Severance: The First Steps

On Tuesday morning, the kids were still asleep at 8AM. We got out the door around 8:45AM. Jeff had Miss R's hair in a headband that looked pretty good. As we walked down the hall of the daycare, a woman with a car seat was coming in the opposite direction on Henry's side of the walkway. When she was a couple inches from him, he yelled "Oww!" She found this very funny. Indeed, Henry would make a much better comedian than a serious dramatic actor. He's lacking in realism. Both Henry and Miss R were reluctant about going into their classrooms, but the promise of snacks made the transition slightly less troubling for them.

My parents really wanted to pick up the kids today. We agreed as we had a 4:30PM hearing for Miss R. At the last hearing, the court planned to switch case plans from reunification to severance/adoption. Today was the hearing that confirmed that switch. Miss R's case will move from CPS' hands to another agency. That agency will decide who gets to adopt Miss R (with the judge's approval of course). As far as we understand it, Miss R is officially a ward of the state now. But that doesn't mean that the severance has been finalized yet. We have yet another hearing on March 15 that will finalize the severance. In the meantime, the new agency will be vetting candidates for Miss R's future "forever home." For whatever reasons, it will take a month for Miss R's case to switch from CPS to the other agency. Prior to the hearing, the CASA was informed by the CPS caseworker that the aunt is a possible candidate. In the hearing, she was not mentioned however. At the hearing, the CPS attorney and the CASA both said that we were an appropriate permanent placement for Miss R. Miss R's CASA said that she would love to see Miss R placed with us permanently. The judge asked us if we wanted to add anything. Jeff reiterated that Miss R is doing very well.

Jeff and I had planned to go to dinner and then pick up the kids. We got a call from my mom, however, when we were near her side of town. She and Poppy had picked up Henry and were headed to our house. Apparently, much to our surprise, Miss R had been picked up by CPS for a visitation. That surprised us b/c we had assumed that the visitation was canceled due to the hearing. My parents and Henry made it to our house about 20 minutes before Miss R arrived. The driver decided it was OK to leave Miss R with my parents when Miss R yelled out for "Grammy!" and went running to her. The driver was a little bit worried about Miss R in the car b/c Miss R had been very quiet. I think that she was relieved that Miss R perked up upon seeing my mom.

The kids were rowdy this evening. We watched part of The Incredibles while eating dinner in the living room owing to Lily making a mess near the kitchen. That dog has been nothing but trouble. Henry enjoyed pasta salad and potato salad. Miss R enjoyed bread. We think that she'd already eaten some McDonald's during her visit with her siblings.

Henry read books with Jeff. Miss R snuggled with me. I attempted to take pictures of Henry with his glasses on. He didn't make it easy. Then, it was teeth brushing and bed.

104 degrees

On Sunday, Jeff took the kids to the park. Henry was not as active as he normally is. When Jeff made lunch for the kids, Henry didn't eat. Jeff noticed that Henry was warm.

Jeff and the kids picked me up at the airport. The kids were groggy. Henry was quite warm when we got home. He wanted to watch TV, and we let him. We gave him Tylenol. At one point, his temperature was 104 or so. The Tylenol would drop it a couple of tenths. Henry didn't move around much. Most of the time, he snuggled against me. His hands and feet were cold, but his head was hot. I told him that if he wanted to watch TV, he had to wear his glasses and he did.

Henry looks super cute in his glasses. He makes glasses look good.

I ended up calling the nurse hotline for our insurance. Then, I ended up talking to a nurse from the call line of our pediatrician's office. They both recommended baths to bring the fever down a little. His feet looked a little bluish. He got mad at Miss R b/c she put her feet on his back in the tub. Miss R had lots of energy for whatever reason.

Henry's temperature came down a little but was still high. By morning, it had gone away. We had to keep him home b/c the school policy is that kids need not have had a fever w/i 24 hours in order to attend.

