2 Weeks Together

So Jacob has been with us for 2 weeks! And he is settling in nicely. He is acting just as his foster mother described. And he is smiling MUCH more! And....he has started giving kisses!!! He's not quite as huggy and kissy as Elijah - he gives hugs and kisses all day without me even having to ask for most of them. I still ask for them with Jacob, but I am happy with this victory!

When we met his foster mother, we asked lots of questions. One of those questions was what makes him upset. The only thing she said was "going to bed". And she said it with emphasis. We try to keep a tight nap and bedtime schedule. I feel it makes a big difference. I don't think Jacob is used to this. We were told that he doesn't usually nap, and if he does, he doesn't go to bed until like 11pm. Yikes! He fell easily into our schedule. But now he is feeling more comfortable to give us some push back. A couple nights ago he started whining when we go upstairs for nighttime bath/bed, and he started whining when we go for nap. He even started whining when we change his diaper. And it sometimes escalates into a very whiny cry with little to no tears. Once he is in bed, he calms down, but it is the anticipation. He just doesn't want to stop playing. He points to go downstairs.

We tried reasoning with him, and we tried comforting him. None of that was working. So we decided to change our approach starting yesterday. With a small whine, we redirect, but we keep pushing him through the routine. If he starts to get to his whine/cry (the one with no tears), then we continue to push him through the routine without giving much acknowledgement to the cry. Remember that we are still in the bonding/attachment phase, so leaving him alone to throw his tantrum or spanking is not an option. We also changed the nighttime routine slightly. We were doing: dinner, outside playtime, bath, and then bed. We changed it yesterday to outside playtime, dinner, bath and then bed. That way he isn't going from playing straight to getting ready for bed. And it worked much better. He still whined, but not nearly as bad. He is very smart, and I think he will catch on quick. Especially since we are starting from the beginning that the whining doesn't work on us. And I think he liked that. In fact, he wasn't completely asleep when we left him in his room. He managed to fall asleep without us in the room! And a couple nights ago he started sleeping through the night without us in there. Yay! These are really big accomplishments. Just for a point of reference, we were told that most kids don't reach this point until about 6 months to a year after placement. So this is HUGE! He even woke up this morning and sang in his bed until we came and got him. Hopefully he re-potty trains this easy. Maybe I'll start that in a week or 2. We also learned the hard way that skipping even 1 nap is not a good idea. We'll work up to that, but for now, a nap every day is in order!

In other news, Rob starts back to work on Monday. I am not looking forward to it. I am not concerned about whether I can handle two, but it is more about being spoiled by having Rob here to share the responsibilities. Also, we Daisy found a burrow in our yard of mice. Or voles. Not sure which one. And our neighbor found snakes - one her deck and one in her basement, so I'm pretty sure the two are related. I hope we don't get snakes! Or maybe just in our yard so they eat the rodents. But I just don't want either in the house. So now we have to deal with that and trying to keep Daisy from eating them. Yep, you read that right - eating them. That is how we found out we had them. She brought one inside last night and ate it. Then vomited in the middle of the night. I almost vomited too. I am waiting to hear back from the exterminator as to what we should do/what they can do. I want them gone before Rob goes back to work.