Dinner with the Grandparents

In my absence, Henry, Jeff, and Miss R had dinner with the Grammy and Poppy last night and tonight. Last night, they went to Swenson's. Jeff said that Henry ate very well. It's about time!

When I called last night, Miss R was already in bed, but Henry was still up. He told me about "Monsters" as he was watching it when I called. He likes "Mike & Sully." When we talked on the telephone this evening, Henry was up and Miss R had again gone to bed. It was 9PM in Tucson, so Miss R was doing what most kids their age should be doing. Henry did announce to Jeff that it was time for "bed" after a few minutes. So it was a short call. It is nice that Henry is choosing to go to "bed" by his own initiative from time to time.

I'm still a bit under the weather. I suppose that's good news for our budget b/c the food at the Westin Diplomat is incredibly expensive. The hotel is very beautiful. I finally walked along the beach this evening, and the water was perfect. At some point, I may have to figure out a way to get a year long visiting professor job at one of the universities in the area! I wish that Jeff, Henry, and Miss R could be here. It would be fun watching them play in the water together.

Tomorrow, there are supposedly two meetings involving Miss R that are going to take place...not that anyone has called us about the time and locations. Has La Frontera, the group organizing the case plans for the children's developmental services, called? A big fat NO. Has the Blake Foundation ever come back for the follow-up they promised at the first meeting? Another big fat NO. Has a case worker from CPS called about the meetings or just to check in? Ummm, that would be another NO. Our family specialist was supposed to get in touch with us to see what she could find out. Haven't heard from her either. Sigh.

One might ask the question, "What is the [fill-in-the-blank] point of having a meeting to discuss developmental services if (a) the child in question hasn't received an appropriate evaluation, and (b) no one has bothered to contact the foster parents for their observations about the child's development and potential need for services?" What are they going to discuss if Jeff isn't there? Hypothetical services?

The second meeting is the dependency hearing that was scheduled to take place at 4PM. There is a possibility that the parents have made some sort of negotiation with CPS which would abdicate the need for the hearing. Gee wiz, wouldn't it be a good idea to inform the foster parents so that they don't trek down to the courts unnecessarily? Am I asking for the world here?

What strikes me as amazing is we aren't talking about just one service, one case worker, or one agency/institution dropping the ball. We are talking about a multiple system failure. Can't any of them get it right? Has anyone actually looked at our little gal's file since the last hearing?

OK. I'm off my soap box now. I'm going to do a few more data runs before hitting the sack (a sack with 300 thread count sheets...I do love staying at Westin hotels).

Busy Day

Monday was a busy day. Alicia and Karina were back. It was very loud in the house again. We are going to do some serious thinking about whether or not the current situation is something we want to continue. I think that the time has perhaps come to look into daycare options. We wouldn't put Henry and Miss R into daycare all day by any stretch. But I suspect that a good daycare would provide them with some better social, physical, and artistic opportunities.

We played together as a family in the mid-afternoon. I put Miss R in her new dress from Jamie. It was super cute. I did her hair in a hair band. I wish that I could post pictures of Miss R but given privacy concerns, that's not allowed.

Henry was hilarious. Miss R took off her head band. Henry put it on himself like a sweat band right of out the Olivia Newton John era.

Alison, our family specialist, stopped by. One of her colleagues was hoping that she'd suggest that we take another child that he is trying to place...a 6 month old boy with some head issues. He is most likely going to be placed as a DDD child. I think that we are only allowed to be licensed as ACYF (which is the so-called "normal" foster care) or CDH (which is the child disability home). So we wouldn't be able to do both. Alison told him that she thought we had our hands full adjusting. Plus, there is still a chance that the 3 year old for whom we said "yes" before getting Miss R placed with us might get placed with us. We were actually selected to be his foster-to-adopt parents but then a relative came out of the wood works, but CPS had to vet the person's background. It is unclear whether or not they've done that yet. Alison was going to call tomorrow to see. She made a comment that Miss R looks so perfect with us and meshes so well with our family. She noted several times how well Miss R is doing. Incidentally, CPS hasn't contacted Alison about any medical information for Miss R, the meetings taking place on Thursday, or the mentioned anything about visitations. But Alison said that she'd be surprised if visitations with the parents took place soon. There is still a question, however, about the other siblings. I'm kind of surprised that CPS hasn't arranged visits for them. Although maybe that's not customary given how much younger Miss R is in comparison to her brothers.