Henry was still asleep when I left with Miss R around 8:30AM. Miss R was in a good mood. She'd slept in a little too. She got mad at me at the parking lot of school b/c I wouldn't let her bring the pumpkin light into school and made her keep it in the car. Jeff called to say that Henry had a 9:30AM appointment at Dr. Bianchi's office. I met them there. Henry weights 26 lbs 12 ozs. Basically, we are just supposed to monitor the situation for now. Henry's pulse-ox was 94.

I watched Henry when I returned. Didn't get much done, which wasn't great. Henry wanted to watch movies on the laptop NOT the TV. I got my old laptop and set him up next to me with it. I worked on my laptop. He would look over and request that I pull up pictures of him.

HENRY: I want to see pictures of Henry.
KATE: How do you know that I have pictures of Henry on here?
HENRY: Because I know.

I did of course have pictures of Henry on the computer.

Henry had two bursts of hungry during our viewing of Monsters, Inc. He was quite keen on eating dried fruit. He also had pancakes and soy bacon. Later, he had Indian food for lunch.

I decided it was time to add to his collection of political names. I haven't given him any challenges in awhile. I decided that he should know that Kathleen Hall Jamieson is the nation's expert on political advertising. He is having some problems saying such a long name. At one point, his response to the question of "Who is the nation's expert on political advertising?" elicited something that sounded like Jamieson "and Snow White."

At 1PM, he went down for his nap. Jeff took care of Henry in the afternoon. Then, my parents brought Miss R home. Today was my long teaching day.

Jeff said he and the kids had a good evening, although Henry and Miss R were getting on each other's nerves. When I got home, Jeff's cough sounded terrible. Currently, Miss R is coughing. If it keeps up, I'll have to pull out the nebulizer. And Henry feels warm, although I don't think his temperature is in the high range. Sigh.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone has to stay home tomorrow, but I really need some time in the morning to get work done.

In the late afternoon, Jeff and I have Miss R's permanency hearing to attend. I am of the opinion that we should be taking a taxi or renting a car so that the parents won't know what kind of car we drive. Maybe that's overkill. But I think that it is important for them to NOT know who we are or where we live.

"Help Me Scar!", ENT, Glasses

On Thursday, I took the day off to watch the kids. Miss R had a fever and so couldn't go to daycare. Other than the fever, she was pretty much herself. I kept Henry home as well since I was there anyway.

Patti came to clean and enjoyed seeing the kids. It had been a while since she had seen them. Henry immediately wanted to clean the windows, and she supplied him paper towels and they scrubbed away together. He also did some mopping, which he did quite well. He remembered that she keeps a radio in her bag and helped himself to it.

In the afternoon, Miss R's fever seemed a little worse, and she was pretty lethargic so we watched some Sesame Street videos.

In the evening, I sat on the couch to read to them, but Henry wanted to run around. While I was sitting and reading with Miss R, Henry climbed on the back of the couch, which is right up against the wall. He was reaching as high as he could, trying to reach a metal sun we have hanging there. He said, "Help me Scar!" which is a quote from The Lion King movie when Mufasa is trying to escape the stampeding wildebeests and is clawing his way up a canyon wall. It was hilarious.

Friday Miss R seemed ok, her fever was gone before bed without medication and hadn't returned by morning. In the afternoon Grandma and Grandpa picked up Miss R, and I picked up Henry. I took him to an Ear Nose and Throat doctor regarding his ear infections. No big surprise, they recommended putting tubes in his ears. I don't completely understand it, but it has something to do with the pressure in the inner ear not being right and so the ear drum gets stretched and it leads to ear infections. Sounds like a simple procedure to put them in. The doctor said it takes 5 minutes and he'll often do it on his way to work.

We also picked up his glasses that afternoon. I think he looks pretty good in them but I haven't had much success getting him to wear them. Grandma said he wore them for an hour and a half tonight when he was at their house watching TV.

We had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa at Swenson's. Miss R managed to drop her grilled cheese on the floor in about 10 seconds, which she did last time we were there. It caused much crying and screaming on her part because I wouldn't let her have the part that had been on the floor. I had learned from last time and had cut the sandwich in two and offered her the second piece but she couldn't be consoled and I had to leave the restaurant for a few minutes. Later she was having fun dipping chicken nuggets in ranch sauce and licking the ranch sauce off. That lasted until she spilled the ranch sauce all over herself and Grandpa's foot.

