Where Do Lemurs Come From?

Today Elise saw a toy baseball inside the lemur enclosure at the zoo.

"Mommy! A lemur egg!"

Parenting: I'm Doing Something Right

Today Elise was blowing bubbles outside with Clark. Fun, fun, giggles, smiles, giggles... then DISASTER. Elise knocked over her bottle of bubble solution and somehow every last drop poured out onto the ground. Elise had a yelling, crying, flopping hissy fit. I said "I'm so sorry" about a million times. Also, "I understand. I wanted to blow more bubbles, too." And, "If there was anything I could do to fix it, I would." And so on and so forth.

After a few minutes she calmed down and we went back inside of Georgia and Henry's speech therapist's office. She sat down next to me in a chair and said, "Mommy. I'm sorry I got mad."  I hugged her and said, "Thank you. That was very nice of you to apologize."

But here's how I felt on the inside:

Henry In Preschool

Henry has started preschool! Not just day care, but actual preschool, where they prepare kids for kindergarten. Usually you have to be 4 years old to enroll in preschool, but because of Henry's speech delays he was eligible to start preschool at 3 years old.

Husband and I both took Henry to school on his first day. I was a little nervous for him. No mommy tears, though, because he's already been going to day care and I know that this preschool program will be a million times better for him. But it was a new school, new teacher, new classmates... I thought about him all day long and worried that he was having a good time.

No need to worry, though! He was smiling when I picked him up. I think that the 8 BILLION toy cars and trucks that they have in their classroom put him at ease. Every day when I take him to school, Elise asks to stay and play. I generally linger a few minutes, but Henry's always fine when I leave and happy when I pick him up. Every day has been a good day. And his teacher has already commented on what a sweet boy he is and that he has such a nice disposition.

I'm so glad that it was a smooth transition for Henry to big kid school.

Butt Biter

When Clark stands up he is just as tall as the underside of my butt. I know this because he pulled himself up on my pant leg and then tilted up his little chin and took a great big bite of my ass. It hurt. He may be learning how to walk, but luckily I already know how to run.

Baby Steps! Baby Steps!

Clark took his first step! Tonight I stood him up on his feet, he took one step and kept his balance, then he tried to take another step and fell down.

My little Babu is walking! I can't believe it.

Zip Lip

Tonight Elise kept asking me to do something over and over and over again, but I couldn't because I was busy. Her chatter was driving me bonkers, so finally I showed her how to zip her lips. It was something new, so she found it interesting and I found it to be a suitable momentary distraction.

After my instruction, Elise happily drew her fingers across her mouth and pressed her lips together. She stood there and stared at me, stony-faced, for a few seconds. Then she drew her fingers across her mouth in the opposite direction, unzipping her lips.

"HA! HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Then she zipped her lips back up again and stared at me.

She is so weird.

Waiting for the Tooth

No post last night. Clark was Grumpy McGrumpersons. Tooth #6 is working it's way through his tiny little baby gums and he was having a pretty rough time. Thank god we don't remember our teething experiences. Poor little Bubba.

Also, Clark has started throwing what appear to be baby temper tantrums. Screaming, flopping, slapping cry-fests. Usually about food or milk. I'm cutting him some slack because of the whole teething thing, plus he's started standing unassisted (I have to set him on his feet, but he can keep his balance) and so I think his little brain is gearing up to learn how to walk. Sometimes kids get really grumpy and weird right before they hit milestones, so maybe that's contributing to his moodiness.

Of course, his moodiness is contributing to MY moodiness. It's a vicious cycle.

Oh, Nice Diaper Bag!