We went for a walk around 7:20PM. It was very nice outside. We spotted a snake (not a rattler) in the middle of the road. We ran into Hal, Swanee, Luke, Annie, and two of our other neighbors. We talked near Nick and Janice's drive way. When Miss R spotted one of the horses, she freaked out. Clearly not a fan of big animals. We'll work on that. Not that she needs to love horses or anything, but not freaking out would be good.

I wasn't feel that great after our walk. I went to bed for awhile. Now I'm getting ready for my trip to Hollywood, Florida.

A Not So Great Mother's Day

On Saturday afternoon, Henry and Miss R went over to the grandparents' house for a little while in the afternoon. I stayed home and worked. Jeff ran errands.

In the evening, Henry was very moody during dinner. The Twins were a bit exasperating afterward. I suggested to Jeff that we pop a movie into the television b/c I was exhausted. Jeff asked if I wanted a Mother's Day present early. I said, "Sure." He got me "Enchanted," which is a cute Disney film. We stayed up and worked after the kids went to bed. They tossed and turned all over the bed. They were in a different position every time we checked on them, which was frequently. At one point, Miss R's feet were hanging off the bed, so I put her back in the safe zone. Jeff checked on them later. He said that Miss R had rolled onto Henry, but he didn't seem to have noticed. I unfortunately started feeling quite nauseated last night. I ended up sleeping in the guest bedroom.

I felt sick this morning. Still nauseated and droopy. Henry crawled into bed with me. We read his colors book. I figured it was OK for him to be around me considering that I probably have what he and Miss R had last week. Sigh. Jeff got the newspaper from the driveway. Apparently, "Get Fuzzy" is Henry's new favorite cartoon.

Henry and Miss R went to play at the grandparents' house. Jeff cleaned up the house. I attempted to work. I ended up taking a nap in the late afternoon and had fever and chills. When the kids returned home, they were full of energy. I asked Henry what they did at Grammy's house. He said, "Pancakes." They had in fact eaten pancakes. I asked what else. He said, "Jungle Book." I asked if he went outside with Poppy. He replied, "Poop...Pine cones." Telling Grandpa where the dog poop is located for removal is one of Henry's jobs at the grandparents' house. He also locates pine cones to put in the trash bag. My parents have some pines in the dog yard. Miss R was all over me this evening. She really wanted to spend the time jumping on my stomach, which wasn't exactly my idea of a good time.

The Twins really seemed to be having a good time together today. They were mimicking each other. Doing some monkey see monkey do. Crawling together. Rolling on the carpet together. Playing with blocks together. Laughing all the while. That was a nice treat. Henry would do something, and Miss R would laugh hysterically.

They both went into the bath tub easily, which was nice. It was shampoo night for Miss R's hair. Not fun. She hates leaning back and having her hair washed and/or conditioned. Miss R went to sleep for Jeff after the bath. Henry looked at "pics" with me. Then, he volunteered to go to "bed."

On a side note, we haven't heard a thing about visitations for Miss R with her bio family. We haven't heard a peep from the CPS case worker. So we are clueless about her status in the system. She seems to fit seamlessly into our family, which wasn't necessarily something that Jeff and I had anticipated. I think that we had expected a lot more problems from the foster child's end (whoever they might be). If Henry was taken from us (Heaven forbid), I would expect him having a hard time adjusting to a new situation and a new family. I'm sure that he would mention "Daddy," "Mommy," "Grammy," "Poppy," and maybe even "Bitsy" or "Roger" to them. I'm sure that he would miss us and be sad. And...well...Miss R just seems really happy to be with us. We haven't detected any sign of sadness or being ill at ease in her current surroundings. I'm a bit nervous about leaving on my trip to Florida (Tuesday through Thursday). I'm nervous that CPS will show up and take her w/o any forewarning. It is withing their rights to do so, although it is obviously better for the foster families and foster children to be given some transition time. There is another hearing on Thursday in the afternoon. I'm hoping that Jeff is able to attend it so that we'll know what the heck is going on.

"Change Diadie!"

On Friday morning, I made The Twins french toast. It looked fantastic. I didn't get to enjoy it b/c I ended up spending breakfast changing Henry's diaper a couple times. After that, breakfast had lost its appeal. I knew that I was in trouble when Henry said "Change diadie!" clearly and distinctly from his booster seat.

Grammy decided to take the kids to her place so that I could get more work done. They had fun at her place. She made them pancakes from scratch.