I thought I would try a little experiment and let them stay up as long as they wanted. I am curious as to whether Henry would ever tire out if left to his own devices. In the end I wore out and put them to bed around 10:30pm. Miss R seemed tired at one point but caught a second wind. Henry showed no signs of slowing down. They ran around having a great time together. It seemed like a toga party at one point because they wrapped themselves in their towels and were marching around. I might have to repeat the experiment when I've had more rest.

Today we walked the dogs in the morning. I had to make Henry walk, because he wouldn't leave Miss R alone in the wagon. Then we went to the park. They had a good time. There were lots of kids because of a birthday party. They were older but Henry seems to like that. At the end of the trip Henry announced "Yea Park!"

After nap they went to Grandma and Grandpa's because I had to work. They went to Barnes and Noble and got some new books, a puzzle and stuffed ladybugs. Henry apparently tried to lay claim to the toy Thomas train set they have there. He told a six year old girl that it was his train. Grandma had to try to explain sharing to him, which is something I think we will be working on for a great while. Miss R went up and down the escalator holding Grandma's hand but not needing to be held which was different for her.

When Henry and Miss R were dropped off at home Henry stated that he wanted to go with Grandma and Grandpa. It might have had something to do with me being upset with him after he bonked Miss R in the head with a flashlight.

Bed time was another screaming tantrum, which has become common. Both Henry and Miss R were enjoying playing in a suitcase I had pulled down for Kate in case she needed it for her trip to Chicago. They would sit inside it and close the flap, then burst out of it giggling. I had wheeled them into their bedroom while they sat in it. When I finally put my foot down and made them get in bed, Henry had a major fit, screaming and flopping all over and inevitably bonking his head pretty good on the headboard. Miss R wasn't happy either. Eventually after a story and several songs they calmed and went to sleep.

Mamma Mia!

On Wednesday morning, Jeff reported that Miss R went pee on the potty. Going number 1 on the potty is a first for her. We were pleased that both kids seem to be making progress is the potty training area.

I took the kids to school. There was practically a mutiny in the car when I put the Belly Button CD in the player instead of the Muevete CD. I had two very angry toddlers on my hands. I had no idea that they were so devoted to their Latin music.

Henry, again, wanted to join Miss Casi's class. I talked with Jan who is the other teacher in Miss Casi's class. She was surprised that Henry was so insistent because their classes don't spent a lot of time together...except on the playground. Of course, they are on the playground three times a day.

Interestingly, when I talked with the afternoon teacher (one who floats from class to class; name I can't remember) in Henry's class on Tuesday, I mentioned that he has been talking about Miss Casi a lot. She said that Miss Casi is very outgoing so that kids find her funny. I asked her if Henry was pretty quiet in general. She said that Henry does talk to her, but he hasn't actually uttered any words in front of Miss Casi, who asked her the other day if Henry could speak. How ironic that Henry has been talking about Miss Casi a lot and she's never heard him speak!

Henry went with me to the store on Tuesday. We stopped by the Chase Bank desk inside Basha's (grocery story). As I pulled the cart up to the desk, Henry pointed to the teller and said "Bank robber!" The teller burst out laughing. She gave Henry a lollipop.

Back to Wednesday, Miss R was very apathetic this morning when I was dropping her off. Miss R has seemed very sedate in the morning when we arrive at school. She goes over to Miss Lulu willingly, but she doesn't quite have the attachment yet. With Miss Kristen and Miss Josie, she'd run over to them to give them hugs. I think that she is still out of sorts for not being in that classroom. She really doesn't like change. She isn't fighting it, but she's not thrilled either. I'm hoping that she'll warm up to Miss Lulu and Miss Diana soon.

Grammy and Poppy picked up the kids on Wednesday afternoon. Poppy said that Henry told them he wanted to go to Barnes and Noble. Grammy said they'd go some other day. Then Henry requested that they go to Toys R Us. I'm glad that he privileges B&N over Toys R Us. Poppy reported that Henry ate A LOT of food. Miss R ate some.

