I've been meaning to write a post about how we are all settling in as a household of three, but it's a little harder to find a free moment to write now than it was with only Evie! Overall, I am much more tired and things are definitely busier, but things seem calmer and more settled than they did with just me and Evie.
Evie definitely enjoys having another being in the house. She loves babies and often talks "baby talk" with Tank (like "look at your cute little toes, I'm going to get your toes!"; "look at Evie, she's taking her vitamin, do you see me taking my vitamin?"). I think it is good for her to have someone else in the house to interact with other than me. She also loves to help with him - buttoning up his sleepers, putting his diapers in the trash can, dancing for him to get him to stop crying, etc. She has been playing a lot more with her baby dolls, including burping them and putting them to sleep.
Tank is adjusting well. He is such a GOOD baby, and is so happy. He really only cries when he is hungry (you can set your clock to his every-three-hour feeding schedule) or tired. He doesn't need to be held all the time and is mostly content to play on the floor, or exersaucer, or bouncy chair. I realize this may be a product of his not being held much in his home. He has always been very smiley and interactive, but when he first came to me it was obvious he wasn't used to close human contact - he would arch his back when I would pick him up; and even though he would make eye contact and smile if he was lying/sitting down, he would immediately turn his head away from me if I picked him up and tried to look at him. Now he is much more snuggly, loves to be held, and doesn't turn away when I look at him; but even so, is still not a baby that has to be held all the time to be happy. His laugh is infectious. I have a terribly cute video that I wish I could share - we were at a little carnival thing, which had a bounce house with slide, and I picked him up so he could see the kids coming down. Every time they would come down the slide, he would yell (just like them)! His development seems to be right on target. He does definitely use his right arm and leg more than his left (always splashes the bath water with his right hand, kicked his right leg much more in the playground swing than the left, reaches for toys more with his right hand), but also uses the left a good bit to hold toys with two hands and pushes up equally with both hands when he's on his tummy. I think it's something that I wouldn't even notice if I weren't a therapist and trained to look for those things.
I met with his guardian ad litem a little over a week ago, who filled me in on a lot of things, including why Dad didn't get him several weeks ago and where Mom is currently. I still haven't actually talked with Tank's caseworker since he was placed almost four weeks ago! We have left messages back and forth on voice mails, but have never connected, which seems odd. He also had a family visit (I'm assuming with dad) today, but I only found out about it when I picked Tank up from daycare, and the daycare workers said he had been gone for a few hours... so that has aggravated me. Both sets of Tank's grandparents were going through the home study process to try to get him, but both were denied as of late last week. So highly likely Tank will be around for a good while. Court for mom is this Friday (to determine the treatment plan) so I should know more definite information after that. (Even though foster parents/children are not required to be at court in this state, I will definitely be there since I don't work on Fridays, so I can get the first-hand information on what to expect from his case.)
Me? Like I said, I'm sooooo tired. And I hate washing/making bottles every night. But we have settled into a pretty good routine, and it is so fun to have a baby in the house!
How did the family visit happen? Did the social worker pick him up from daycare?
ReplyDeleteYes, someone from DSS picked him up from daycare (and apparently someone different brought him back). I put in a call to his social worker today about it, with no call back. Probably will call the supervisor tomorrow or Friday if I don't hear anything.
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