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.

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!

"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."

What Goes Around Comes Around

On Sunday morning, the kids had an interesting fight over "the poop bag." What is the poop bag? It is a bag with a clear plastic front, green mesh sides, and blue suction cups so that it can stick to a bathtub wall and hold bath toys. I'm not sure why this bag has been dubbed "the poop bag." But this morning, the poop bag was a great prize to behold.

I took the toddlers on an excursion to give Jeff a break. We went to my work, so that I could get a file off my computer. The kids enjoyed climbing up two flights of stairs. After a couple minutes in my office, we headed over to the turtle pond, where we saw all sorts of turtles (and a couple baby turtles). Henry wanted me to carry him. At one point, I had both he and Miss R in my hold. They enjoyed the turtles.




I asked the kids what they wanted for lunch. Henry said, "I want pancakes at Joel's." We hadn't been to Joel's in a long time. We made our way back to my building to get the car. Amazing how slow one block can seem when trying to prod two toddlers.

We ate at Joel's. The kids had pancakes. Miss R had quite a few bites of scrambled eggs as well. The kids were getting very tired. Henry kicked off his shoes and laid across a couple chairs.

By the time we got into the car, they seemed to have rebounded. We went to Michaels and Target. I made the Michaels trip short b/c the kids wanted to touch everything. Then, we headed to Target, which is in the same shopping center. I found a shopping cart with a two toddler seat attachment. That was a good move b/c I was able to belt them into their seats.

When I was a child, I had a smart mouth. For example, my dad once took me to class with him while he lectured. At the end of the lecture, he asked the class if they had any questions. I raised my hand. He said, "Yes, Kate?" I said, "Don't you think you've kept these nice people here long enough?" I'm quite sure that Henry has inherited my temperment and mouth. I let the kids down for a brief spell to let Henry try on some new shoes as his croc are getting kind of small. Henry was upset when I would not let him take off the tags and explained that we had to pay for them first. He whined. I said, "Henry, if you don't stop whining, I'll put the shoes back. I'm serious." Henry shot back, "No. You are not serious." And that was accurate. He totally called my bluff. He has to have a pair of summer shoes and the crocs will no longer do. Lesson learned: No empty threats.

As we headed toward the parking lot exit, I looked back to find Henry with one of his crocs in his mouth, shaking it back and forth to Miss R's amusement. I was not happy with that. Talk about being unsanitary. Yuck!

The kids fell asleep on the way home. When we arrived, Baby A was up. I had thought that she'd nap, but she had other plans. Jeff said that she was very good. She played on his lap. She played on her mat. She played in her bouncy seat. But she only slept about a 1/2 hour while we were gone (and we'd been gone awhile). I gave her a bottle upon my return and she fell asleep on my chest.

That's all from the Wild Kingdom...

"I'm on a spaceship!"

On Saturday morning, Jeff took The Twins to the park. At the park, Henry actually had fun on the swings (he usually doesn't care for them). He proclaimed that he was on a spaceship. And he repeated his favorite Buzz Lightyear line "To infinity and beyond!" Because of the heat, they didn't stay there long. Jeff thought that Miss R was a little lethargic. We've been anticipating her getting sick. Once they got back home, however, she no longer seemed lethargic.

I made my way to the WIC office. I had to trade Baby A's formula checks for checks with Alimentum as the product (I had only used one check since enrolling her a couple weeks ago, but the checks are for Similac Sensitive, which she wasn't tolerating). Given Alimentum's high cost, they were only willing to give me a check for the powder not the ready made liquid...until I get a doctor's note saying that it must be the liquid form. The potential problem with that is that some kids have problems with the powder not the liquid, which is why we've been buying the liquid for the past 10 days. I hope that she tolerates it well. We've already made several formula switches to get it just right. And she is finally doing very well on the eating front. She's had bottles of 5 ozs in one sitting. And, she's gained about a pound over the past week.

