Life of the Party: 2.5 Years Old!

Today, Henry turned 2.5 years old. It is hard to believe that so much time has passed by. In the larger scheme of things, 2.5 years isn't THAT long but it is amazing to look back and realize just how much has happened. In the last 6 months, 8 days, we've had Miss R in our lives too. And it is hard to remember what life was like before we had the two of them.

It was slow getting the kids out of the house today. But we managed to make it to school shortly after 9:15AM, which meant that the kids got their morning snack at school. That was important b/c the kids didn't eat much breakfast. I dropped off Miss R first. Had a hard time getting Henry out of the room b/c he was sitting down, wanting whatever snack they were eating there. Miss R had no problems saying good bye to me and sitting down for her snack. We then went to Miss Casi's room b/c his class had joined with the other "older" twos classroom. Henry didn't cry as he was completely snack focused.

The grandparents picked up the kids at 4:30PM. Sadly, A Place to Call Home canceled their party. A disappointment b/c we wanted to show off our cute kids. Grammy and Poppy took The Twins to Trader Joe's, which they enjoyed. Then, it was time to watch Dumbo and have pumpkin pancakes before Jeff and I arrived at 7PM.

When we arrived, we dressed up the kids in their Halloween outfits. Wow, I don't think that our kids could be any cuter. Not many pictures to post b/c almost all of them have both Henry and Miss R. Looking forward to a day when we can share pictures of Miss R. She was as cute as a button dressed up as a lady bug. For well-over a month, I've had a vision of her as a lady bug. I was so pleased that she was just as cute (maybe even cuter) than what I had pictured in my mind. When Henry saw Miss R in her outfit, he wanted to be a lady bug too. Luckily, he realized that Spiderman was pretty cool too, especially when he discovered the picture of the spider on the outfit. That sealed the deal.

I took the kids to the studio where my parents have a large mirror. Henry discovered the karate weapons rack of course. Jeff had to take a pair of sais away from him. He had fun dangling off my parents' treadmill.

We took the kids to my favorite coffee shop The Glass Onion. Jen (the owner) and the other Jen (an employee who is a neat lady who I see a couple times a week) had told us that they were dressing up and encouraging their patrons to come in costume this evening. On Friday nights, they have live music. It was the first time that we've taken the kids there. The latter Jen has asked about the kids on several occasions, so it was really fun to be able to have her meet them on such a festive occasion.

Jen (the owner) was very taken with Henry. She commented several times on how handsome he is. She was dressed up as a werewolf so Henry found her interesting. While I was ordering the food, Miss R strayed over to the legs of a man behind me. Apparently, she thought he was Jeff and wrapped herself around one of his legs and said "Daddy." Luckily, he found the situation amusing. I had a heck of a time getting her to look up and realize that Daddy was on the other side of the room. Both kids enjoyed the music. Henry ran around in front of the performer. Jeff had to prevent him from playing with the tip jar and touching the keyboard. The performer got a kick out of Henry. At one point, he solicited requests. Henry shouted out "Yellow!" and the man played a song apparently called "Yellow." Henry joined a young lady in one of the larger chairs. Couldn't tell if she was annoyed or OK with Henry's persistence but I managed to redirect him toward our area.

We came home and watched The Haunted Mansion. Henry got bored and played with his hockey stick and various balls. Miss R fell asleep while I gave her the nebulizer treatment. It was the easiest treatment yet! We let the kids stay up late. We'll have to see if that translates into them sleeping in. I won't hold my breath!

Phobia

We had a good visit with Miss R's CPS case worker. Not a whole lot to report. It looks like there are only two other potential placement options for Miss R at this point who are being considered as one of the other considerations turned out not to be suitable. One is an aunt who lives in another state but has never met Miss R, and another is a family friend. Background checks and interviews have to be conducted. It would seem that both parties may have known about circumstances leading to removal and hence might not be suitable. But only time will tell on this front and ultimately the judge is the one who will decide what is best for Miss R. We received court documents the other day which stated that CPS believes that we are the best permanent option at this point in time.

