Sweets' last day of school before fall break was Friday. Break comes early when you start school in July! I went to go pick her up, hoping to have her stay most of the week. Her dad wanted to know if I would also take Lil Sis and let her stay at the maternal aunt and uncle's house for a few days.
Umm, NO. They were never asked and I'm not attempting to drop her off there unannounced. I'm also not going to have her at my house for days if they can't take her.
I politely told him that I would ask if she could go next weekend. He seemed fine with that. Unbelieveable, really. He simply doesn't comprehend common courtesy at all.
When I went to pick up Sweets, they were at another house in the neighborhood. So, her dad gave her the keys to go get her backpack from their apartment. I took her to the apartment and waited inside while she collected her things.
Sweets asked if she could please bring her notebook computer that her dad had given her a couple weeks ago, early for her birthday. She went on to say that she was afraid her dad would sell it if she left it behind (a big yard sale was planned for the next day at the house where I picked her up).
I said sure, she could bring it. But then I asked why her dad would sell it right after he gave it to her. Her response, "That's just the way my dad is." How incredibly sad! She has officially passed him in intelligence.
The good news - she's here until at least Thursday! That night she has choir across town. I suggested to her dad that he pick her up from choir (keep him in the habit) and then I would pick her (and possibly Lil Sis) up next Friday. He was good with that, so Sweets is thrilled to be here almost a week!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Eight Months Old
Precious is crawling!
She can routinely push herself to a sitting position with no help.
She's a master at scooting around in the walker.
Finger foods (cereal) have become a favorite!
She still likes the pacifier, but likes her fingers too.
She is a very happy baby, but I definitely see a temper emerging!
I have the adoption petition in hand to sign and send back to my attorney. All of the CPS paperwork is complete. If only my adoption certification would get signed! If we get it before October 12th, the waiting period can be waived and we can finalize on National Adoption Day in November. If not, our court date will likely be about 90 days after the petition is filed following the receipt of my certification. I would really like to complete this adoption this year. I'm not sure I'm up for the chaos associated with National Adoption Day at our juvenile courthouse (over 300 kids adopted there last year) but at this point, I'll take it in order to finalize this year. Let's hope my certification comes through in the next two weeks!
She can routinely push herself to a sitting position with no help.
She's a master at scooting around in the walker.
Finger foods (cereal) have become a favorite!
She still likes the pacifier, but likes her fingers too.
She is a very happy baby, but I definitely see a temper emerging!
I have the adoption petition in hand to sign and send back to my attorney. All of the CPS paperwork is complete. If only my adoption certification would get signed! If we get it before October 12th, the waiting period can be waived and we can finalize on National Adoption Day in November. If not, our court date will likely be about 90 days after the petition is filed following the receipt of my certification. I would really like to complete this adoption this year. I'm not sure I'm up for the chaos associated with National Adoption Day at our juvenile courthouse (over 300 kids adopted there last year) but at this point, I'll take it in order to finalize this year. Let's hope my certification comes through in the next two weeks!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Much Better
Sweets brought home a great progress report this week. She had "No missing work!" and a "Much better attitude about school." Her teacher also had her whole class give Sweets a bow on Friday because she wasn't late once and she turned in all her homework.
Total turnaround in less than two weeks. What's changed? Dad moved them back within walking distance of school, so Sweets sets her phone alarm to get up and get to school on time. I text and/or call her almost every day to remind her about homework and turning it in. That's it.
Sweets did it, pretty much all on her own. Someone just had to let her know it was important and then care to follow up. Great job, Sweets!
Total turnaround in less than two weeks. What's changed? Dad moved them back within walking distance of school, so Sweets sets her phone alarm to get up and get to school on time. I text and/or call her almost every day to remind her about homework and turning it in. That's it.
Sweets did it, pretty much all on her own. Someone just had to let her know it was important and then care to follow up. Great job, Sweets!
Friday, September 21, 2012
Capital T
spells Trouble,
or Terrible Twos!
BB has had a Capital T few days. First, he managed to take apart my cell phone while in a shoe store and LOSE the battery and back of the phone. Fabulous! I searched up and down the aisles, looked under all the fixtures, and looked in all the open shoe boxes within his reach to no avail. I'm pretty sure someone will buy a pair of shoes and find a phone battery stuck inside one of them!
Then, today BB managed to lock himself and Precious IN the van WITH the keys as they were getting ready to leave for therapy. I was at the court for my externship and not reachable. The Friday babysitter called Miss M who came down to the court to locate me. In the meantime, she found one of my old AAA cards and called them, and they called the fire department. By the time I found out, it was all over and everyone was fine. Luckily the van was in the garage and it was not that hot yet this morning.
