Updates 14 and 7 months

We have 3 kids in our home that have a birthday on the 2nd, so Sept 2nd, Rachel turned 6, Zachariah, 14 months, and Talan, 7 months. I have been horrible about keeping up with my updates lately, and need to get back at it. That is the only way I can keep up with what each one is doing at that age.

Zachariah is officially a walker. He started walking great about 2 weeks ago. He is on the move all the time. It is so cute to watch how quickly his personality is changing. I am already seeing him turning from a baby to a toddler. He is so funny. He LOVES to play with the big kids. LOVES it. He runs back and forth and squeals at them...and they all love every minute of it. Noah has been excited that he will play with his cars and bigger star wars stuff...he is starting to feel like he has a real buddy in this house. Not long ago we did room rearranging, and Noah requested to share a room with Zach. He wakes up and disturbs him, and I have offered to switch them back around, but he says no, he likes sharing a room with him. As big as he is getting, he still likes to snuggle. He is so sweet. He will come up to any one of us, (including Talan) and just lay his head on our arm, shoulder, and give us a hug. It is so sweet. We had a rough few weeks while he was getting FOUR teeth at once, but now that they are in, he is back to being his sweet Zach self. He has started tickling people. It is hilarious! When I pick him up from daycare, he gets SO excited...I just love to see it, and then when I pick him up, he will tickle me under the chin and scrunch his face up....I love it! One day, one of the teachers asked me if we tickle him a lot, b/c he had been tickling her all day long when she picked him up. too funny!

They have cut his dad's visits down to 1 day a week...I have loved that. I only have to deal with that on Monday mornings, instead of Monday and Wednesday. I have counted them down on the calendar. IF they for sure terminate in October, then we only have 6 more visits with dad before that will be over with. I am crossing my fingers....I am so ready to close that chapter....even though I am very sympathetic to what his dad must be feeling right now, knowing it may be soon that he will never see him again. He may not be fit to be his parent, but I know he loves him, and has been very involved in his life...I know his dad will miss him a lot.

"Look at all my teeth!! I have 6 now, and another one just poked through!"

This is my silly scrunch up face I make now
I need to do a blog post on things we have gotten for Free. People have been so generous to us.

Our foster care group has a "Mall" with all free things that people have donated. Foster parents can go there and just get whatever they need. It is awesome...I have gotten so many nice things from there. This Johnny Jumper is one of them. I got it to save for Talan, but Noah found it the other day and wanted Zachariah to try it out. He LOVES it! We have a beam across the living room, that this works perfect, and he has the best time swinging and jumping in it.

Talan is 7 months. I really need to do a post just on him. I have struggled a lot since he has come home from the hospital. He is a sweet baby, and his disposition has changed so much for the better, but his constant care just wears me out.

I have been frustrated that he has made very little progress. He was 3 months old when we got him, and I thought...not big deal he can't do anything, he is only 3 months. And, he had made some progress in that month. Holding his head up when he was on his stomach, seeming to make more eye contact. That month and a half in the hospital set him back physically a lot, I think. In some ways he is so much healthier, and happier, but his response level has declined it seems. He was smiling when he first came out of the hospital for about a week, and then he just stopped. He will only make eye contact for about 2 seconds, and then his eyes wander away. He seems so blank, so often. Other times he will coo and seem very happy, but it is never in response to what is going on around him. He had his evaluations for therapy a couple of weeks ago, and he tested at 0-1 month old in every area. He is now a 7 month old that can't do anything. Now I am starting to be concerned.

I do love his daycare he is in. Everyone there loves him so much, and he does really well there. I couldn't be more pleased with it. They have a nurse on staff, so I feel like he really gets better care when he is there than when he is home with me.

He really is such a sweet thing. He is so sweet to hold. He just snuggles up and is so content....so unlike the baby he first was when we got him, who would just scream and scream. He is a sweety pie.

Noah took the one below while I was coming out of the bathroom with him after his bath. I realized I had never taken any photos of him at bathtime. He used to HATE it...and just scream and scream. While he was in the hospital, I came across this inflatable tub at the "free store" as the kids call it, and it has been perfect for him. He loves his bath now.

If you notice in the corner of the photo, that is his "button" or his feeding tube. That part of his care has been very easy...(except when Zach is running around and tries to pull on it while I am feeding him...luckily I have 3 kids that will usually distract him)

His little eyes are swollen, he has been sick with respiratory junk these past couple of weeks.