We took the kids to the Foothills Mall tonight. We had dinner at a Greek restaurant. Miss R seemed to eat well. Henry had a couple bites.

We then went to Phobia, which is a haunted house that Uncle Brian and Aunt Erin have helped construct and facilitate. Their students have helped with the haunted house, and the proceeds go toward their programs. The main haunted house is teen/adult oriented. But there is a 3-D maze for the younger crowd. It was actually pretty cool walking through it with the 3-D glasses on. Miss R was a little scared, but Henry was in his element. He likes commotion. We also did the "eye ball" toss. Basically, it is a game where one throws eye balls through some holes in a back board to win prizes. But our goal was just to let the kids throw stuff. The kid running the eye ball toss let Henry and Miss R pick out candy. Being the softy that I am, I let the kids have the candy in the car, much to Jeff's disapproval. I think that it was Henry's first lollipop. He took a few licks and then tossed it aside. Miss R gobbled up her tootsie roll. No leftovers on that one!

We came back home. Miss R unwrapped b-day gifts from Steve, Jamie, Dana, and Nikki. When she opened the present from Steve and Jamie, she hugged it tightly. She had fun with the gift from Dana and Nikki too. It was blocks by Imaginarium. For each letter, they have the uppercase letter, the lower case letter, and pictures of objects beginning with that letter. As of late, she has enjoyed stacking blocks. Henry was enthralled with them too. He's referring to them as his blocks.

We watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" while Miss R had her nebulizer treatment. Henry has been very interested in playing football b/c of Lucy trying to get Charlie Brown to kick her football. I've been showing him how to catch, and he is doing a really good job of it too.



Afterward, it was time for teeth brushing and bed. There was much protest, but the kids settled down quickly once the lights were out.

EIP to school district transition

This morning was filled with tears as I dropped of Henry in his classroom. We dropped off Miss R first who had no qualms about getting into her classroom and getting a snack (she didn't like our breakfast this morning, a breakfast burrito). I stayed with Henry for a couple minutes. A little girl tried to hit Henry so he hit her back. I suggested to them both that they keep their hands to themselves. Then, a little girl on the other side of the table hit a little boy named Shawn. So much for males being more aggressive than females. Miss Stephanie says that everyone has been in a hitting mood recently.

Jeff and I just met with Henry's EIP coordinator. It went well. She was actually amenable to Henry's PT services once we mentioned his unique arm issue, which she seemed surprised by even though we've mentioned it before. We updated our IFSP (individualized family service plan), and I signed many forms giving up privacy on Henry's records so that she can talk with the school district. At age 3, Henry's services will be given through the school district not the EIP. We've decided to get one last OT evaluation on Henry while we are still able to do so without much hoopla. In sum, our meeting with Elsa was efficient and productive.

Jeff has gone to his nurse visit. Then, we'll have a visit from Carmen (CPS).

It has been freezing in the house today. Freezing defined as below 73 degrees. I'm angling for a fire log in the fire place tonight!

"No more school for me."

Sunday night was rough. Miss R woke up in the middle of the night needing her nebulizer treatment. I held her for awhile as she fell back asleep.

Monday was Jeff's afternoon/evening with the kids. They pretty much ran him ragged. Both Henry and Miss R love the high heel glamor shoes that we bought Miss R for her birthday. When I called from school, I could hear clip clopping of little feet against the tiles.

On Tuesday, Henry announced "No school for me" as I turned into the daycare parking lot. He was very clingy with me in the morning. Although it was nice to have a couple minutes of Henry snuggle time, I hate seeing him distressed. Jeff picked up Henry and met up with my parents at Costco. Henry ate his way around the store. He had two pieces of mahi, two tiny cups of crab chowder, some bacon, and a couple other things. Miss R had her bio family visit in the afternoon. No idea if the parents showed up, but she saw her siblings at least.

