Trina G asked that we move visitation to Wednesday August 3rd next week instead of Thursday. It will still be from 4-8. She also asks that we be sure an bring her blanket. She thinks perhaps that Carrie may take comfort with kiki since she doesn't seem to enjoy her mother's company.

Trina B, Speech Therapist, called me today. She is going to go to Carrie'e daycare and observe/evaluate her on Thursday morning. She gave me her phone number in case we need to contact her.

I was thinking about visitation on August 9 which is a court date. If my mom is going to drive up with Stewart, then perhaps she could keep Carrie while we're in court. Then Stewart could have his visit immediately after court. Carmen could have her's when Stewart is finished. I'm going to ask Trina G to arrange this for us. (It's confusing now to have a social worker and a speech therapist with the same name.)

Several weeks ago Trina filled out a request for duplicates of Carrie's Social Security card and birth certificate. I sent her an email today asking if she had received those yet? She replied to say that she has not and will check on it.

My plan was to get up at 5:30 and get myself showered and dressed before getting Carrie up. I overslept and didn’t get up until 6:05AM. I asked Kent to get Carrie up and start her breakfast while I got ready. She ate a banana, but would eat any yogurt or applesauce for her prevacid. When it was time to get dressed we discovered that she was having a BM during breakfast. That must have been why she wouldn’t eat. After we were both dressed I offered her just one bite of the applesauce with her Prevacid on it. She ate it. Then she ate some of my oatmeal. I got all her food for the day ready last night and put a cooler out to use for the trip to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. We left home at 6:50AM.

We arrived at CCH at 8:45AM, parked and found our way to Bldg C, 2nd Floor. Carrie’s mom was already there waiting. I registered for the appointment, giving the receptionist Carrie’s updated address and medical coverage information. Carrie saw her mom and went to greet her. She became quite fussy when I tried to keep her with me. I was a bit uncomfortable in this situation. Technically, her mom isn’t allowed any unsupervised contact. Trina wasn’t there yet. In order to keep her from screaming, I just let her go. In the end, all she wanted to do was go to the bookshelf and play area. Carmen talked to her using sign language.

A nurse/tech came out to take Carrie’s weight and measurements. She now weighs about 22.5 pounds. I had to take off her clothes to get naked weight. Her mom made several comments in a row about her (nonexistent) diaper rash. The interesting thing is that her mom didn’t address me or the nurse/tech. She spoke directly to Carrie. I pretended to ignore her. When the nurse/tech asked if we wanted to go to an exam room, I told her I preferred to stay in the waiting room until Trina arrived. Trina showed up about 20 minutes late.

We all four went to the exam room where a nurse questioned me about Carrie’s recent eating habits as well as her urination and bowel movements. Once the nurse left, Carrie’s mom asked about pediasure. I told her that I didn’t get any direct instructions to give Carrie pediasure. Carrie’s mom continued to talk about pediasure, making several seemingly sarcastic comments. I finally told her that I had some pediasure, but Carrie didn’t like to drink it. She prefers milk/water/juice and REAL food. Trina told Carrie’s mom that if she was going to cause trouble she would have to leave. She asked why. Trina mentioned her sarcastic comments. I told her to just chill out and lay off the pediasure.

As it turns out, Carrie has gained on average 11 grams per day since June 28. The expected average for a child her age is 5 grams per day. Dr. K was quite pleased with her progress. He even said “good job” to me. He didn’t need to observe her while eating. The next appointment is October 20 at 9:45AM.

Carrie visited her mom at CSB from 11:15AM to 1:15PM.

Last night was probably the worst yet. I think she woke up and whimpered every hour. It was never long enough that I needed to get up, but I woke up each time. She woke up at about 5:30 and wouldn’t stop crying until I brought her to bed with me. We slept until about 7:15. She had a banana and some milk before going to daycare.

Her nap at daycare was very short, less than 30 minutes. This is consistent with the last time she had a nightmare. Dinner was pizza rolls and French fries. She also ate a slice of bread and drank 6 ounces of milk. Kent got her a helium balloon at Kroger. She had a lot of fun with it. Because we have to leave the house tomorrow morning at 6:30AM I gave her a bath at 7:30 and put her to bed at 8PM. She was ready because of the restless night last night and short nap today.