BB is non-stop motion. He is very smart and a great problem solver. Unfortunately, that means he figures out ways to prop things up so he can climb on the counter and get to the top of the refrigerator or search out the keys to be able to unlock the van so he can get in the garage and climb in. I have a safety lock on the front door as well as a security screen door which is kept dead-bolted to make sure he is not the toddler found roaming the neighborhood in the middle of the night!
Here's hoping for a boring weekend!
or Terrible Twos!
BB has had a Capital T few days. First, he managed to take apart my cell phone while in a shoe store and LOSE the battery and back of the phone. Fabulous! I searched up and down the aisles, looked under all the fixtures, and looked in all the open shoe boxes within his reach to no avail. I'm pretty sure someone will buy a pair of shoes and find a phone battery stuck inside one of them!
Then, today BB managed to lock himself and Precious IN the van WITH the keys as they were getting ready to leave for therapy. I was at the court for my externship and not reachable. The Friday babysitter called Miss M who came down to the court to locate me. In the meantime, she found one of my old AAA cards and called them, and they called the fire department. By the time I found out, it was all over and everyone was fine. Luckily the van was in the garage and it was not that hot yet this morning.
BB is non-stop motion. He is very smart and a great problem solver. Unfortunately, that means he figures out ways to prop things up so he can climb on the counter and get to the top of the refrigerator or search out the keys to be able to unlock the van so he can get in the garage and climb in. I have a safety lock on the front door as well as a security screen door which is kept dead-bolted to make sure he is not the toddler found roaming the neighborhood in the middle of the night!
Here's hoping for a boring weekend!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Latest Progress
Precious has accomplished the following in about the last week:
- push to a sitting position from her belly in her crib
- six teeth showing (4 on top; 2 on bottom)
- picking up and eating individual O cereal pieces
- pull herself to standing position while holding your hands
- played in the nursery with BB during church service
- charmed the ladies with her smile and big brown eyes
- cried if any adult male shows too much interest
Friday, September 14, 2012
Sibling Love
Sweets is definitely attached to her siblings at my house. She misses them, and they miss her.
I picked her up by myself today. After we got home, she came in and said hi to everyone. BB came running to greet her.
Then Sweets dropped her stuff in her room with BB in tow. Next thing I know, I find the two of them in BB's room...
I picked her up by myself today. After we got home, she came in and said hi to everyone. BB came running to greet her.
Then Sweets dropped her stuff in her room with BB in tow. Next thing I know, I find the two of them in BB's room...
Reading!!! What an awesome big sister! I love these kids!
Monday, September 10, 2012
More?
I have been trying to simplify my life. To those of you who really know me, I'm sure you are laughing at this point. But truly, I have been working not to add anything new and have been trying to move at least one or two things off the platter.
IT'S NOT WORKING!!!
Every time I turn around, something new gets added! I don't choose it; it chooses me. Okay, I guess I sort of caused the speeding ticket, which necessitated defensive driving school (at least it could be completed online!), but really... 36mph on a three lane 25mph wide open access street at 6:50am in the morning! Can you say speed trap? Complaining aside, this is just one minor example of something that happened that added more to the plate. Thankfully, this one is already off (but I could have used those four hours more productively).
I am still trying to get adjusted to the new school year and coordinating all the schedules and activities. All of Buddy's homework is online. He doesn't have access to a computer with internet access unless he is supervised. Thankfully, Miss M has been letting him use her computer. Many times, my computer is not available until much later than he should be doing homework.
May's audio books are not available for an MP3 player this year. That format has been discontinued, and she needs either a i-device (which we don't have) or a full PC (which needs to be updated and shared with Buddy). Unfortunately, that one is still sitting in the middle of the plate and we are limping by in the meantime. The good news is that she claims she is successfully reading her textbooks and understanding them.
Sweets has become more needy from a distance. She is frequently texting me that she misses me and wants to be here. It is emotionally draining; I can't do anything about it. I try to "feed her meter" as another mom puts it, telling her she is doing a good job, reminding her it's not that long before she comes back, and trying to get her to focus on other things. It's hard trying to manage her schoolwork and activities from 45 minutes away!
Has anyone figured out how to find more than 24 hours in a day?
IT'S NOT WORKING!!!
Every time I turn around, something new gets added! I don't choose it; it chooses me. Okay, I guess I sort of caused the speeding ticket, which necessitated defensive driving school (at least it could be completed online!), but really... 36mph on a three lane 25mph wide open access street at 6:50am in the morning! Can you say speed trap? Complaining aside, this is just one minor example of something that happened that added more to the plate. Thankfully, this one is already off (but I could have used those four hours more productively).
I am still trying to get adjusted to the new school year and coordinating all the schedules and activities. All of Buddy's homework is online. He doesn't have access to a computer with internet access unless he is supervised. Thankfully, Miss M has been letting him use her computer. Many times, my computer is not available until much later than he should be doing homework.