On Wednesday morning, I said to Henry "I love you!" He said, "I love you too, Mommy!" That was nice. As I dropped off Henry in his classroom, he said, "No. No Miss Stephanie's class for me." Ugh. Miss Stephanie says that Henry knows where Miss R is and wants to be with her in her class. Sigh.

I had to stay at school until 6PM. My parents picked up the kids. Then, I picked the kids up at their place. When Henry saw me, he cried out "No! I don't want Mommy! I want Bambi!" He'd figured out that my arrival was associated with a stoppage on the TV viewing. But Miss R was happy to see me.

My mom told me a funny story. The other day, my parents got the kids piggy banks. She gave them coins and a dollar to put in each bank. Apparently, Henry went over to her purse and found some $20 bills. He pulled a couple out, gave one to Miss R, and said: "Here. This one's better."

Tomorrow is jammed packed with appointments. We have an appointment with Elsa, Henry's so-called developmental coordinator, to set up an IEP for Henry. Jeff has a nurse visit at 3:30PM. His cough is back with a vengeance and he sounds awful. At 4:30PM, we have a home visit with Carmen, Miss R's CPS caseworker.

Lesson in Not Being the Center of the Universe

Henry woke up this morning announcing "I want restitution!" That was pretty much the theme through breakfast.

I braided Miss R's hair and it looked great. It took about 1/2 an hour b/c Miss R was not being helpful. Henry, Miss R, and Jeff took the dogs for a walk. Then, we got ready and headed over to Monkey Business around 11:30AM for Miss R's birthday celebration. We got there a little early to set up the balloons and Elmo table cloth.

In attendance were: Grammy, Poppy, Aunt Erin, Uncle Brian, our neighbors Yvonne and John, and our friends Carolyn and Elisabeth with her cute infant Stone (born in July).

The kids had a great time, but Henry wasn't thrilled at the presents not being for him. It was upsetting to learn that not everything is about him (although almost everything is about him). Miss R really liked her gifts.

According to Jeff, Henry made a 5 year old girl cry. In Henry's defense, she started it. But she couldn't handle the heat. Henry had an orange balloon from our table. He was walking around with it, and she took it from him. He wanted it back. Jeff asked her to give Henry his balloon back. She said it was her brother's (which it wasn't). A Monkey Business employee intervened, and Henry got his balloon back. Later, Henry saw her with another balloon and chased her around. He swatted at her, and she cried. I don't mean to sound like the kind of mommy who thinks her son walks on water (b/c I can identify when Henry is up to no good and correct him when he is being a turkey), but goodness, the gal shouldn't: (a) take things from 2 year olds to begin with, and (b) quite so wussy when a 2 year old acts like a 2 year old; a five year old should know better.

Monkey Business had a "monkey" walk around the restaurant. The monkey was a HUGE hit with both Henry and Miss R. Henry followed the monkey around. Miss R hugged the monkey. We left some time after 2PM. The kids fell asleep in the car. Way past their nap time.

Miss R got up before Henry. She had fun playing with her new shoes. We got her five pairs of glittery shoes in pink and purple colors. She had a breakdown when Jeff announced that it was time for a walk and she had to wear sneakers and not her fancy shoes. He woke up Henry b/c Henry was still sacked out. We had a family walk around dusk. Ran into Yvonne, John, Hal, and the canine gang. John mentioned how sweet Miss R was and asked if she ever acted up. Jeff and I chuckled. Even Miss R's teachers are under the delusion that Miss R has a perfect temperament. She saves her special toddler tantrums for me and Jeff apparently.

We went back home and had dinner. Then it was time to carve pumpkins. Henry didn't want to touch the insides, but he enjoyed playing with my pumpkin carving spoon. Miss R really wanted to wear her new shoes after dinner. When I brought them to her, Henry became upset b/c he wanted "pink" shoes too. Her glamour pack had five sets of shoes in them, so I brought Henry my favorites. He had fun walking around in the shoes, but we suspect that heals don't discourage his toe walking.