I get a lot of compliments on my diaper bag. It's not actually a diaper bag, though, it's a small piece of luggage. Seriously. Last time I had to get a new diaper bag, I looked and looked for something big enough to carry all of the diapers, pull-ups, wipes, changes of clothes, books, and snacks that four toddlers require. I couldn't find anything big enough. Even the bags that looked big on the outside weren't very big on the inside. So, I ended up looking at carry-on sized pieces of luggage and I found something I liked. And it was totally reasonably priced. I swear, call something a baby-(fill in the blank) and it costs twice as much. Screw you, diaper bags! I bought something I can still use even after my babies are potty trained. Take that, capitalist baby machine!... or baby capitalist machine!... or capitalist machine regarding babies! Whatever. You know what I mean.

Cat Update

There's no telling what's wrong with my old lady cat, Beanie. She's either in the throes of kidney failure or she just has a crummy infection that's making her dehydrated and throwing all of her kidney values off. It's proooobably the latter, because she seems to be getting better. She's eating now, although she still isn't eating quite as much as she usually does, and she doesn't seem all lethargic and moody anymore. I have to take her back to the vet in a month and get her blood work done again, to see if her kidney values have improved. Fingers crossed.

Elephants are Hilarious

Today I read Clark a book that talked about different kinds of animals. He's little, you know, so I read it over and over and over again. Every time, he thought the elephant was hilarious. Don't know why. He just turned into a jiggling ball of giggles whenever he saw the elephant.

Scootin'

Clark has started walking behind one of his push toys. Mommy tears! Why? Because that means he's almost not a baby anymore. He's teetering on the edge of toddlerhood. Mommy tears!!!!!!

Desires, Poo Poo Pants

* Clark has three favorite foods now: cottage cheese, yogurt, and Buddy Fruits (any flavor). Buddy Fruits are these little squeezable packages of pureed fruit that I keep in my diaper bag in case Clark needs a snack or a supplement to a restaurant meal, since his diet is still kind of limited. Clark knows what the packaging of Buddy Fruits looks like and he LOSES his SHIT when he sees one. Bonkers. Screaming. Until the fruit is being squeezed into his mouth, he's inconsolable. To a lesser degree, he's like that with yogurt and the tub of cottage cheese. I have to carefully coordinate the presentation of Clark's meals lately, making sure to give him his food in the order of least desirable to most desirable, otherwise he won't eat things like broccoli or carrots or bread.

* Riding home from grocery shopping with the kids today, they were all in the back of the van talking to each other. Mostly it was like this:

Henry: "A digger!"

Georgia: "Momma! A digger! A digger, Henry?"

Henry: "Yeah, a digger. Elise! I see a digger!"

Elise: "Oooh. Where the digger?"

Blah blah blah. Silly baby talk. Then:

Elise: "Hey! Daddy poo poos in his pants!"

And the kids all explode with laughter. For, like, two minutes they just laughed and laughed.

This Is My Entire Day... With Double the Kids

More Cat Drama

My old lady cat, Beanie, is sick again. She hasn't eaten for over two days, she's vomiting, and she has diarrhea. Clark and Georgia and I took Beanie to the vet's office this morning (that was my whole morning-- a 10 month old, a two year old, and a geriatric cat that's leaking out both ends of her furry body). No telling what the problem is. The vet took blood and urine samples and sent me home with a bunch of medicines to give her while we await the test results.

It seems like Beanie and Sausage are in a race to see who can drain us of our savings first. Not sure who's winning at this point. Cats, man! Cats!

I Can't Even Hold My Eyes Open

Crazy day. But I'm too tired to talk about it. Clark has been a lousy sleeper lately. I can barely function... ZZZZZZZZZZ...

Bummer

Husband and I met over 20 years ago in a 7th grade English class. Because 7th graders are assholes (at least, I'm assuming that to be the reason), the teacher made an assigned seating chart.You know, so kids couldn't sit next to their friends. Little did he know, he sat me next to my future husband. (Awwwww.)

As the teacher rotated the seats around throughout the year, Husband and I actually got seated next to each other more than once. Husband talked to me about guns and weapons and military vehicles. Not in a hyper-masculine way. Just in a hey-I-think-this-is-cool-so-maybe-you-will-too kind of way. Whatever the motivation, it worked. I ended up having his babies.

