Court date was continued....

The court date we were nervously waiting for hasn't happened yet. One of the lawyers asked for a continuance because he was going to be out of town. So, we are still waiting. But, I found out it may not be so bad that we have to wait because DCS doesn't have their end of things done to ask for what we were waiting on anyway. I doubt they will have everything ready by the new court date (April 5), but at least I know that ahead of time now.

We are still dealing with the temper tantrums with Z, but now, I'm starting to think they are happening as a result of Z having consistent visits with his mom. For the first time in several months, she has came to four visits in a row. The visis stress him out, and with them being every week, he doesn't get a chance to regroup before the next one comes along. I have talked to the CASA and the case manager about his behavior and they both agree it is the visits that are most likely the cause of his change in behavior. An interesting thing has happened that supports this theory. Z has always loved his case manager. She is the one who has supervised all of his visits and really been the only positive, consistent person for him. But recently, his attitude toward her has changed dramatically. This past week, we saw her outside the building where the visits are held and Z immediately hid behind me and starting saying no. He has begun to associate her with his mom and doesn't want anything to do with either one. The CASA was upset to hear this, but not surprised, because the visits just haven't been going well at all. She is petitioning for visits with Z and his mom to stop. Both her and the case manager feel they are harmful to Z. I also told them I feel that me bringing him to the visits is harmful to our relationship. Z and I have definitely bonded, but it feels like I am betraying his trust when I take him to visits that I know are miserable for him. How can a two year old understand that I am taking him because I have to, not because I want to. I really hope these visits stop soon.

With all that being said, Z really is doing great. He is so precious. We are all crazy about him.

W continues to have unsupervised visits with his mom. Next Saturday, her visit time will increase so she will have him all day. Then in a few weeks, she will get him all night and then all day Sunday too. I hope things continue to go well for her and W. Little W is still having trouble with his swallowing. He is still on thickened formula and eating stage 2 baby foods. We have tried giving him the dissolvable puffs a few times, but he ends up gagging and then throwing up anything and everything that was in his stomach, which is not a pleasant experience. The trouble he is having is most likely a result of him being born 10 weeks early, and possibly the fact that he had no prenatal care. Hopefully, with continued speech therapy, he will continue to make improvements and be caught up to his peers. It would be great if he could enjoy his birthday cake next month!

G is hopefully going to be able to return to unsupervised visits with his dad soon, maybe by next weekend. I talked to his dad for quite a while yesterday after their visit and he seems anxious to get G home. I hope things work out for them too.