One week closer

We had our first week of unsupervised visits with our little guy this past week. He really got to see what life would be like living in our home. Just the routine, mundane, day in day out stuff. T is babysitting full time and not home until after 5 each day. R was away at her first youth camp. K was here with us most of the time. Michael had to work late, an unfortunate reality of our lives, and didn't get to see J a couple of nights. Better this than his initial visits being filled with expectations of being the center of the universe and trips to Disney World and Legoland - this is real life. Don't get me wrong the Disney and Legoland trips will come later but for now we just want to maintain the monotony. Tuesday we had a 4 hour visit that I detailed in this earlier post.

It was just the two of us for a while on Wednesday's visit. When I asked what he wanted to do until K got home from school (K is participating in extended school year) he suggested WE make chocolate chip cookies.  So we stopped to buy chocolate chips on the way home. This is where he met Bryana - she is the first family friend to have met our son. I'm sure his take was that we have extremely friendly cashiers at our local Publix. It was SO much fun to bake with him. Initially when we got home he went to his room and commenced playing Legos and told me to 'let him know when the cookies were ready.' I explained that this is not how WE bake cookies. So together WE made his first ever batch of chocolate chip cookies and then continued to make a batch of gingersnaps that K could have. Half way through the first batch of cookies, after he cracked an egg to perfection, he suggested he and I get our own TV cooking show. He obviously felt more confident in his baking abilities. He frequently reminds me of the significance of the small things I have done and continue to do with our girls. From the time they were able to stand on a chair in the kitchen and almost reach the counter top the girls were baking with me or Grammie Susan.

K and R baking up a storm in Charter's Settlement.

Wednesday's visit also included a trip to the Y for his swimming lessons in the middle of our visit. K and T got to come along and watch him at his lesson.

Our official visit schedule is 4 hours Tuesday & Thursday afternoons. so we had another visit on Thursday. Any other mutually agreeable visitation times between his foster mom & I are just a bonus. For example Friday for 8 hours! On Friday R got home from youth camp and her brother was with us when we picked her up from church and he met many people there. Later when we asked him if he remembered this person or that person - he couldn't remember who any of them were. Sorry everyone. It was a bit overwhelming I'm sure because they have all been hearing about him for weeks but they were all new to him. In true brotherly fashion he grabbed onto her pretty pink suitcase and pulled it around the parking lot while we each introduced him to this friend and that friend. I'm not sure how this came to be that J took her suitcase from her but I was impressed by this chivalrous act. I'm sure there will come a point in the future that their brother- sister relationship takes a turn in a different direction and I'll be happy for this small act of kindness.

For now we will have a quiet weekend at home and see our boy again on Tuesday.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!