May's audio books are not available for an MP3 player this year. That format has been discontinued, and she needs either a i-device (which we don't have) or a full PC (which needs to be updated and shared with Buddy). Unfortunately, that one is still sitting in the middle of the plate and we are limping by in the meantime. The good news is that she claims she is successfully reading her textbooks and understanding them.
Sweets has become more needy from a distance. She is frequently texting me that she misses me and wants to be here. It is emotionally draining; I can't do anything about it. I try to "feed her meter" as another mom puts it, telling her she is doing a good job, reminding her it's not that long before she comes back, and trying to get her to focus on other things. It's hard trying to manage her schoolwork and activities from 45 minutes away!
Has anyone figured out how to find more than 24 hours in a day?
Saturday, September 8, 2012
F
You have got to be kidding me! Fifth grade 1st quarter overall grade for Sweets was an F! She needs improvement in virtually every behavior category (listening, working independently, completing homework, staying on task, good use of time, self-discipline, etc.), but at least she was satisfactory working cooperatively, accepting responsibility, and respecting rules, rights and others.
The up side is that she met standards in all of her standardized testing for last year. In addition, she scored above average on the reading fluency at the beginning of this year.
Unfortunately, her grades this year are awful. According to Sweets, this is primarily because she doesn't turn in homework. She says it is often not done, because she gets home too late (yeah, 9+pm is too late on a school night and that is routine). The house she goes to after school is chaos with kids everywhere and little adult supervision. That is if her dad isn't driving her around for his priorities. She was late almost every day for the first three weeks of school. Not an overall conducive learning environment!
Sweets is smart. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she is gifted-smart, but dad hasn't let her be tested. Sweets can do the work. The math may not be easy, but she can do it. The rest is probably easy if she just applies herself. Unfortunately, she is learning to be lazy. Now what?!
The up side is that she met standards in all of her standardized testing for last year. In addition, she scored above average on the reading fluency at the beginning of this year.
Unfortunately, her grades this year are awful. According to Sweets, this is primarily because she doesn't turn in homework. She says it is often not done, because she gets home too late (yeah, 9+pm is too late on a school night and that is routine). The house she goes to after school is chaos with kids everywhere and little adult supervision. That is if her dad isn't driving her around for his priorities. She was late almost every day for the first three weeks of school. Not an overall conducive learning environment!
Sweets is smart. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she is gifted-smart, but dad hasn't let her be tested. Sweets can do the work. The math may not be easy, but she can do it. The rest is probably easy if she just applies herself. Unfortunately, she is learning to be lazy. Now what?!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Size 6-9 months
Is it just me, or is size 6-9 months virtually irrelevant? It seems like we just breeze by this size, almost not making it worth buying any clothes this size (thankfully many were passed down to Precious).
Both BB and Precious seem like they skipped straight from 3-6 months to 12 months clothing. Officially, the 6-9 month labels read that that they fit 16-18 pounds. I guess that's the issue. When my babies hit 16 pounds the next thing I knew they were both 19 pounds! It took only about a month in each case. In addition, I guess my little ones are long. Some of the 6-9 month one piece items are too short even at 16 pounds!
Precious still has a few 3-6 month items that fit and a few more 6-9 month items we can probably stretch for another couple weeks. As for the winter size 6-9 month clothing, I don't think she will be wearing it. It is still 100 degrees here!
Last weekend I pulled out two boxes from a closet marked "Girls <= 12 months" and found several 12 month outfits. It was a jackpot! This is in addition to some items passed on from friends. What a blessing!
It was fun remembering some of the clothes in these boxes, as Sweets wore them when she first came. She was in size 12 months when she arrived at 8 months old. I thought she was a BIG baby! If so, BB and Precious are just as BIG!
Both BB and Precious seem like they skipped straight from 3-6 months to 12 months clothing. Officially, the 6-9 month labels read that that they fit 16-18 pounds. I guess that's the issue. When my babies hit 16 pounds the next thing I knew they were both 19 pounds! It took only about a month in each case. In addition, I guess my little ones are long. Some of the 6-9 month one piece items are too short even at 16 pounds!
Precious still has a few 3-6 month items that fit and a few more 6-9 month items we can probably stretch for another couple weeks. As for the winter size 6-9 month clothing, I don't think she will be wearing it. It is still 100 degrees here!
Last weekend I pulled out two boxes from a closet marked "Girls <= 12 months" and found several 12 month outfits. It was a jackpot! This is in addition to some items passed on from friends. What a blessing!
It was fun remembering some of the clothes in these boxes, as Sweets wore them when she first came. She was in size 12 months when she arrived at 8 months old. I thought she was a BIG baby! If so, BB and Precious are just as BIG!
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