The kids were happy to see me when they came home. We sat outside in the atrium. I was on the front door step. Miss R wanted to be held and requested that I sing "Honey, Honey" with the replacement of those words with "Robin, Robin" or "Henry, Henry" or "Mommy, Mommy." She did a good job singing "Mamma Mia!"

We went inside so that I could rebraid her hair. We are hoping it will look good enough for tomorrow morning when I'm not there to do it. Then, Jeff can wash her hair tomorrow night and let her go Fro on Friday morning. Henry requested that we watch Mamma Mia!, so Jeff popped it in. Once Miss R's hair was done (and it did take awhile), we turned off the TV and got ready for bed. Henry had a full out meltdown at his beloved Mamma Mia! being turned off. It was quite a production. At least he didn't have a vomit tantrum...but pretty close.

I leave for Chicago in the morning. I'm not looking forward to leaving the kids. I haven't been feeling well lately (cough is back, trouble sleeping, exhausted), and I think that I'm just generally out of sorts b/c of all the unknowns about Miss R's case. We learned on Wednesday morning that Miss R's case manager, with whom we have good rapport, is having surgery so Miss R's case is being reassigned to her supervisor. We don't know anything about the supervisor. And if she is like Carmen, I hope things will turn out fine. But again, it is more unknown. Apparently, if the court decides on severance on Tuesday, then the case will switch to a different division that determines who a child is placed with. More unknowns. More bureaucratic whatnot to figure out. I'm also not thrilled that Henry will be getting his glasses on Friday and going to the ENT, and I wont' be here to be with him. He has been more Mommy-focused these days (still very much a Daddy's boy, but he has wanted me more). The other night, we practice somersaults. He loved doing that. He doesn't quite have the squatting part down yet. But he likes propeling his body. Miss R has the squatting part down well, but she doesn't quite get the propeling part. They are a lot of fun. Three days away from them is going to seem like FOREVER.

"I'm two!", PT visit

On Sunday the kids went to their grandparents earlier than usual. Kate had to work and I was happy to have some time to do fun things like laundry and vacuuming plus a trip to the driving range. We walked the dogs before going. Both kids now like to sit in the wagon for the entire trip. Maybe I need a new route to spice things up.

At the grandparents they worked in the yard. From my brief observation I think it probably takes Grandma and Grandpa three or four times as long to do the work they are doing, but the kids really enjoy it. "Where's the dust pan?," "Where's the leaf bucket," "Henry, can I have a broom please," "No, don't sweep the pile I just made all over the place." They have a lot of patience.

I joined them for a dinner of hamburgers, potato salad, corn bread, and rice. Miss R loves her rice. Henry is big on meat.

Monday afternoon Henry had a physical therapy appointment. He hasn't had one for a while. Kate and I are still concerned about his toe walking, which he is doing a great deal of lately. As before she doesn't see any physical problem, there is range of motion, the heel cords don't seem tight. She provided a few weight options to help keep his whole foot on the ground. She tried a fanny pack but that wouldn't stay on. We loaded up his Thomas backpack with weights but couldn't keep that on either. Ankle weights had the same result. Finally some weights that attach to his shoes seemed to be acceptable to him, but they didn't really seem to work as well. We'll have to keep trying.

Today Miss R's CPS case worker visited her at daycare to see how things were going there. I don't think I can say much about that. Kate picked up Henry and took him to the grocery store. We had dinner and played around at home. Miss R returned a bit early from her bio family visit.















At some point in the last few days, Henry thought it would be fun to put a diaper on his head and run around. When asked what he was doing, he said "I'm being silly." Tonight we had him in underwear instead of diapers and at some point he took them off and put them on his head as well. Our little frat boy in the making, Hank the Tank.

Lately when asked a question, he might normally say no to he now replies "Maybe not." Kate asked him this evening how old he was and he replied "I'm two." We haven't really worked with him on that so we were both kind of surprised. He has some books that have buttons that play sounds. In the story, it will show a picture of the button that should be pressed at that point in the story. He is now able to push the appropriate button.