The kids ate lunch and then napped. Jeff took a nap too. The Twins got up before Jeff and Baby A did. I offered to take them to the movie theater, but Henry threw a whiny fit because he wanted to watch Shrek on our TV (not the theater). How dare I suggest the theater. It was a nonsensical fit. I was irked at his tantrum (the tantrum not the request). I ended up letting him watch Shrek 2, however, because Miss R had requested it. She really wanted to see the dragon in it. So I felt as though I shouldn't penalize her for Henry acting up.

Toward the end of the movie, I let the kids have mini-cupcakes as a treat. We rarely have dessert in the house, but Henry had requested birthday cake the day before, so I got cupcakes on my way home from my outing. The timing of the cupcakes was strategic. Not only do we rarely give the kids sugary stuff, but we never give it right after dinner b/c sugar an hour or two before bedtime is a bad idea.

Henry got upset a second time after Shrek 2. He wanted to watch Sponge Bob but we said no. We put on the radio instead. Miss R and Baby A liked the music (80s). And Miss R got Jeff to do something that I haven't been able to get him to do with me for the past 17 years...dance! She wanted a dancing partner, and he obliged. They were very cute together.

We went on a family walk at 7PM and ran into Yvonne our neighbor. She mentioned that one of her dogs, Banjo, was sleeping and decided not to come on the walk. That lead Henry to request that we trek to Yvonne's house to find Banjo. So we did. Yvonne really likes the kids, and they like her. We can't walk past her house without Henry saying that he wants to stop by.

Jeff got The Twins dinner, while I fed Baby A. Baby A had been up and about before the walk. She was awake for about half of the walk. She made it clear that she wanted her bottle when we got home. After a diaper change and bottle, she went into the crib quite willingly and enjoyed the mobile before falling asleep.

Henry and Miss R did not go down for bed willingly. I think that Henry has at least stopped screaming (his happy, high pitched scream).

"Round Buttocks!"

Henry had a relaxing day at home. He played around. Had a little lunch. Took a nap in the mid-afternoon and didn't wake up until well after Miss R and Baby A came home. I managed to get some work done (planning for an edited book of which my publisher recently accepted the proposal) and some personal work done (ENT appointment for Miss R scheduled--check, WIC files for Baby A transferred to a closer office--check, car insurance paid--check, monthly paperwork filled out for Baby A and Miss R--check, check).

Jeff picked up Miss R and Baby A who had good days at school. While Henry was still napping, Jeff played with Miss R, and I took care of Baby A who was super smiley. I took her on a dog walk and she fell asleep in the Bjorn.

When I got back from the walk, Henry was finally up. Miss R had already eaten her dinner, so Jeff got Henry his. He didn't eat much. I convinced him to have a couple bites of rice and he said "Mmmm" after each bite, but I didn't push it with him. Jeff let the kids watch Shrek 2, which is the new favorite. It ranks up there for us too, along with Monsters, Inc., b/c of the witty dialogue. Jeff's and my favorite lines are: Pussy in Boot's line "That's not mine" when he gets busted by the knights and is found to have cat nip in his pocket, Shrek's line "That's some fine print for you!" during a fight with Fiona, and Pinocchio's line "He croaked" when the king turns into a frog.

So what's Henry's favorite line? "Round Buttocks" which is one of Shrek's lines when he is turned from an ogre to a human. He repeated it several times after the movie.

I took Baby A from the living room into the bedroom after the movie got started. Her body seems to have adjusted to a decent night sleep cycle. She gets fussy around 8PM or so. She's ready for less stimulation and sleep. She needs the quiet. She needs the dark. We're at the point where after her bottle, while she's awake but drowsy, I put her in the crib and she'll fall asleep on her own. A very good skill to have! Last night was the best sleep yet for her. She went down after 8PM. Had some bottle at 1:30AM. Woke up again at 4AM. Jeff put her pacifier in her mouth while I got the bottle. When I had returned to the bedroom, she was sound asleep. And she slept until 7AM. Then, she really wanted her bottle!

Miss R was cute during the movie. Both of The Twins like the "Hero" song that the Fairy Godmother sings. Miss R mouths the words (and this morning, she requested "Hero" on the way to school...fortunately, it is on the "Footloose" CD).