That teacher never had any children of his own, but without him, Elise and Clark might not be here.

The CIRCLE of LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE...

Anywho, our old 7th grade teacher committed suicide a few days ago. Bummer.

Hair Dresser's Adoption Story

I often end up talking to strangers about their adoption stories or their experiences as foster parents or foster children. No kidding, it happens A LOT.

Recently, I went to a new hair dresser for a hair cut and in the course of the conversation she ended up telling me that she was adopted from foster care. She had an interesting story. She seemed kind of sad. Most of the people that I talk to don't seem sad, but she did.

The hair dresser had lived in a foster home that had a lot of other children. She really liked her foster parents but they weren't interested in ever adopting, so she was waiting to be matched with adoptive parents. She lived in the foster home until she was five years old. While she was there, she became very close to a little boy that was about her age. The foster parents pushed for them to be adopted together.

The girl and her friend did get adopted into the same family. There was an older sister in the family who had been adopted several years before; she didn't like the two new kids. The hair dresser was old enough to remember the whole adoption experience. She said she felt scared and unhappy for a long time. She missed her foster family. As an adult, her brother (the friend from the foster home) is still the person she's closest with. It sounded like they have a special bond.

The happy part of her story is that she got to grow up with her friend and that her foster family had cared enough about them both to keep them together. I'm sure there's so much more to her story than what she told me-- I hope she can find a way not to be sad forever.

I Heart Mr Rogers

I introduced Elise to Fred Rogers today. My local library has some Mr Rogers' Neighborhood dvds and I ripped a few of them a long time ago, when we first started fostering. I let Elise watch one of the dvds this afternoon while I was making dinner. She really liked it.

I love Fred Rogers. There aren't many people that I haven't personally met that I can truly say that I love. But I love Fred Rogers. He's an amazing person.

“Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.” 

― Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember

Flo Rida

There's actually a rapper with that name. Flo Rida. As in Flow Rider. He's from Florida, so the name has two meanings, I guess. But "Flo Rida" ???  I believe you're supposed to be thinking about the flow of his lyrics, but all I can think about is a lady who has her period. Her flow. Riding it out. Flo Rida.

Welcome back, bloody blood.

It's been about 10 1/2 months since Clark was born. It only took 6 months to get my period back after Elise. Clearly, this time my uterus was like "What the fuck was THAT?! 9 lbs 5 oz? I am CLOSED FOR BUSINESS. Will reopen after some remodeling. Thank you, Mgmt."

Welcome to my grand re-opening.

Here's the weirdest part. Before I had Elise, I didn't really get period cramps. Not much. Not like some ladies. Then after I had Elise, I definitely got them. You know, those TWO periods that I had before I was pregnant again. But whatever, I was getting cramps. I had read that can happen, that your period can be completely different than what you're used to after you have a baby. But this time, ZERO cramps. Zero. So Elise flipped the period cramp switch on her way out, then Clark flipped it back when it was his turn to shimmy past. Awesome.

Well, getting my period makes me hungry. So I'm going to go ride my flow with a post-dinner bowl of spaghetti and a tall cold one ("one" being a huge glass of chocolate milk). Laterz, my homeslices.

Creativity with Monsters

Usually when I ask the kids what something is named, they simply label the item. For example, "Elise, what is your doll named?" "Doll." "That's what it is, but does it have a name? You're a girl but your name is Elise. Does the doll have a name? Like Elise or Annie or Maraca or Twinkle?" "Doll."

Today we went to a kiddie play place arcade thingy and when we cashed in our tickets, the big kids each got to pick out a toy monster. I asked them if their monsters have names. Georgia named hers Dinosaur because I guess it looked like a dinosaur a little bit. But I was impressed that she didn't just spit back the word "monster." Elise named hers Pink because one of the colors on the toy she picked is pink. And Henry named his Truck, presumably because his favorite thing in the world right now is trucks.