Yesterday, Jeff made arrangements for flying Marley to Oregon. I'm still very sad about the whole thing. We really love her a lot. I ran into a neighbor on the evening walk (it was just me and the dogs). She said that her grandson had hugged his dog and got nipped. His parents talked about getting rid of the dog. Her grandson got upset about it, realizing that it was his fault if the dog had to leave. So he seems to be changing his behavior. He's 3.5 years old. Unfortunately for us, 3.5 is miles away. I'm hoping that Marley will be very happy with Grandpa Joe. She'll be an only dog (although I'm sure that she'll miss Roger) and get to run around in the grass. We hope that we'll get to visit them later in the summer...if the whole swine flu doesn't cause us to rethink our travel plans.

We have a hectic travel schedule for this month. I'll be in Florida Tuesday (5/12) to Thursday (5/14). Then, Jeff will be in Oregon Saturday (5/16) to Tuesday (5/19). Then, I'll be in Chicago most likely Thursday (5/21) to Sunday (5/24). And then Jeff is going to Philly Friday (6/5) to Monday (6/8). We'll both get a taste of single parenthood with twins. Yikes.

Despite pangs of jealousy, I think that Henry is really beginning to enjoy having Miss R around. Last night, they played "chase." Of course, both wanted to be the one who was being changed. They played on the slide together and pounded the piano together.

This morning, I made scrambled eggs and french toast with strawberries and bananas. I don't know how much the kids really ate. They made a mess more than anything. We read books in the morning. Henry is irked that we're back on the limited television policy. Only television in the evening before bed.

The kids and Jeff are taking a nap. Henry and Miss R will be going to the grandparents' house after they wake up.

"Look Out!"

The Twins were active today. Miss R has a healthy appetite. That's for sure. Henry did pretty well today, but he still has back end issues. We've gone through a lot of diapers. A LOT.

Grammy came in the morning to help out. In the afternoon, Elsa showed up to update Henry's IFSP (individualized family service plan) which in essence becomes a contract for services. We had to amend some of his goals so that he could continue with his PT. We had to explain that Shirley has been working on balance with him. "And can you tell me why that is important?," asked Elsa. "Can you put that in an 'outcome' form?" Sigh. Inwardly, I was thinking are you f-ing serious? Golly gee, I wonder why balance is important. So I had to explain about being about to reach for objects and safety (b/c poor balance = falling down = not safe). I guess that explanation wasn't good enough so she had to put down something about Henry being "frustrated" when he falls down. Whatever.

Jeff suspects that The Twins have the so-called "swine flu." The number of cases in Arizona has skyrocketed. I'm a bit nervous that people are taking this flu so casually. That means that they will be going out in public even when they haven't fully recovered, which is very selfish. The second round of it expected in August is supposed to be much worse. While other people may not think it is a big deal, Henry is still at risk with his lung issues. If this "mild" version flattened him, I hate to think about the next round. Some articles about the 1918 flu epidemic have said that the first round didn't result in many causalities, but the second round caused wide spread pneumonia. Again, this is a HUGE concern for little ones like Henry.

So here is my plea to everyone. When you are sick, please try to think about other people, not just yourself and how you are feeling. Don't go to the mall if you were puking hours earlier. You are still active in your ability to spread germs. Avoid any contact with crowds if it is unnecessary...and that may mean some delayed gratification if you want to go to the movies or get some new clothes, etc. Don't go to work and infect others b/c you think that your boss will be impressed with how tough you are for working through your illness. Newsflash: Other people don't want to catch your germs. Please. Try to think of others less strong than yourself.










Henry and Miss R had fun playing on the piano this afternoon. They also found the party whistles and added those to the jamboree.

On our walk this evening, Henry was uncooperative. He wouldn't walk down the road. Instead, he grabbed his book out of the wagon and sat down in the middle of the road. I told Jeff to go on with Miss R, and I'd take Henry back to the house. Once Jeff was a couple hundred feet away, Henry wanted to go on the walk again. Jeff couldn't hear my shouts over the sounds from the wagon. Henry and I went over to Nick and Janice's to look at the horses. Janice came over to say hello (we kept at 6 feet from her...we didn't want to get her sick). She reported that they've already seen eight rattle snakes this season, six of which were on their property, one of which slithered over to our property. Sigh. That's a lot of snakes this early in the season. We didn't talk long b/c Henry announced that he wanted to "Go home. Eat." When we got into the garage, he demanded "pancakes."