Our pumpkins turned out pretty well. Henry likes them anyway. It was then teeth brushing and bed. It took Henry well over an hour to go to sleep. Miss R has woken up a couple times too.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! It's Cinderella. Oh my gosh!"

On Thursday morning, I had a weird encounter with the director of Henry and Miss R's daycare. The morning started off well enough. Henry was excited to be going to Miss Stephanie's classroom. I decided that we'd drop off Miss R first. Miss Diana said that Henry was to stay in their classroom for now and that maybe he wouldn't be moving up. Henry was clingy with me. I was frustrated b/c I'd told Henry he'd get to see Miss Stephanie. I asked Diana what was going on. She said that they were still trying to figure out the numbers. They'd sent some kids to Miss Stephanie's class before Henry even though they had birthdays after Henry's (e.g., a child who is the son of another teacher at the school). Miss Diana had told me before that Henry was getting a little bored in their classroom. A bored Henry is not a good thing.

As I left the class, I stopped by the front desk and asked what was going on. The director got rather testy with me and said that she couldn't do anything about it now. It all had to do with the numbers. Then she turned on me and said, "Is this because your son was aggressive with your daughter?" I asked her what she was talking about. Then she accused, "Is he aggressive with her at home?" No one had informed us of Henry being aggressive. And for the record, no, he isn't aggressive at home. We have several friends, family members, a case worker, a family specialist, and a guardian ad litem who can attest that our kids get along really well. Then, she repeated that she couldn't do anything about it. She had to look at the numbers. She couldn't move kids right now. I said, "Well, you moved a couple kids last week. And their birthdays are after Henry's. Why didn't you move him first?" She gave me some crap about how they weren't sure he was cognitively ready, which I know is crap b/c his teacher the previous day told me about how he was much more advanced than the other kids in the current class, how he was really smart, and how his potty training was going well.

I left and called Jeff from the car. I was so mad that I decided to return to the office to talk to the director about the situation. She wasn't there, but the person who is in charge of development was. I talked with her, which was good b/c she is very nice, diplomatic, and parent-oriented. She'd heard the conversation and knew that the director had made a huge error in referring to Henry as "aggressive." I explained to her that it was important the personnel got the story straight and accurate b/c with the scrutiny that we are under, a mistake like that could "disrupt" Miss R from a situation that is incredibly nurturing for her. The developmental coordinator completely understood. And she said that the director had misunderstood a previous day's event in which Henry apparently tried to hug Miss R several times, and Miss R told him to stop it. Apparently, Henry tries to protect and baby her in the new class. She doesn't like that. She wants to be independent. That was it. The developmental coordinator said that she'd clarify the situation with the director, and she agreed that Henry would be better off in Miss Stephanie's class where he'd get more one-on-one attention.

In the afternoon, Jeff picked up the kids. Henry was very chatty. He told Jeff about his friends and what he did. Jeff reported that his chatter was a paragraph long and in complete sentences. Jeff dropped off the kids for a little bit at my parents' house while he ran some errands.

On Friday, the kids were both dressed in Washington State t-shirts. It was "twin" day. So they got to be twins. I talked with the developmental coordinator and she said that the director sent her apologies. Henry would be moving classes next week.

Jeff picked up the kids from school. I met them at Grammy and Poppy's house. All six of us went to Macayo for dinner. Miss R really loved her mini-chimi. She also liked dipping her chip in salsa and sucking it off. The salsa wasn't hot. We parted ways from Grammy and Poppy and went to Halloween Express. We found Miss R a ladybug costume. For some reason, I've had it in my mind for weeks that she should be a ladybug. Although there were a lot of costumes, we didn't find one that seemed like Henry. I wouldn't have minded getting him a cutsie one b/c this will probably be the last Halloween when such a costume would be possible. He seemed to like a Spiderman outfit but it wasn't in his size. We went to Toys R Us to look as well.