On a not-so-great note, Jeff thinks that Miss R is beginning to feel a little warm. So we'll have to check her throughout the night. We're heard from others that the stomach flu seems to pass through everyone in a family. Henry very much seems on the mend. I think that he could actually go back into big boy underwear, but we've decided to let him have his pull-up tonight. I asked him before bed, "Which do you like better? Diapers or big boy underwear?" Henry said, "Diapers" unabashedly.

Stomach Flu

On Friday, we decided to keep Henry home. Baby A and Miss R were fairly easy to get out of the house. And it is tons easier taking just two kids into daycare than keeping track of three.

I talked with Henry's teacher and she said that stomach flu was going around. She inquired about moving Miss R to an older 2 classroom, but said the staff don't want to move her b/c she'll "only" be in her current class for four more months before moving anyway. I said, "Well 4 months is one-third of her year. That's a lot of time." She agreed. I gather that she doesn't think the staff really understand what is best for the child from the teacher and parents' perspectives. It sounds like the staff don't respond to maternal requests but they respond to fathers. So, once Henry moves up to the 3s, Jeff is going to request that Miss R move to Henry's current classroom, which has mainly older 2s in it.

One of Henry's classmate's Aidan asked me "Where's Henry?" I told him that Henry had a tummy ache. When I got home, I found out from Jeff who found out from my mom that Aidan had hit Henry in the stomach yesterday. Maybe me saying that Henry is sick to his stomach will give Aidan a guilty conscience and he'll calm down on the hitting (yes, I'm jesting). Yesterday, Henry told my mom that Aidan hit him in the stomach. My mom asked, "Did you hit him back?" Henry said, "Yes." Henry usually doesn't start the hitting, but he certainly isn't going to just stand by and let himself be hit. Incidentally, his teacher said that hitting has gone down b/c several boys were transferred to the 3 year old room and girls took their places.

When I got home, Henry was reading with Jeff. Jeff went to work. I called my mom. While I was on the telephone with her, Henry had a gather messy accident that required a shower and tons of SpotBot action for the carpet. Poor guy. It would figure that the week he made the transition to "big boy" underwear, he'd come down with stomach flu.

From what I hear, it lasts 24 hrs. So hopefully by this evening, all will be well.

Fever and a Tummy Ache

On Thursday afternoon, Jeff called me at work to let me know that CPS cancelled tomorrow's scheduled visitation for Baby A. Yesterday, Baby A's caseworker had finally let me know that visitations would occur twice a week. Thursday morning visits were to be moved to Fridays, and they would get back to us on an additional afternoon visit. Today, someone working for the caseworker called to say that Fridays are now cancelled, there will only be one visit per week, and it will be Mondays from 3-5PM. Jeff doesn't think that we can necessarily count on that.

I picked up Baby A after work. Jeff left to run errands and then pick up The Twins at my parents' house. Baby A and I went for a walk with the dogs after some playtime together. She was great on the walk, but she got super fussy once we came back.

My parents picked up the "big" kids after school. It would figure that Henry started to show signs of illness on the day he visited Grammy. When Jeff picked him up, Henry felt warm and said his tummy hurt. We're wondering if yesterday's Hep A shot was causing the problem. Henry kept saying that his tummy hurt. At home, he eventually ate two waffles, so perhaps he was confusing hurt with hunger. He is a little warm but isn't hot enough for medication.

Because Henry wanted a waffle, Miss R wanted food too. She was pretty funny at the table. I taught her a couple lines to the song "I Love Rock N Roll!" She belted it out.

Henry has been very into the Berenstain Bears. Known in our house as the Steen Bears. Tonight, when Jeff put Henry to bed, Henry said he wanted "Junk Food." That made Jeff smile. This was the kid who rejected ice cream 45 minutes before going to bed. Junk Food is a Berenstain Bears book that Henry has been reading.

"I want to go to Costco with R."

On Wednesday morning, Miss R and Henry were in uber-toddler mode. They got on each other's nerves and had fits. Then, they started tattle telling on one another. Usually, it is Miss R who tattles on Henry for incidental things that he's done. She is completely the Little Girl Who Cried Henry! Henry got in on the action. "R hit me!" Jeff was vexed. He sent them to separate rooms.