Henry and Miss R had a great time doing Ring-Around-The-Rosie tonight. Miss R initially had her hands full and so I offered to play with him. He refused and insisted that Miss R hold his hands. They had several rounds of singing and laughing and falling down in very dramatic fashion.

Kate is off to Chicago this weekend so I get to try to manage by myself for a few days. Her parents have offered to help so I think I will survive. Henry has an appointment with an Ear Nose and Throat doctor on Friday afternoon to check out his ears and his frequent ear infections. I hope he doesn't need tubes but he might.

"I want to listen to 'Sue is a Boy.'"

As we drove out of the garage this morning, Henry had a song request. He wanted to listen to "Sue is a Boy." That would be "Johnny-A-Cash"'s song more commonly known as "A Boy Named Sue."

No problems getting the kids to class. Miss R looked apathetic this morning when I transferred her over to Miss Lulu. I don't think that she's bonded yet with her new teachers, so she doesn't have that spark. Henry was thrilled to be on the playground.

I came home and made calls on Henry's behalf. We have an appointment with Shirley on Monday. The ENT was booked until the 23rd, so I called Dr. Bianchi and he called the ENT to get Henry in next week. I also left a message for Cuyler, so that we can have an OT evaluation.

Alison was supposed to have a home visitation today but she had to cancel b/c she's sick...like the rest of the country. We picked up the kids at 4PM and took them to Alvernon Optical (casas adobes branch) and bought him two pairs of glasses. They should be ready mid-week.

After looking for glasses, we went to Swenson's for dinner. Miss R was upset b/c she dropped her half of a grilled cheese on the floor, and I wouldn't let her have it back. Henry enjoyed the meal and loved the ice cream. He also enjoyed putting pennies, nickels, dimes, and a quarter in a Salvation Army jar.

We came home and read books. The kids ran around with the Tickle Monster gloves. Then it was time for teeth. Miss R did a fabulous job with letting us brush her teeth. That was a first!

Our Little Harry Potter

We picked up Henry and Miss R around 4PM today. I got Miss R and Jeff got Henry. We then went to Dr. Bianchi's office where Henry got his ears checked and received his Hib B booster. His right ear is still infected. So he is going back on an antibiotic AGAIN. Dr. Bianchi wants us to make an appointment with an ENT. The nurse was impressed with Henry not making a fuss over the shot. After she pulled it out of him, he did say "Ow." But he didn't cry. We tried to get Henry to sing his ABCs for Dr. Bianchi. Miss R did instead. She missed a couple letters but for the most part did the entire thing from start to finish. We were impressed.

We headed to Pearle Vision to pick up my new glasses. Their kids selection was limited. Only one pair was truly small enough for Henry. As Henry looked in the mirror with one pair he was trying on, he said "I look cute" and "Harry Potter!" We are going to try a couple more places before ordering. We stopped by LensCrafter, but Henry was moody. The only pair he liked was this pink pair that didn't fit well. He wasn't cooperative. He wanted to go to Toys R Us. The salesperson asked skeptically, "He knows what Toys R Us is?" I said, "Unfortunately."

We went to dinner at Jason's Deli. The kids weren't too awful during the meal. Miss R took her time as usual. When I told Hal the other day about how Miss R takes FOREVER to eat, he suggested that she was French. Maybe.

We came back. Gave the kids a bath. Then it was time for teeth brushing and bed. Miss R was a little better than usual about us brushing her teeth. She opens her mouth for a second, which is an improvement. I think that she was doing it today b/c Henry really wanted me to brush his teeth for him so he openned wide.

I still have concerns about "the other shoe dropping" when it comes to Henry. One of my online preemie mom friends said that "maybe this was the other shoe that dropped" (referring to the glasses). God willing!

Our situation with Miss R has me anxious. Really anxious. I know that it would be difficult to let her go under any circumstances but I truly believe that if we felt that her family would make her healthy and happiness their number one priority, we could let go with grace if not ease. After my call with the caseworker, I looked up some profiles on MySpace. Long story short, the family isn't appropriate. Period. When we first started out, I couldn't imagine how a parent could create a situation that lead to their child being taken away. Then, when we were confronted with real parents, I began to feel some empathy. But now, the only thing that I feel is a sense of protection for Miss R. We can't let her return to that life.

