's performance. He ate most of his grilled cheese which was good. Miss R claimed she wanted a hamburger but didn't touch the meat and just ate the bun. They both polished off their ice cream. Baby A was wonderful during the outing. She had a bottle and then just checked out the surroundings. My dad commented on how observant she has become.
We came back home and went on a walk. The Twins had their shower. Baby A ended up getting a bath because she had a major spit up episode. As of right now, the kids are clean and in bed.
We picked up the toddlers early today because they had their swim lesson at 4PM. That went fairly well. Whenever the teacher says who wants to go first, Henry is quick to volunteer his sister's name. The kids weren't fond of being dunked under water a couple times, but they did pretty well. Miss R in particular is hypersensitive when it comes to getting her face wet. Out of the three kids in the class, Henry was the only one willing to put his face in the water of his own volition (just up to the forehead). After 15 minutes, Henry announced that he was done and wanted his mommy. But they stuck with the lesson for the full 25 minutes. The teacher's name is Natalie. She wanted to get them started on safety, but they didn't make it quite that far (other than clinging to the side of the pool, which is definitely a good start). She thinks that they need to be more comfortable with getting their faces wet before she takes them much further on skills.
Jeff and I accidentally left the swim diapers in the Element, so we put Henry in a pull-up during the lesson. That wasn't a good idea. When he got out of the pool, it was swollen up like something out of a cartoon. That may have been part of the reason why Henry wanted to be done. When we got to the changing room, he announced that he had a little bit of poop in his pants. No poop was actually in there. But it was the largest diaper that I've ever seen. Incidentally, for those wondering how much liquid a pull-up can hold, the answer is five times as much as you think one could hold.
After their lesson, we went back to daycare and picked up Baby A who had just woken up crying. She's really not a fussy baby at all, but if she wakes up from a nap hungry, look out!
Henry announced that he wanted ice cream and french fries at Swenson's. We didn't have a better idea for dinner, so we called Grammy and Poppy and met them at the restaurant. Henry kept trying to climb out of the booth by scaling the partition, so it wasn't exactly a relaxing dinner. But as my mom said, she's seen Henry worse than tonight's performance. He ate most of his grilled cheese which was good. Miss R claimed she wanted a hamburger but didn't touch the meat and just ate the bun. They both polished off their ice cream. Baby A was wonderful during the outing. She had a bottle and then just checked out the surroundings. My dad commented on how observant she has become.
We came back home and went on a walk. The Twins had their shower. Baby A ended up getting a bath because she had a major spit up episode. As of right now, the kids are clean and in bed.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Fantastic News
On Tuesday morning, Henry was a handful. He didn't want to go to school. He wanted to stay in the car while I dropped off Baby A and Miss R. He refused to get out of the car. Then refused to walk forward in the parking lot. I was vexed b/c I was holding Baby A and her milk bottles and didn't have a free arm to wrestle Henry. Somehow, we made it inside. I dropped off Baby A. Then Miss R wanted to be held. So I held her until we got to her classroom. Then she refused to go inside it. Once she was off, I took Henry to his classroom. He turned around and sprinted down the hall, so I had to pursue him. I had to pick him up and carry him to his class at which point he flopped onto the floor and refused to stand. Oy vey!
I spent a long time at WIC trying to get them to give me the correct food vouchers for the formula that Baby A needs. Basically, we put her on the powdered version of Alimentum over the weekend. Her level of formula consumption dropped dramatically AND she was spitting everything up. I told them on Saturday that she needed the ready-to-feed not the powder. But powder is cheaper so they (meaning a supervisor) insisted I try that first. I brought them the doctor's note today which says "ready-to-feed." They almost didn't give me the ready-to-feed, but fortunately, I was able to explain that the powder contains a corn ingredient that the ready-made does not (thanks to information obtained from an online preemie mom and friend). Had I not known that information, I would have been up a creek. The associate helping me was actually quite good. It was one of her supervisors who was the stumbling block. I do understand their drive to save money, but the push for the powder, when it wasn't what the doctor had ordered AND when we had already established that the ready-made worked (at our expense having gone through a couple different formulas with this baby), actually cost them more money than saved them b/c I now have 3 cannisters of powder that I can't use.