Carrie got up at 6:30 this morning. Again, she didn’t have a BM. This time she had a bit of a rash. She ate a banana. When Kent took her to daycare, he asked them to use rash ointment.

Her day sheet said that she finally had a BM around 9AM.

Dinner for Carrie was cheese ravioli. My friend Rodney brought us a baked penne pasta dish for dinner. Carrie ate some off my plate after eating her own dinner. After dinner she played with her new Little Tikes rider toy. She put her Care Bear on it and pushed it around the living room. She kept trying to make it stand up and became frustrated when it wouldn’t stay that way. I love to watch her imagination at work. I played on the floor with her a bit. She loves to “hide” under the sofa console table. I hid with her. Then we played with some dominoes. She more or less scattered them all over the floor. She did, however, help me put them back in the box.

Kent bought a bicycle trailer today for Carrie to ride in behind one of us. We took it for a test drive and went to see Will and Toby. Will’s sister Lynn was there with her granddaughter, Tara Lynn. They hadn’t seen Carrie since July 3. They all talked about how much she has blossomed. Lynn particularly commented that eyes are more twinkly and she smiles more. Carrie showed us all how well she could drink from a water bottle. She did pretty good, but managed to soak the front of her shirt.

Bath and bed were the usual. But at about 9:20PM she woke up with another of her nightmares. This time it took quite a bit longer to calm her down. I lay with her on the regular bed for about 30 minutes. When I thought she was asleep I put her in the crib. Ten minutes later she cried again. I got her out and lay with her on the regular bed again. This time I fell asleep and woke up at 10:50PM. She was sound asleep so I put her in her crib.

Someone I work with brought me a wonderful blue, red and yellow toy box with little cubby containers. It’ll look great in Carrie’s room.

Carrie got up at 6:30 today. No BM in her diaper this time. She had a banana and yogurt. She went to daycare at around 7:45.

Kent picked her up again today so I could work late (until 6PM). Once my class is over on August 4 I won’t have to work so late. Her day sheet said that she only napped 30 minutes. She had a BM at 4PM.

Dinner was chicken nuggets and tater tots. She sat in her high chair and nearly fell asleep. I suppose because her nap was so short at daycare. She managed to eat 4 nuggets. We went outside to play in order to stay awake until 8PM.

At 8PM I gave her a bath, put lotion on and put her to bed. She was again happy to snuggle with kiki.
Some of our very good friends gave us a gift certificate to Pedal Power today. The idea is for us to get a bicycle trailer. This is their gift to us for the upcoming shower.

There is a hearing on August 9 at 10AM in front of Judge C. Originally at issue was Stewart's objection to Carrie being in foster care and Carmen's motion to have Gilda dismissed. Carmen's objection to my having custody of Carrie has been added to the agenda.

Bruce will either withdraw Stewart's objection beforehand or choose not to proceed. I don't necessarily have to be present for the hearing about Gilda. However, Carmen's objection involves me, so I have to attend. Hannah can't be there because she'll be on vacation. She originally told the court that she would be on vacation, but they chose to go with it.

The following people are not in favor of moving Carrie again: Trina (caseworker), Norah (guardian), Bruce, and Gilda. Hannah has told me that I shouldn't have anything to worry about. If I start to feel uncomfortable with how things are proceeding she said I can ask for it to be continued until she can be present.

Carrie got up pretty early again today. She and Kent had breakfast together. We finally got a daily pill organizer for her Prevacid. This makes it much easier to remember whether or not we gave it to her.

She was a bit crankier today. She took another early nap before lunch. We played on the porch and in the front yard again after lunch. Dinner was popcorn fish bites with tater tots. I bought some breaded, frozen shrimp to experiment with. I only prepared 2 and put them with her fish. She knew the difference and didn’t eat the shrimp.

After lunch Carrie appeared sleepy again and became cranky. I let her go to sleep at 5 for an hour. When I woke her up she had a low-grade fever. I gave her a small dose of children’s Tylenol. She was whiny and clingy, so I just held her until she felt better.