After dinner, he and Miss R played on the slide in the living room. At one point, Miss R had just gone down the slide. Henry was behind her and said "Look out!" She moved before he could crash into her. They have had a lot of fun with the slide and ball pit as of late. They like getting into the ball pit together.

357. "Look out!"

That's all from the Wild Kingdom.

"Hold You"

It has been a stressful couple of days. My mom came on Monday and Tuesday to help out. Miss R was feeling well yesterday (Tuesday). In fact, she started off the morning getting really mad at me because I was a little slow on the uptake when she wanted food. She also managed to hold down some milk.

We tried some milk in the afternoon. Henry was so very tired yesterday that it was a bit scary. I was afraid that he was reacting poorly to not eating solids. He doesn't have much body fat overall, so there are no reserves effectively. He fell while trying to walk up two stairs from the living room to the bedroom. Henry then took a nap in the late afternoon while Jeff took Miss R and the dogs for a walk. He got up as soon as Jeff was out the door and then wanted "Daddy." I sat with him on the couch. He had a major vomit episode. I suspect that there isn't an inch of our couch that hasn't been vomited on by this point.

Henry's fever bounced between 99 and 102 degrees. We kept it in check with Tylenol. He looked so incredibly spent.

This morning when Henry woke up, he said "play" to Jeff, which Jeff figured was a good sign. He is still very tired though. I gave him some chicken soup (the broth and a couple noodles). Miss R has been active and more sassy than before her illness. Toddlers can certainly be bossy.

Henry's fever hasn't been bad today. He still has some back end issues however. And he has volunteered for "diaper change" on more than one occasion.

Henry has said "Hold you" to both me and Jeff on a few occasions, meaning that he wants us to snuggle with him.

In happy news, we opened our last b-day present to Henry this afternoon. It is a little piano. I have very cute pictures of Miss R and Henry playing it.

355. "Hold you"
356. Monsters (meaning Monsters, Inc.)

Henry's Birthday Party

Yesterday was Henry's birthday party. We woke up a little later than we had planned (something like 8:20AM). Miss R actually slept until some time after 9AM. It was a bit of a rush to get everything done, but we somehow managed to do so. We gave Henry one of his birthday presents before the party in hopes that he'd tire himself out with it and take a nap before the party. No such luck. But doesn't he look adorable in his new red peddle fire engine?

The party went really well. We had it at our house so that our neighbors could stop by. And each one of them did! It was really nice. Our party included: Grammy, Poppy, Aunt Erin, Uncle Brian, Uncle Jim, Michele, Leo, Carolyn and Adelyn, Jamie, Steve, Dana, Nikki, Nick, Janice, Swanee, Karen, Yvonne, Jeff, Henry, Miss R, and me. Our neighbors Paul and Janine stopped by before the party to give Henry a Thomas & Friends train named Mike.

Henry absolutely loved having the house full of people. Several people commented on how social he is. He is indeed our little social butterfly. Miss R was shy at first but then relaxed and let several people hold her. I saw her with Karen, Swanee, my mom, Dana, and Jamie. She did really, really well. Very proud of her. Jamie made Miss R a turtle sun dress. I can't wait to put her in it!

I wish that Henry had taken a nap before the party. We rushed out the cake when it become apparent around 2:15PM that he was beginning to fade.

Aunt Erin lead the party in a round of "Happy Birthday." Jeff commented that it was perhaps the most melodious happy birthday that we'd ever heard...complete with harmonization. Jeff and I had a bit of a panic right before we brought out the cake and realized we forgot to purchase silverware. Ooop! Thank goodness for rounds of individually packaged sets of silverware from Pei Wei and Lovin' Spoonfuls, which we tore open and thankfully had enough forks to go around! The cake was excellent...an acquisition from Nadine's Bakery.

Our family, friends, and neighbors were very generous in their gifts. Henry received building block sets, stuff animals, books, trains, a toddler guitar, clothes, stickers, and other neat things. I'm personally hoping that he begins to direct his energies toward these new toys rather than continuing of his current passion of sneaking behind the big screen TV and trying to play with the chords. Miss R wasn't left out in the fun. She also received some presents, which she loves.

Henry and Miss R crashed as everyone left. Unfortunately, Miss R began to vomit as she dozed off on the couch. A huge thank you to Jamie who helped clean it up as I tried to clean Miss R up!

