First Placement

We got our first foster placement today. It's an emergency placement of a sweet four-month old baby boy. He has siblings that have been adopted by other families and he may move to one of those families but for now he's with us. I don't quite know how to feel. On the one hand I'm really excited to have a baby in the house again. On the other hand the fact that he's here with us means that another family has been broken apart. I feel kind of guilty for being so happy to have him here.

We got the call that the baby was coming around 5pm and he was here by 6:30pm. I made a quick run to Target before he got here to get diapers and formula. I got the wrong size diapers – I was imagining that the baby would be tiny and malnourished. This baby is HUGE. I'd guess he weighs over twenty pounds and he wears nine month clothes. He has the chunkiest thighs I've ever seen!

As soon as he arrived, Cash turned into big brother extraordinaire. The social worker who brought the baby over had to stay and go over his paperwork with us. Cash walked into the room we were in, pointed at her and said, "When is SHE going to LEAVE?" He wanted to be alone with his new baby! He spent the rest of the night patting the baby, fetching diapers and quizzing us about every move and sound the baby made.

West immediately regressed into baby mode. He wanted to put a diaper on, drink his chocolate milk from a bottle and have a pacifier. I nixed the diaper and bottle idea but I did let him have a pacifier and some extra cuddle time. That seemed to help.

Now we start the whirlwind of doctor's appointments, court dates and social worker visits. It should be an adventure to say the least!