We started Baby A on a reflux medication. We think that will make her a little bit more comfortable after meals. She had a bio parent visitation. In the morning, Baby A's caseworker called and apologized for Friday's screw up. Turns out that the Thursday visits are now Fridays and an afternoon visit will be added. Yesterday, it was an afternoon visit but not necessarily the permanent time.

We had a weight check for Miss R and nurse visit for Henry in the late afternoon. With the appetite stimulant, Miss R has put on 2 lbs in the past couple months. She is now 26 lbs. Henry also got weighed b/c he insisted on it. With his shoes and clothes on, he was 31 lbs. Dr. Bianchi was pleased with Miss R's weight gain. Henry requested again to have his ears checked, which again amused Dr. Bianchi so he obliged. Henry resisted the shot. He told us "No!" And unfortunately, it was a bleeder. By far, the worst shot experience he's ever had. Miss R created a HUGE fuss at the end of the visit when I'd only let her take one sticker, not two. She had a major tantrum. Perhaps I should get her on that "Toddlers & Tiaras" show. Her tantrum was certain pageant worthy!

We stopped by Grammy's house and visited for a short spell. I knew that CPS would be getting Baby A to the daycare late, so I didn't want to go there right away. Turns out I was right. They didn't bring her back until 5PM. At Grammy's, the newly acquired pinball machine is pretty darn cool. The kids don't quite get it, but I know it is going to be a hit as they get older. It is 1/2 sized, but still tall though where the kids have to stand on a stool. When we arrived at Grammy's house, Henry spotted a coyote. And when we put the kids in the car to go get Baby A, we spotted a bob cat. It was wild life central. To go along with the wild life theme, both Henry and Miss R had tantrums again. Henry didn't want to leave Grammy's house. And Miss R had a tantrum b/c Henry was having a tantrum. She likes to keep up with the Joneses.

When we got home, we painted rocks as a project. Then, we had dinner. After Henry got down from the table, he went into the pantry and peed, having had no accidents the entire day at school in his underwear. He was upset. I made him stand off to the side in his wet outfit while I cleaned up the floor. I really want him to be upset about it, and I'm sure that the feel of peed-on-clothes isn't great. He took a shower and got into his Superman outfit.

Baby A was sleep. Jeff took Henry on a dogwalk. They ran into Yvonne who took a lot of pictures of Super Henry. Jeff said that Henry was posing for her.

Meanwhile, Miss R had a shower, and I put her in her favorite (very girly) pink nightgown. Then, we sat on the couch and I redid some of her braids.

When Henry returned, he found me and Miss R looking at my laptop. I played a video from last July (my very favorite video of the kids), which has Henry and Miss R dancing in their diapers. Once we adopt Miss R, I'll post it b/c it is the cutest video on the planet. Henry and Miss R were inspired by the video, so they requested music and wanted to dance. Between Henry in his Superman outfit and Miss R in her nightgown, they looked like Superman and Lois Lane. At one point, Henry wanted to stop and hug. But Miss R said, "No! Let's dance!"

On Thursday morning, I woke up to find Miss R in the bed next to me, but no Jeff. Then, Henry came into bed too. Henry is a morning person and wanted Miss R to get up and play. Miss R is much more like me, and it takes her awhile to put on a happy face in the morning. I'm pretty sure that she found Henry's perkiness annoying. As I'm his mom, I found him quite cute, but I tried to get him to give Miss R some space.

Henry is often the leader and Miss R tends to be the follower. This isn't a good thing as Henry's ideas of fun often involve something dangerous or messy. There are times, like this morning, when Henry will follow Miss R around. This morning, Miss R said, "Let's run!" And they did. Then, they had the following conversation:

MISS R: I'm going to Costco. [As she pushes her shopping cart.]
HENRY: I want to go to Costco with R.
MISS R: It's over there!
HENRY: Costco's over there? [With high inflection on the word "there."]
MISS R: No, Arizona's over there. [Said matter of factly.]

The kids were pretty good on the drop off. The plan today is for The Twins to visit Grammy and Poppy after school. They seem pretty healthy right now (knock on wood). I'll pick up Baby A after work.