We went for a family walk at dusk. We put on our party hats, which we forgot to wear during the party. Ran into Swanee, Hal, Annie, and Luke. Miss R was very calm with Annie and Luke tried to kiss her.


At dinner, Henry was very loud and uncooperative about eating. As Henry was yelling and Jeff was getting a wash cloth, I think I told Henry to keep it down. When Jeff appeared with the wash cloth, Henry said, "Be quiet! Shhhhh!" He put his fingers to his lips as he said "Shhhhh!" but I don't think that he really understand the concept of the "quiet" voice.

We had a rough night. Miss R started throwing up again and had a slight fever. We gave her some Tylenol. I ended up staying up with her and holding her upright as she fell asleep on my chest. This was around 11:30PM. I was disappointed because we had just put new sheets on the bed (600 thread count), and I was so looking forward to the high quality sheet experience. Jeff came out at 3AM to take Miss R's temperature. I had fallen asleep holding her. I managed to put her in the crib without problem. She seemed to do OK on her tummy. The sheets were awesome as expected. Miss R woke up, however, at 5:30AM. She had vomited a little. She was yelling, so I took her into the living room to change her diaper so she wouldn't wake up Henry. But she did wake up Henry. Henry then proceeded to vomit all over Jeff and the new sheets. Sigh.

We called the nanny to let her know. At first she was going to come but leave her daughter at home, and then she called back to say she wouldn't be coming at all. Shortly before 8AM when Miss R was napping on the couch, Henry announced he was hungry so I gave him a small piece of a muffin that he seemed to want. He took one bite and started vomiting again (mainly liquid b/c that's what he had in his stomach). I called the doctors shortly after 8AM as I had planned. Henry was for the most part acting his usual active self. He was happy b/c I let him watch whatever he wanted on TV. The nurse called me back around 9AM. Basically, I'm to keep the kids on liquids. Only give Tylenol if the temperature is 102 degrees or higher. Dehydration is the big worry. Keep giving small amounts. If child doesn't vomit, then I can increase the amount. They can have crackers or toast if they haven't vomited in an 8 hour period. They can eat regular food if they haven't vomited in a 24 hour period.

My mom came over around 10AM to help. Henry had vomited all over me around 11:45AM. Back to small doses of liquid. The Twins are both having back end issues too. Miss R has been wanting me to hold her a lot. She did eventually let my mom hold her. They both fell asleep on the couch in the early afternoon.

Jeff is off work now so he'll be working with my mom taking care of the little ones' needs. I'm going to start my work now. The hope is to get as much done as I can tonight under the assumption that I'm probably going to come down with this too. Jeff hasn't made the reservations yet for his and Marley's trip to Oregon. That may have to be put off until next week. But we have to do it soon b/c of the issues of heat and travel.

Up the Stairs

On Friday, I went to a hearing for Miss R and her siblings. The hearing was to determine whether or not there was a preponderance of evidence to support CPS' case against the parents. As I've said before, I can't go into revealing details for privacy reasons, but I can say that Miss R now has a new lawyer representing her b/c her older siblings are split on what they want to happen. One wants to return to the parents as soon as possible. The other does not. The lawyer representing the one who does not want to return has been appointed Miss R's guardian ad litem. I gave a short report to the Court saying how Miss R is doing. She is doing very well and is now caught up on her immunizations. She has fit into our household without noticeable signs of distress from the transition. The details of the case are complicated...very complicated. The family has found an extended family member, who happens to be taking care of Miss R's paternal grandmother and other children of the father. Consequently, it is unclear how long Miss R will be staying with us. The Court is giving CPS discretion but has suggested not "disrupting" Miss R again as she is doing well in our house...until the direction of the case becomes more clear. I talked with Miss R's parents after the hearing about Miss R's diet and such. They were helpful. I don't doubt their sincerity in wanting their children back. It unfortunately doesn't mean that it is the best place for them at this time. I felt a bit drained emotionally after the hearing just because the reality of the case isn't a simple narrative of good guys versus bad guys story, although some wrong things have been done, which call parental capability into question. Again, I can't explain what I mean by that w/o disclosing details which I simply can't discuss legally. Bottom line: Life is complicated, often more than it should be.

Shirley, Henry's PT, visited at 2PM. Henry said a word but we couldn't understand what he was saying at first. Jeff figured it out. Henry was saying "wheel barrow." We haven't said the word since Shirley visited last month. Henry wanted Shirley to hold his legs while he walked around on his hands.

