Court Hearing for Little Guy

Today we had another court hearing for Little Guy. As expected, not a whole lot was decided at this point. The parents still have another 3 months to get their act together. The commissioner ordered that a permanency planning hearing be scheduled for February 2007, at which time he will decide if Little Guy is to stay with us or to return home. Right now, the social worker is asking for termination of parental rights, based on actions of the parents up to this point. The parents have not maintained 100% visitation as ordered by the court, nor have they completed all of the other services ordered by the court (i.e. drug testing, parenting classes, drug abuse support groups, counseling, etc.). The commissioner stated to the parents today that due to their lack of participation in court ordered services/visits, Little Guy does not know his birthparents and has bonded and attached to us as his parents. He told them that they have some very hard decisions to make regarding Little Guy, and that they will have to sacrifice some things if they want to have him returned to their home. He finished by saying that they need to show 100% compliance in all visits/services from now on in order to even have the chance to have Little Guy returned to them.

The social worker for the case spoke with the parents about the option of an open adoption, in which they would be able to see Little Guy once or twice a year, and get letters, cards, & photo updates about him. At this time, they have not made a decision one way or another, but I believe the social worker is going to continue talking with them about this option and how it may be in their best interest.

Little Guy's mom is pregnant again, and is due on February 7 with a little girl. That was actually Little Guy's due date last year, but he was born on December 29. We are fully expecting that she will have the baby early, probably in January, and at this time, the social worker is pushing to have this one placed in our home as well. Again, a lot will rest on what the parents decide to do over the next 3 months.

Little Man is doing good - he has been with us for 5 months now. He still has visits with his birthmom, but we are hoping that those will end before Christmas. The termination of parental rights has been submitted to the courts, but a date for the hearing has not been set yet. Visits will continue until the time of termination, and right now he is really struggling on visit days. The older he gets, the more he is able to differentiate between the mom he sees twice a week versus the mom and dad he lives with. It's getting harder on him, especially with some of the stress that transfers during the visits. Once the termination is done, we can start the adoption paperwork. But we are thrilled to have him in our home, and we know that someday soon he will truly be our son, officially! He is eating pretty good, and really likes his veggies! He has about 30 words right now, although he seems to be dropping the ending consonants on most of them. He loves to climb on top of everything, and he really enjoys sitting in the lid drawer in the kitchen. He is 19-1/2 months old and about 26 pounds - and a very SOLID 26 pounds - my husband is sure he will be a football player!

Little Guy is growing by leaps and bounds. He has one tooth all the way up (bottom left), one tooth 1/4 of the way up (bottom right) and two top teeth have broken the surface of his gums. Add to this a slight cold, and the poor guy has a constantly runny nose! He seems to be able to hear us pull the kleenex from the box, and knows we are soon to come wipe his nose. Not his favorite thing! He is crawling now, just started this last Sunday. And he's getting very quick! It doesn't take him long to go from our living room to the kitchen, and he seems to really enjoy hanging out under the dining room table! We know he wants to just run after Little Man, so I expect that very soon he will be pulling himself up on the furniture. He is 10 months old and about 16 pounds, but not quite as solid as Little Man. He still seems like a feather to me compared to Little Man. It's hard to remember the time when we brought him home and he was only 5 pounds. It seems like ages ago! For me, when I look at his feet, that's where I can see the growth. And his hair! It's still red, but not as coppery, starting to turn blonde in some spots. And it's so curly! I can almost get it into an afro look sometimes, especially freshly dried after a bath! He and Little Man play really well together, and they enjoy making each other laugh. I hope that they get to continue growing up together!

To add to everything else going on at this time of year, we are getting ready to put our house on the market and move to a bigger house. We are not 100% sure of the house we are moving to, but right now we are seriously looking at and talking with the owners of a house that has 5 bedrooms as opposed to our current 3. This will give us plenty of room for children!

That's all for now. I wish I could be more consistent with keeping my blog updated, but with two little ones mobile now, it's harder and harder to get time to myself. Especially now that I have to pack up and get ready for a move! Yikes!