I'm going to get back to work. The publisher is demanding Excel files by tomorrow. Sigh. We were supposed to have another couple weeks on this. Grrrrrr.

Upset, Angry

On Wednesday, Henry and Miss R went to Grammy and Poppy's house after school. They did some yardwork, as evidenced by Henry's very dirty face when he came home. We played on the couch before bedtime. The kids enjoyed jumping up and down on the big pillows.

I was feeling exhausted as I've pushed my body too hard to get a lot of things done the past couple weeks. I'm in the process of standardizing charts for the book with my co-author Bruce...there are 103 of them. That doesn't include the bizillion tables not put in the book but will be put on a website as additional evidence of our claims. The editors' assistant just announced yesterday that we needed the charts standardized by tomorrow to stay on track with the publication date. We thought we had a couple more weeks. Plus I have a paper that has to get done this weekend. Ugh. I was so exhausted that I decided to go to bed at 9PM b/c I wasn't going to be productive with a headache caused by sleep deprivation.

This morning, Jeff walked into the kids' bedroom and said "Good morning!" to Miss R. She said "No!" but smiled. "No!" is a consistent theme in our house.

I was mad at Henry this morning. When I got him out of the car, he ran for it, about fifty feet from the vehicle. Luckily, it was on a sidewalk, but still. I had to grab Miss R and run after him. She was mad about being taken from the vehicle so quickly (she usually likes to take a couple minutes). Henry fell and scrapped his knee in the process. I doubt that he'll learn from the experience that listening to mom is best.

KATE: "Do we run away from Mommy?"
HENRY: "OK."
KATE: "NO!"
HENRY: "No."
KATE: "Let's go over this again. Do we run away from Mommy?"
HENRY: "OK."
KATE: "NO!"
HENRY: "No."
KATE: "Do we run away from Mommy?"
HENRY: "OK...No."

I just received an upsetting call from Miss R's caseworker. Apparently, an aunt who lives in another state (and has never met Miss R) has passed her Arizona background check. She still has to pass her state's background check. But once that happens, she will be considered as a permanent placement. I'm upset. I'm angry. We know from the caseworker that this is a person who KNEW what the bio parents were doing. She took a sibling (now about 14) from the family several years ago, but she left the two other siblings who as a result have problems now. Not small ones either. She KNEW and did NOTHING. Supposedly, CPS doesn't like to place kids in homes where there is NO attachment (not possible since this aunt lives in another state far away...supposedly). Will CPS really follow those guidelines OR decide that blood kin is best b/c they don't have a "record" even if they have poor judgment (as evidenced by letting stuff happen, not reporting it to authorities)? In the meantime, we'll just have to hope that CPS comes to the conclusion that kin who let kids suffer are probably not the best choice as a child's parental figure (duh-ha, duh-ha, and 1+1=2) and that attachment matters. Miss R is attached is US. She is. She loves us, and we love her. A point not in our favor is that our skin colors are different. No matter what the public rhetoric is about tolerance and acceptance, from what I gather from the message boards, social workers don't like mixing and matching.

Glasses

Monday was a fairly uneventful day. I took care of the kids, as is the usual routine, while Kate worked and the Grandparents recuperated from the weekend. By the time we get home, walk the dogs, have dinner, take a bath, it is pretty much time for bed. Not that they go to sleep but they go to bed anyway. Besides the twice daily battle with Miss R over teeth brushing, the kids were well behaved and things went smoothly.

On the walk I was shocked that Miss R walked more than Henry. She tends to want to stay in the wagon while Henry would rather run around. Last night they reversed that.

At home the set of plastic high heel shoes is still a big hit with both of them. Miss R didn't want to get out of her high chair after dinner. She is normally a very slow eater. This time she wasn't eating but just wanted to play around so she was in there for about an hour. She was able to climb out any time she wanted.