Henry was hilarious at Toys R Us. Their costume selection wasn't good. We turned a corner, and there was a display of Snow White dresses and had big pictures of Snow White and Cinderella. Henry yells out, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! It's Cinderella. Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" You would have thought he'd just seen a rock star. He was very enthusiastic. I was fairly tempted to get him the Snow White dress. I dressed up as different "male" cartoon characters as a child, so it would be a bit hypocritical to not allow Henry to try "female" characters (although I realize that's fairly unconventional). The thing that held me back was the price tag: $79.99. That seemed a tad excessive for a costume to be used once.

Henry and Miss R had an excellent time "riding" in plastic cars (kind of like a Flinstone mobile). They enjoyed opening and closing the doors. That entertained them for about 1/2 an hour. Then it was time to go home and go to bed. Henry was upset b/c he wanted to go to Toys R Us "again."

On Saturday morning, we had a "Quarterly" meeting with A Place To Call Home. There really wasn't a toddler room. There was a baby room and a big kids room. We ended up putting them with the "big" kids. Henry cried at first but then he settled down. Miss R had a good time coloring her shirt and skin with blue marker. Jeff and I attended the last part of a session on behaviors and then a talk from a judge who was a product of the foster care system. Jeff and I noticed that only one couple from our training was at the meeting: Charity and David. We hope that the others haven't dropped out. For lunch, we had pizza with the kids outside. Both kids ate A LOT of pizza. A LOT for their size anyway. In the afternoon, Alison took Henry to the jumping castle outside. Miss R went to the baby room where she seemed to have a good time. It was less overwhelming than the "big" kid room. We listened to a presentation from someone from the Yacqui tribe. Then, we all went outside to watch a Yacqui dance presentation.

We dropped the kids off at my parents' house for a nap. They reported that Miss R was moody. I picked them up a couple hours later after getting party supplies for tomorrow. I also found a Spiderman outfit in Henry's size!

We gave the kids a bath. Aunt Carolyn called. I talked with her while Jeff got the kids to bed.

Tomorrow, we are having our party for Miss R. Jeff ordered and picked up a really cute Elmo cake for her.

Fashionista

On Wednesday afternoon, Grammy and Poppy picked up the kids. I had office hours after class and stayed until 6:15PM. I picked up some Indian food and then got the kids. Good timing. They had just had their diapers changed.

After eating a little fry bread, Henry and Miss R went to the living room. Henry read books with Jeff. Miss R sat on me. Then it was time to brush teeth. The highlight of the bathroom experience for Henry was discovering new mommy shoes (ones with a little height). Henry walked around surprisingly well in them. Miss R took my flats. Then, it was time for bed.

Exuberance

Henry began the morning by trying our patience. He just doesn't listen and he is a very impulsive. Impulsive combined with too much energy and a high pain threshold. I'm beginning to think that we need to re-read Cesar Millan's books and start dog whispering our child along with Lily who has too much energy and not much sense. Perhaps the solution is to get Henry and Lily up early in the morning and force them to go on a 2 mile jog. That might take a little of the edge off.

When we arrived at school this morning, Henry ran to the baby's room window and got on the little bench so that he could look into the room. He looked at the babies and yelled "I LOVE THIS CLASS!"

Then, we walked over to Miss R's new class. As we arrived, they were going outside to play. I mentioned to Miss Lulu that Miss R didn't return with her bag last night. Miss Lulu had no idea if it went with her or not. Sigh.

We went outside where Miss Stephanie's class was playing. Henry got on one of the bikes/cars. He sent himself rolling down the hill to the little kids slides just as the one year olds were coming up the hill. Luckily, no one was hurt. They scattered. But Henry did scare the bejesus out of one little boy, which wasn't cool. Miss Josie told him to be nice. Frankly, I think that deserved a timeout but they don't do that very often. Henry didn't say goodbye to me. He started running around the "shipyard" area where Miss Stephanie was. I dropped off Miss R in the slide area with her new class. No complaints from her. As I left, I saw Henry do a belly flop on the ground and then get up.

"Just...something...else."