I emailed Baby A's caseworker to find out why she wasn't picked up for her visit and why we weren't contacted. The caseworker said that the transportation company "forgot" to put Baby A on the schedule and bio mom was mad (in my opinion justifiably so). No apologies or explanations for why we weren't contacted. Had I not stopped by daycare yesterday, we'd have been waiting at home for a baby who wasn't to come. Daycare closes at 6PM, so some communication on CPS' part seems a reasonable request. I talked with Alison from our agency. She's tried to talk to the caseworker, but the caseworker has been abrupt with her.
In the afternoon, my dad picked up the toddlers from daycare. They went to Grammy and Poppy's house. My mom said that they were angels. My mom did Miss R's nails, which always makes Miss R happy.
Jeff picked up Baby A. Baby A fell asleep on the way home. From her daily sheet, it doesn't look like she sleep much, so she is making up for it now. Still asleep! Jeff wondered if the whole powder problem had made her restless (she certainly seemed restless and uncomfortable). Now that we are back to ready-made, she is able to get some real sleep.
My parents brought the kids home. They had fun playing the Good Night Moon card game. Our neighbor Hal called to say that the mailman had delivered a good part of our mail to their house. He very kindly brought the mail over.
The mail contained the letter that we've been expecting. A letter from our new lawyer. A court date has been set for our adoption of Miss R: July 19! This is very good news indeed!
I spent a long time at WIC trying to get them to give me the correct food vouchers for the formula that Baby A needs. Basically, we put her on the powdered version of Alimentum over the weekend. Her level of formula consumption dropped dramatically AND she was spitting everything up. I told them on Saturday that she needed the ready-to-feed not the powder. But powder is cheaper so they (meaning a supervisor) insisted I try that first. I brought them the doctor's note today which says "ready-to-feed." They almost didn't give me the ready-to-feed, but fortunately, I was able to explain that the powder contains a corn ingredient that the ready-made does not (thanks to information obtained from an online preemie mom and friend). Had I not known that information, I would have been up a creek. The associate helping me was actually quite good. It was one of her supervisors who was the stumbling block. I do understand their drive to save money, but the push for the powder, when it wasn't what the doctor had ordered AND when we had already established that the ready-made worked (at our expense having gone through a couple different formulas with this baby), actually cost them more money than saved them b/c I now have 3 cannisters of powder that I can't use.
I emailed Baby A's caseworker to find out why she wasn't picked up for her visit and why we weren't contacted. The caseworker said that the transportation company "forgot" to put Baby A on the schedule and bio mom was mad (in my opinion justifiably so). No apologies or explanations for why we weren't contacted. Had I not stopped by daycare yesterday, we'd have been waiting at home for a baby who wasn't to come. Daycare closes at 6PM, so some communication on CPS' part seems a reasonable request. I talked with Alison from our agency. She's tried to talk to the caseworker, but the caseworker has been abrupt with her.
In the afternoon, my dad picked up the toddlers from daycare. They went to Grammy and Poppy's house. My mom said that they were angels. My mom did Miss R's nails, which always makes Miss R happy.
Jeff picked up Baby A. Baby A fell asleep on the way home. From her daily sheet, it doesn't look like she sleep much, so she is making up for it now. Still asleep! Jeff wondered if the whole powder problem had made her restless (she certainly seemed restless and uncomfortable). Now that we are back to ready-made, she is able to get some real sleep.
My parents brought the kids home. They had fun playing the Good Night Moon card game. Our neighbor Hal called to say that the mailman had delivered a good part of our mail to their house. He very kindly brought the mail over.