This morning when Kate dropped off Henry they found his class on the playground. Henry called out "Bicycle" and ran off to another part of the playground where the bigger kids play. Kate caught up to him trying to get on the larger tricycles. The employee there said that technically only 3 years old and up could be in that part of the playground. She also said that they were familiar with Henry. It appears this wasn't his first attempt at the tricycles.

Kate called the eye doctor for an appointment and it was either go today or wait until January so we went today. The bad news is that Henry is getting glasses now. One eye is worse off than the other. If left unchecked it can lead to the brain basically ignoring the eye that is worse which can lead to a lazy eye. By prescribing glasses now it will ensure that the brain gets an equal picture from both eyes and will continue to use both eyes.

We knew it was coming but both of us thought it would be later. There have been many times I have been impressed by what he is able to pick out from a distance, the Toys R Us sign from across the street and through some trees for example. However, if it is mostly just one eye doing the work that is clearly not good.

Kate and I are both feeling rather bummed by this. I feel like he is such a handsome and perfect little boy, I don't want anything that indicates he is anything but perfect. I don't want him to have to deal with teasing and social stigma that go with glasses either. Although, if I know Henry, he is going to do his own thing and not care what others think. Kate is feeling like this might just be the beginning of many more "shoes dropping" as it were. If he ends up just needing glasses, we would thank our lucky stars. However, there are many things that might not show up until school age. For now we wait and worry.

Miss R came home from her bio family visit tonight with a sucker. Argghh! 4 cavities and she comes home with a sucker. I know it is Halloween time but I'm pretty content to not give them any candy whatsoever. Kate is a little softer but we still rarely give them anything sugary. I feel that anyone who gives them sugar should have to brush their teeth. Henry is very good about teeth brushing but it is still a knock down drag out fight almost every morning and night with Miss R.

I had better go, it is almost 2am and Henry just wet through his diaper and work starts in less than 5 hours.

Halloween!

On Saturday morning, we went to the zoo. Henry enjoyed running around and climbing more than watching the animals. He tried to climb into the rhinos cage.














Henry was thrilled by the bearded dragons...














He enjoyed a good sized lunch of hamburger and a PB&J sandwich. He practiced twisting the top off the water bottle with Daddy...









And the pre-nap afternoon was made complete by pumpkin rolling...









He and Miss R crashed in the car. When they got up, they read with Jeff and put on their costumes. We only stopped by three houses (Nick and Janice's, Yvonne's, and Hal's). Our neighbors were surprised to have trick or treaters. In Yvonne's 30 years of living in the neighborhood, she had never had one! Nick and Janice gratiously got the kids some cookies. We told them it was unnecessary. Honestly, we just wanted to show the kids off. No need to have hyper toddlers on extra sugar! Henry LOVED the cookies but was upset when I made him give the cookie that he let Roger lick to Roger instead of eating it himself. Yvonne got Miss R an orange bag and Henry a box of SpongeBob bandaids! Jon gave them chocolate. Miss R, whom I've never given a piece of chocolate, knew exactly what to do with it. She demanded that I take off the wrapper. She was irked when I only let her have one bar (that contained four pieces).

We then headed to Hal's place. Hal offered to rummage for candy or give us a can of corn! We reiteratated that we were just showing off the kids. Henry marched past Hal at the front door and found his way to the living room where Hal had been watching football. Henry hopped on the couch, leaned back, and looked at ease.

He offered Hal his chewed on bag of cookie crumbs.












Then, we met up with Grammy and Poppy at El Charro. Henry liked the food but wasn't keen on sitting in one place. He and I ended up on the outside patio and visited a fellow playing a guitar (who was very good).

On Sunday morning, the kids slept until 8AM. That was so nice! We took them to Joel's for breakfast. They enjoyed pancakes, french toast, french bread, and potatoes. We went to the turtle pond. Incidentally, Henry knows that Daddy's name is Jeff and Mommy's name is Kate. That would be my mom's doing.

Then, it was off to Grammy and Poppy's house. Henry and Miss R sang in the car. Miss R has been a song bird lately. Jeff reported that she'd been singing "Mamma Mia!" And at breakfast, she belted out "Baby Belga."



Grammy and Poppy are doing outside work today. Henry "helped" Grammy rake leaves.