Pretty cool that all of their little baby brains took a leap forward today.

Top Three Good Things About Today

1. Cooking with (lots of) fresh basil from our CSA haul this week. God, I love basil. Clark had some basil today, too. This morning I made eggs scrambled with tomatoes, basil, onion, and garlic. It's one of Husband's new favorite things to eat. The big kids like it okay and Clark tried it and gobbled it up. Like father like son.

2. Preparing lunch while Henry sat at the kitchen table and quietly colored with crayons. I don't get a lot of quiet time with the kids, especially with Henry or Georgia. It was really nice.

3. Meeting up with the kids' GAL and her having nothing remarkable to report about their mother, their sisters, or the case in general. Finally. Calm.

Every Range of Emotion

Henry and Elise (but mostly Henry) are obsessed with things that go-- cars, trucks, trains, helicopters, construction equipment, you name it. Lately monster trucks have taken the spotlight.

Tonight, catering to their fanaticism, I was showing the kids videos on youtube of different monster truck events. I found the "Robosaurus," which is this huge contraption that is made to look like a giant dinosaur and it breathes fire and picks up cars and crunches them. Kind of cool, I guess, if you're into that sort of thing.

Henry got scared while we were watching Robosaurus. He sat on the couch with a blanket over his head, peeking out of a crack he had made near his eye and squeaking at the especially dramatic parts. Georgia was barely watching and seemed totally unimpressed. Elise watched for a long time with a quizzical expression and then finally said, "Um... he looks like a kangaroo."

Nom Nom Nom

Clark has had lots of new foods lately. Beets, pasta, bread, blueberries, black beans, eggs, tofu... I can't remember everything. He pretty much just eats whatever now. Except for stuff like peanut butter and honey and those things that you're supposed to wait on until the baby is older.

We're starting his sumo wrestler diet early...

Ain't Ya Daddy

Update on the Susannah daddy thing. Remember how there was some new guy claiming that he's Susannah's biological father? He showed up in court at a hearing recently claiming as much. Well, turns out that it's physically impossible. He should have done his math. He was off by a couple of years. Seriously. So her biological father is still legally "unknown" and this new guy won't be disrupting the TPR process.

Whew!

Teddy Tuckins

Jesus H Christ. Elise sleeps with these three teddy bears-- a big white bear named Mama Bear, a little white one named Achoo, and a little red one she refers to as Other Baby Bear. Well, for the past two weeks, it has not been enough to just sleep with the bears in her bed. The bears have to be tucked in at the same time that she is being tucked in. The bears have to be tucked in a very, very, VERY particular way. So particular that I never get it right. EVER. And she has a goddamn meltdown about it nearly every day. Sometimes twice a day because there is both nap time and bedtime, after all. I line them up and tuck the blanket under their chins. Wrong. I pile them together and wrap the blanket around them. Wrong. I do EXACTLY whatever nonsensical thing Elise tells me to do to tuck in the teddy bears and it's still wrong, wrong. wrong. I even suggested that maybe we're having so much trouble making the teddy bears happy because the teddy bears don't actually want to be tucked in-- they'd probably rather just sleep on top of the covers. WRONG!

Dear God, let Elise outgrow this phase quickly.

Clarky Want a Cracker

Clark is the most amazing mimic. Keeping in mind that at his age he simply isn't capable of imitating every letter sound, he does a bang up job of copying the words he hears. He nearly always gets the correct number of syllables, and he approximates the word sounds to the best of his ability. "It's raining" becomes "Eee dah-nan" and "teddy bear" becomes "dee dee bah." Okay... that looks dumb written out, but it's impressive in person. He doesn't say these things spontaneously yet, but he can copy rather well.

Clark is starting to babble with lots of different sounds in a row, not just the same ma-ma-ma-ma sound over and over again. And sometimes when he's eating it really sounds like he shouts "more!" I can't wait to talk to him the way I can talk to Elise.

