Calls Galore

It has been a heck of a roller coaster day!!

Around 1:30 I got a call from foster care placement saying they had a disrupted foster home - the foster parent was being investigated and the kids removed - and needed to place six children.  I recently gave my twin bed to Bop because his mattress was VERY old and lumpy.  So I told her I could take one if they could go in a crib.  She had a two-year old she needed to place, and I said I could take him.  A little over an hour later, she called back and said that she was able to find a home that could take both the 2-year old and his sibling, so he would not be placed with me.  BUT she has a 4-year old she would like to place with me.  I said no since I did not have a bed and a 4-year old is likely to outgrow a toddler bed very quickly. 

Then about 45 minutes after that (around 4:30), she called back again, saying she needed to place a 22 month old boy.  I again said that I could take him, and he finally arrived just after 8:30. 

I asked if he needed to eat, and she said that yes, he did.  (Um, was this child seriously in custody for four hours - surrounding dinnertime - and no one had fed him?!  I'm hoping this was not the case, but...)  I gave him some graham crackers and he just stared at them, picked them up (many times), tried to feed them to me, and a couple of times put one in his mouth but then acted like he didn't know what to do with it.  So then I gave him some yogurt.  He opened his mouth for that, but then made a face once the yogurt was in, like he didn't like it; but then he ate 6 or 7 bites of that, making a face every time it hit his tongue but otherwise seeming to like it.  He did drink some juice, and eventually started tearing up in the high chair so I got him down. 

He was overall clean except his feet were dirty and stunk (because he was wearing sandals), so I just gave him a quick swipe with a soapy washcloth (except I did scrub the feet!) and then put his pajamas on.  We walked back downstairs, and I held him on the couch in the mostly dark room, hoping he would go to sleep.  Well, he sat on my lap without hardly moving for at least 15 minutes but never even seemed like he was going to doze off.  My leg was falling asleep so I decided to try to put him in the pack n play (which I had temporarily put in my room, since Elmer was already asleep when they arrived and I had no clue if the new one was going to scream throughout the night).  He laid down without crying and I laid on the bed.  He laid there for about 30 minutes with me, playing with the stuffed dog I had given him, or tapping the canvas side of the pack n play, but never went to sleep.  I finally sneaked out of the room and if he noticed, he did not cry.  That was a little over an hour ago, and I am going to go up there to bed now.  I did check a few times and didn't hear anything coming from my room, but we will see if he is actually asleep when I go up. 

We will see how the "Twins" interact tomorrow!