My parents picked up Henry today. They said that he really likes his new class. He's a fan of Miss Stephanie. For dinner, Henry had a sausage patty, chicken noodles, banana, a little samon. Then, he had a bite of chocolate ice cream and some oatmeal. He then told my mom, "I want something else." My mom went through the list of various things. But Henry said no to the things he'd already had. She asked him what he wanted. He said, "Just...something...else" as though my mom was being a bit slow not understanding that he didn't want what he'd already eaten. She settled on more oatmeal.

Miss R came back after 7PM, which is later than usual. The driver didn't have any information other than to say that it was a man who put Miss R in the car. She came back with a bunch of new clothes. We gather that they were celebrating her birthday. She was wearing a new outfit when she returned home. It is quite cute. She didn't return with the bag that we left at school to be sent on her visit. I'm guessing that her teachers "forgot" to send it along, although I was quite explicit that it needed to go with her.

Miss R and I played in the living room on the couch. She called out for "Daddy" and was happy when Jeff joined us. She was very stern with Lily and told her to "Stop it!" and "Get down" when Lily tried to get on the couch.

My parents returned Henry around 8PM or so. He gave me a spontaneous hug at one point. I love those. I get them a lot from Miss R. Henry not so much.

After my parents left, I gave Henry his amoxicillan, which he spit out on the rug. Then he was a bit rambunctious during teeth brush. Jeff was quite frustrated at his antics. The other night, he bumped his head pretty good while horsing around on his stool. He tried it again tonight, which Jeff tried to prevent. But Henry managed to bump his head again. I suspect that the problem has to do with the fact that Henry doesn't interpret pain like the average person and consequently doesn't learn from his mistakes. Very frustrating.

We put the kids to bed. Our kids cups have gone missing, are dirty, or have cracked in the last week, so I gave them bottles. That didn't stop Henry from singing himself to sleep, which took a very long time.

French Fries and Sponge Bob

On Monday, Jeff and I went to the permanency hearing for Miss R. The court is recommending a switch in case plan from reunification to severance and adoption. We have another hearing on November 17. The bio parents, who were not present at yesterday's hearing, will be allowed to challenge that ruling if they so choose. If they appeal it, then the case will go to trial. Alternatively, the parents could agree to severe rights or just not show up and have the rights severed.

As the hearing took up a good part of the morning, Jeff took the day off of work and went looking for vehicles. He has wanted a new vehicle FOREVER. He doesn't seem to like my Toyota Corolla (my very first car). Bottomline is that in the event that we decide to have other kids, we need more room. Our current vehicles won't do. He has a couple SUVs options in mind.

Then, he picked up the kids. Miss R did well in her new class. They moved Henry over to the "older" twos room with Miss Stephanie, whom Henry adores. Miss Stephanie wasn't there when Jeff arrived but another teacher reported that Henry did very well with the potty today. He took them to the hardware store. He really likes Naughton's b/c they are one of the few stores where the employees greet you at the door and show you where everything is. He said that they helped him get the kids in the cart. At one point, Henry fell on his bum and shouted, "Oww! My butt!"

He said that he and the kids had a really nice evening. When I came home around 9PM (with some food that I picked up for me and Jeff), the kids were in bed but Henry was awake singing to himself. Jeff said that Henry had been singing songs from Mamma Mia! and the bumble bee song.

As Henry was awake, I got him out of bed and held him. There wasn't a trace of sleepiness in him. I took him out to the living room where Jeff was watching ESPN. That got switched to Sponge Bob. Jeff brought out my dinner. Henry helped himself to my french fries and looked like a very happy little boy.

The kids were logs this morning. I let them sleep until about 7:45AM. Someone attempted to do Miss R's hair at school. They used rubber bands, which I don't like (not good for her hair). So I had the joy of trying to get the darn things out of her hair without breaking the hair, which wasn't easy. Then I braided it as her bio family visits are starting again today.

I took the kids to school. I dropped them off in Miss R's new class. They weren't sure if Henry was definitely switching today. I hope he is. He really wanted to see Miss Stephanie.