Macualay Culkin

Today was one of those days. Miss R has been super whiny. She threw a fit in the car b/c she dropped her "cell phone." Then, when we got to school, she refused to walk forward. I was carrying the Monday load of clean blankets and sheets per usual, plus Baby's milk, and Baby A. And I didn't want to cater to her whiny refusal to move so I grabbed her by the arm and tugged her along. She tried to do the toddler drop, but that didn't stop me from moving forward. Henry was of course way ahead of us.

Today was moving day for the students. Students who had birthdays were to move up to the next level. So I was surprised when Henry was still in his usual classroom. The brain trust in the front office (yes, I am being condescending) didn't move Henry b/c when C attacked Henry last month, I said that I didn't want them in the same room. I was told by the "coordinator" that C would be moved. She lied and didn't do it. Now that it was moving time, in her infinite wisdom decided to move C up and kept Henry where he was b/c they are both still potty training and there is only one 3 year old classroom that takes those who aren't completely potty trained. So rather than talk to me, she decided to keep the "smart" kid in the 2 year old room and the kid with several incident reports on his report (I shouldn't know that information but one of the teachers told me that C is a problem) into the 3 year old room. Does that seem fair? Hold back the smart kid back. The "coordinator" should consider going into public education as her logic is as *** backward as the policies coming out of Tucson's public schools. Penalize talent, reward mediocrity and/or pre-criminality. I realize that last word is a tad hyperbolic, but I think that anyone who saw how aggressive C was toward Henry would realize that there is something seriously wrong with that kid.

I talked with Henry's teacher Miss Valerie and she said that Henry's ready to move up. He knows the answers to questions the teachers pose to the class. She said a couple times that Henry's very "smart," which of course we already know. Henry is a very quick kid.

Melanie, one of the daycare staff, said that she finally realized who Henry reminded her of...Macualay Culkin. Jeff doesn't like that comparison.







The day just got better when I got home with the kids to find a message from the incompetents at CPS. They have scheduled a visit for Baby A tomorrow from 2-4PM. Have her at daycare. And she'll have a visit with bio mom on Fridays from 9-11AM, so have her at daycare. OK. These demands pretty much fall under the category "What the Hell?" First, they are supposed to give us 24 hours notice at a minimum. Leaving a message late in the afternoon isn't quite 24 hours and it gives us no opportunity to respond. What if she had a doctor's appointment? We pick up the kids at 4:30PM, but the likelihood of Baby A making it back to daycare by then is slim. Not to mention that I prefer her to be picked up at our place so we can be assured that the drivers have a legally required rear facing car seat. Second, we have to make baby available, but they should picking her up at our house if we so choose. Her caseworker is trying to dictate where the child gets picked up. We don't take the kids to daycare until 9AM. For baby to make it to a 9AM visit with mom, we'll now have to leave our house at 7:45AM. I've already been through this with the caseworker before. She doesn't seem to get that our lives don't center around her whims. I think that she may be one of those God-complex caseworkers. But if we piss her off, will she use her godly powers to screw up our set up with Baby A? It happens all of the time unfortunately. You have some social workers who try to do good work. Then you have those who are simply stupid and incompetent. And then you have the nut jobs mixed in. I'd better stop writing b/c it makes me so mad just thinking about it.

Henry was unhappy at dinner b/c there was some fat on his ham. Very fitting the that skinny kid refuses to eat anything but super lean meat.

Baby A vomited all over me as Jeff arrived home. He had been doing errands and bought the Pirates of the Caribbean pinball machine. It is now at Grammy and Poppy's house. They are willing to house it for us until we get an addition built onto the house...whenever that happens.

Jeff watched a little bit of Shrek 2 with Henry before bed. The kids didn't look sleepy as of 10PM, but they finally crashed. They stayed up way too late, but I just didn't have the energy to wrestle them to bed.

I'm really exhausted. To be exposed to so much stupidity in a short period of time is simply toxic to my system.

The kids are in bed. I have to write a response to Baby A's mom. She sent along some questions after the last visit. Jeff and I need to talk about the responses. Then, I'm heading to bed myself.