Henry and Miss R went over to Grammy and Poppy's in the late afternoon. Jeff and I went to get party supplies for Henry's birthday party tomorrow. We had some dinner before returning home. Grammy and Poppy returned The Twins about a half-hour later. At their house, Henry didn't eat much. Miss R ate a lot. For awhile, Henry was trying to keep up with her on eating, but he seems to have given up on that feat. Grammy said that at one point, The Twins were chasing each other around the kitchen and having fun doing it.

Miss R was a riot last night. She was very excited about the ball pit. She went crazy in it. Rolled around the balls. Then stood up and shook the railing, jumping until she was out of breath.

Henry was his usual daredevil self. He sat on the railing of the ball pit and fell backward into the balls. Then, he wanted me to hold his hands as he stood on the rail and then fell backward into the balls.

We gave The Twins a bath. Miss R led the way, which was a surprise to us. Then, "Jungle Book" and bed.

This morning, we went to Joel's for breakfast. As we got in the car to go there, Henry said "fish pond" and "up the stairs." When we arrived at the restaurant, Miss R and I sat under a table with an umbrella near the fountain. I held Miss R, drinking my coffee, as Jeff ran around monitoring Henry. A huge wind gust blew the table almost over, spilling water and coffee everywhere. Luckily, the coffee missed Miss R and just got on my pants. Four people came to my rescue and got the table back up. We ended up moving to a more secure table.

We visited my office afterward. Henry and Miss R loved walking up and down the steps. Miss R even cried when we left the building. I think that she could have spent all day there. We visited the turtle pond before leaving campus.








We came home, and The Twins took a nap. Jeff is now taking them to the grandparents' house so that we can get ready for the party for tomorrow.

Henry's words over the last few days:

350. Chase
351. Elevator
352. Fish pond
353. "Up the stairs!"
354. Tie

Happy Birthday, Henry! The Big 2!

Today was Henry's birthday. Alicia made him pancakes for his breakfast. Karina didn't come with Alicia b/c she wasn't feeling well.

I had a meeting at school at 9AM. As soon as it was done, I came back home because we had an appointment with Patty Cakes, which is a company that makes molds of children's hands and/or feet and then bronzes them. When the person from Patty Cakes arrived, he showed us different layouts and such. Henry was fairly patient during this process, although I did give him a "time out" warning when he tried to climb the glass shelves in the dining room. The Patty Cakes fellow commented on how it shouldn't be too hard as Henry seemed like an easy-going child. Jeff and I paused and then said that he was "some times" an easy-going child and to expect him to act otherwise when asked to do the molds. The man laughed. He said that was good to know. He anticipated that it would go well b/c of our warning. Had we said it would be no problem at all, that's when he'd expect problems. He told us not to ask Henry to do the molds. It would go more smoothly if we just had him do it with no "question" offered to him given his age. And the process did indeed go smoothly. We should have prints of Henry's hands and feet back to us in 8-12 weeks. We're planning to have his Wall-E crocs bronzed too, but we had left them at Grammy and Poppy's house. Those will have to be done later.

In the afternoon, we went to the park. As of late, Henry's been making request for the "park" almost as often as requests for "o-tube," "computer," "pictures," and "Jungle Book." Henry had a great time. He even went on the really big slide that's incredibly steep on the big jungle gym for 5 to 12 year olds (with Jeff's help). Sigh. Luckily, I didn't see it. It probably would have stopped my heart. I was swinging Miss R at the time.

We met Grammy and Poppy at Swenson's. This was Miss R's first trip there. Henry was pleased that the train that travels around the restaurant was working. Miss R was mesmerized by it. They spit a children's menu grilled cheese sandwich and fries. Miss R loved the meal. Henry enjoyed birthday cake ice cream. Miss R wasn't that excited about it, much to my surprise. But she drank tons of water.

Afterward, we went to Grammy and Poppy's house so that Miss R could get used to the idea of going to their house. She wasn't a big fan of Indiana, who was trying to lick her. She has a slight fear of dogs, although she has overcome this to pet Roger on a few occasions. Henry got landed in "time out" for lightly kicking Ramses. It wasn't hard, and I suspect he was just trying to push our buttons. He didn't stay in time out long b/c the time out location is the crib and he was trying to figure out how to climb out of it. He'd hurt himself if he succeeded getting over the railing. Double sigh.