Henry and Georgia are doing very well with their speech therapy, too. Henry's vocabulary seems to be expanding every single day-- new word after new word and longer and more complex sentences. I still can't understand everything he says, but he's working really hard and making lots of progress. Georgia is doing really well, too. She does this cute thing lately where when she means to say, "I'm scared" she says "I scary!" She usually says it while she's hopping around, waving her arms, and trying to claw her way up our legs to be picked up-- so she really is being kind of scary.

First Aid Kit

As foster parents, we're required to have a first aid kit in our house. There's no requirement as to what's IN the first aid kit... any one of those pre-packaged kits will do. The one we have is mostly band-aids and antibacterial cream.

I recently found what seems to be a decent list of "first aid essentials" and I made sure that we have everything on the list at home.

- hand sanitizer (we have bottles of it stationed all over our house)
- blanket (of course we have blankets, but I guess it couldn't hurt to put one in the car, just in case of someone going into shock or whatever)
- bottled water (again, obviously we have water in our house, but I had to put some in the car)
- instant cold compress to help control swelling
- bandages, sterile gauze, adhesive tape, scissors
- tweezers
- calamine lotion
- alcohol wipes
- oral antihistamine
- acetaminophen or ibuprofen (we have both for adults and both for children)
- thermometer
- antibiotic ointment

I don't have all of this stuff in the car/diaper bag... but I have a lot of it. And we definitely use hand sanitizer, band-aids, and antibiotic ointment on a very VERY regular basis.

Finally!

Clark has been crawling mostly on his hands and knees for the past couple of days instead of army crawling. Finally! I thought he might be one of those babies who never quite does the complete crawling thing before he learns to walk. He finally figured it out, though. He looks ADORABLE when he crawls because he kind of tucks his pelvis under and it makes his butt look so tiny.

What Do Koalas Eat?

Elise: Mommy? What do koalas eat?

Me: They like to eat a special kind of plant called eucalyptus.

E: Lulu biscuits?

M: No. A plant. Eucalyptus.

E: Oooooooooh. EU-lulu biscuits. Koalas eat eululu buscuits.  .... That's funny, Mommy.

What to Do with My Two Year Old

Keeping Elisey smartypants busy is sometimes a daunting task. She gets into everything and if she's bored she can get very naughty. Very naughty.

Aside from reading tons of books, making art projects, watching occasional TV, building with blocks, putting together puzzles, and playing kiddie video games, here are a few of the activities I've engaged Elise with lately:

* Treasure Hunt: Elise had to earn the fruit for her lunch the other day by following a series of clues. The clues were age-appropriate, such as, "Go to the place where Henry sleeps. Look under his pillow." Each clue lead her to the location where I had hidden the next card with a clue on it, until at last she discovered the fruit stashed in the cargo pocket of my shorts.

* Necklace: Elise threaded some of Georgia's hair beads onto a string to make a necklace.

* Animal Science Notebook: Inspired by the TV show Go Diego Go!, we started a notebook with pictures and facts about animals that we've seen in the wild. First we take a picture of the animal and then we have the picture printed. We look up facts about the animal and write some of them down, such as where the animal lives and what it eats. Elise and I then put the picture and the facts on a page in her notebook. The first animal, for example, was a white-tailed deer that we saw on a recent vacation. Among the facts that we wrote down were that it has a white underside to its tail, it eats grass, and its afraid of wolves.

Cheese!

We went to a portrait studio in the mall recently and got a big group photo done with Susannah, Henry, Georgia, Eve, Allison, and all of the foster parents and foster siblings. The picture turned out really nice-- our crazy, big, mismatched, mishmashed extended family. I love it. And Case Manager is totally thrilled with it. She told me that she's never had another group of foster parents get biological siblings together to do something like that.

No matter what happens at the TPR hearing, I know that our group picture will always be very special to everyone involved in this case. I'm so glad that we did it.