The mail contained the letter that we've been expecting. A letter from our new lawyer. A court date has been set for our adoption of Miss R: July 19! This is very good news indeed!
Monday, June 7, 2010
"Life's rough, R. Life is rough."
On Sunday night, we went out for a family walk. We stopped by Yvonne's place at Henry's insistence. He ran over to her friend John who is very good with the kids. The Twins took turns drinking out of a hose.Last night, Yvonne sent the pictures she took of Henry in his Superman outfit on 6/2:
The kids took showers last night. It took me forever to get the braids out of Miss R's hair. Henry took his shower first. When he got out, Jeff got Henry's towel and said "Now you have to dry that cute little bump" (referring to his bum). Henry said, "I have a cute little bump. R, do you have a cute little bump?" He was so funny about it.
On Monday morning, Henry was all over the house in the morning. As I got out of the shower, he absconded with my bra. He left the room and then came back with it on backwards and said "This is my backpack!"
We kept Henry and Miss R home for the day. Miss R had an appointment with Dr. Banuelos for an eye check b/c a couple weeks ago, it looked to me like she was crossing her eyes for a little bit. Jeff took The Twins to the appointment. In the waiting room, Henry played behind a chair. He popped up from the back of the chair and said, "The moon is up. I'm the moon!" and then hid behind the chair. He popped up again and said "The sun is up, and I am the sun!" Miss R was seen by a resident and by Dr. Banuelos, and both the resident and Dr. Banuelos said Miss R did very well. When drops were put in Miss R's eyes to dialate them, Henry told the person "No, don't do that to R!" when Miss R expressed discomfort. While Miss R was easy to watch, Henry was not. He decided to run out of the room and down the hall just as Dr. Banuelos as telling Jeff that Miss R's eyes look fine but she wants to see her back in 4 months to be sure.
I took Baby A to daycare in the morning. She had a bio mom visitation scheduled from 3-5PM. CPS was supposed to pick her up at daycare and drop her off at home.
Shortly after Jeff brought the kids home in the early afternoon, the CPS driving service was at the door. The driver wasn't sure he had the right house. Jeff asked him what child he was dropping off. It definitely wasn't Baby A. We live in the boonies, so I'm not sure how anyone could make such a big out-of-the-way transportation mistake. It doesn't give a lot of confidence in "the system."
Henry and Miss R had their first swim lesson today at 4PM. They are in a class with one other child who looks like he is 5. They both did well. They sat on the step of the pool. They blew bubbles in the water. They floated on their backs. I was shocked that Henry can float given his lack of body fat. And they got dunked twice each. They didn't like that part at all. Henry wanted to play on the pool slide of course. But he didn't get to go on that until the end (it's a small slide).
Jeff took the kids home, while I swung by daycare to pickup Baby A's bottles (milk can't be left in the refrigerator overnight). I was surprised to see Baby A sitting serenely in a bouncy chair. Apparently, she had never been picked up. And CPS never called us to mention another change in plans.
Miss R was asleep when I came home. She had refused a nap after lunch, and it had been showing in her attitude. She got up from her nap shortly after I got home. She was in toddler contradiction mode. When spoken to, she whined and said "No!" Henry said to her "Life's rough, R. Life is rough." I asked Jeff, "Did he just say what I thought he said?" Yes, indeed. Jeff and I both think that we've said that to the toddlers during their tantrums at one time or another, but we don't remember saying it recently.
Henry found a Cinderella earring, necklace, and purse set that Aunt Carolyn had given the kids for Christmas. He had fun playing with them.We went on a family walk at dusk. We ran into Hal and Swanee. Henry had fun with Luke, one of their dogs. Miss R's mood lasted until about halfway through the walk and then she was fine. The kids had pancakes when they came back from the walk (leftovers from Joel's). Jeff gave them showers while I tried to fed Baby A. She hasn't been eating as well for me today. Jeff read The Twins their evening stories. They settled down. Henry has only gotten up once for more "cold water."
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