Henry announced that he had to "potty" to Jeff with 23.7 seconds left in the Chicago-Boston playoff game that was in triple overtime. Turned out that he didn't really have to go potty; he just didn't want to watch b-ball.

We came home b/c Miss R was really tired. I put her into the crib b/c Jeff frowned when I suggested putting her directly into our bed. Henry watched some of the Jungle Book. I talked with Carolyn on the telephone, asking about dogs and air travel. When I got off the telephone, Jeff had already taken Henry to bed. I went to check on them. Miss R is in my spot (guess Jeff changed his mind), and Henry is dropped on his Daddy pillow on the other side of the bed. They all look comfy.

It is hard to believe how much our lives have changed in the past two years. Henry has changed so much in the past year, let alone two years. He still looked like a baby this time last year. Now, he is tall and has hair (enough to get a haircut!). Not only can he walk, but he can run and climb. His vocabulary is stellar as is his enunciation most of the time. I'm just as dazzled by him now as I was last year, probably even more so if that's possible. He amazes me all of the time.

Henry is also getting into trouble more often...that's for sure. My mom claims that all kids do that. In her words, he is "typical," and I was no picnic as a toddler. I'm not sure that he is "typical." He seems to be a bit more of a handful than other children we've encountered on the playground. I was tempted today to entitle the engraving on his hand/foot print plaque as "A Handful of Trouble" (instead of "Handful of Joy," which was one of the suggested sayings). He is perhaps "typical" on steroids. And I'm not sure that the latter part is true regarding me being no picnic. I'm inclined to think that's just revisionist history. Her storyline on me used to be that I was independent and liked to be left alone in my playpen, which is a lot different from Henry. Henry was never very tolerant of the playpen. He is independent but wants his freedom too. Being an extrovert, he also wants an audience most of the time. He also tends to do the exact opposite of whatever we ask. Frankly, I wasn't expecting so much opposition until he hit puberty.

On tomorrow's agenda, I'm going down to Miss R's parental hearing to determine the outcome of whether or not she remains in foster care. In the afternoon, Shirly, Henry's PT, will be coming for her monthly visit.

He Doesn't Listen

Henry continues to be a handful. Jeff said that he just wished that Henry would be cooperative some of the time. He seems to always want to do the opposite of what we'd like him to do.

Today, he was trying to get behind the television every five minutes. The big screen resides in a nook that has a lot of room behind it. That's good for the TV b/c it generates a lot of heat. We don't want Henry playing with the wires back there.

We had a visit from Alison and a woman, Jennifer, who is working with the lawyer who is representing Miss R in court. We'll be seeing Jennifer a couple days before each of the parents' appearances in front of the court. Jennifer was nice. Interestingly, she has an almost 2 year old who is also named Henry Joseph! We liked her.

Miss R continues to do well. She got a bit cranky before dinner time. I was talking with Alison and Miss R took my hand and led me to the kitchen (hint, hint, it is dinner time). I got a piece of cheese to keep her happy. She got mad when I just gave her pieces of it when she wanted the whole slice at once.

Henry watched the Jungle Book during Miss R's visits with Alison and Jennifer. We then took a family walk with the dogs. Henry fell down on the dirt road so now he has some scratches on his arms. Between him falling off the playground equipment during the quarterly on Saturday, the dog bite, and now this, he's looking pretty banged up. He got up and dusted himself off and kept moving.

The Twins seem to be picking up on each others' vocal intonations and banging on the table during dinner. Yet, they don't seem to mimic each other when the other one is quiet.

We gave them a bath. That was fine until Miss R had to go to the bathroom. She's got constipation issues. She started crying in the tub. So then Henry decided to yell to copy her. She was genuinely upset, Henry was just acting. His acting isn't convincing and we had a hard time not laughing at him. I suspected the root of her crying, pulled her out of the tub, and stuck her on the potty. Indeed, she went #2. So that was good. We haven't figured out the exact trigger on her dietary issues yet. We still have a lot of work to do on the non-white flour/starchy food fiber front. We're making progress, but it is slow in coming.

We watched a little Sponge Bob after the bath. Miss R fell asleep on the couch. Henry dutifully went to the bedroom when TV time was over. Miss R is still asleep on the couch now. I'm going to sign off and move her to the bedroom.

It is after 1AM as I write this blog entry, which means it is Henry's birthday today! He is two years old! Wow!