Karen called to see if we were going for another walk. She had a fresh peach cobbler and wanted us to stop by for a piece. Karla left today for a business trip so Karen was home alone. We put one of the dresses on Carrie that Karen & Karla bought for her in Cape Cod. She looked adorable. We were hoping this would please Karen. She has gotten such a kick out of buying things for Carrie.

After eating our peach cobbler and ice cream (Carrie only ate ice cream), some other neighbors dropped by (Will and Andrea). They have two children who are 4 and 6. They offered to help us if we had questions. Will is a doctor. He asked if we had a pediatrician yet and if I was going to have someone look at Carrie’s wandering eye. I told him yes on both questions. While there, the 4 year-old (Chelsea) decided that she would give Carrie some of her toys. She brought over a wonderful Fisher-Price electronic push-button toy that makes all sorts of sounds. It has interchangeable rings with different functions and sits at table-height for Carrie. She loved it and could hardly wait for us to put in the batteries. Chelsea also brought over a riding toy from Little Tikes. It has 4 blue wheels, a yellow body and a steering wheel with a squeaky horn. Carrie loved it too. She pushes herself backwards on it. We went home at 8PM and took a later bath tonight because of the early evening nap/fever. She happily went to her crib and snuggled with Kiki.

Today Carrie was awake far earlier than I wanted to get up. I brought her to bed with me for a while. Kent came and got her around 7:30 and gave her yogurt, banana and milk for breakfast. When I got up I made some oatmeal for myself. I ended up sharing it with her.

We played in the house and on the porch a little bit. She loves to play on the porch. We have a swing and two padded wicker chairs and a wooden table with 4 chairs for eating sometimes. She also has her very own chair with red dinosaur printed cloth. I get a bit nervous on the porch sometimes because it’s high enough for 4 large limestone steps. The rest of the porch is surrounded by a railing so as long as I keep her away from the steps we’re fine. She likes to tease me by going to the edge. Then we go down the steps together and play in the yard. She likes to walk to the neighbor’s driveway. She waves at people walking by and at cars. She even waved at an airplane that flew overhead. The funny thing is, she doesn’t wave at people consistently when they’re leaving. I think maybe she feels compelled to perform so she’s rebelling (just a theory).

She was acting sleepy by 10:30 and took a 90-minute nap. We had lunch afterwards. My mom came up at about 1:30. While mom was there I went to work for a few hours to make up the time I missed for class and Carrie’s medical card appointment. When I got back mom left. We played some more in the afternoon and even went for a walk around the neighborhood. Our friends Karen & Karla were having people over for dinner. They invited us up to their porch for dessert when we passed by. They were having blueberry pie with ice cream. I gave Carrie some. The first 2 or 3 bites went down great. Then she spit out the 4th bite all over my shorts. Everyone present made a big deal over her and talked about how much she seems to be “coming out of her shell”. She certainly liked the attention. By 7:30 she was sleepy so we strolled back home for the usual bath and bed.

Now that I’m working longer hours and taking a class, Kent has really been helping me with Carrie. He got her up at 6:30AM today and gave her breakfast of banana and milk. He dropped her off at daycare around 7:45AM.

The day sheet says they had cheerios for breakfast. They had grilled cheese, chicken & noodles and peaches for lunch. She ate 4 servings of noodles. Her nap was 45 minutes. A note at the bottom says she was super happy (with a star and a smiley face). She didn’t have a BM at daycare. It occurred to me recently that I should scan all the daycare day sheets and keep a PDF copy of them.

We had cheese ravioli with Kent’s homemade spaghetti sauce for dinner. Carrie wouldn’t eat it (surprise), so I gave her chicken nuggets. I have read the toddlers will eat the same thing for days on end. As long as she’s getting nutrition I suppose it’s OK. It’s not like I’m feeding her pudding and candy. Shortly after dinner she had a BM. I gave her a bath at 8PM and put her to bed. Our routine has evolved into bath, a puppet show with Bunny the bath mitt, lotion and bed. She loves to get out of the tub and be wrapped in the towel. She also loves to grab her blanket (kiki) and get into her crib. This is such a source of satisfaction for me. I’m glad she’s comfortable enough to go to bed without being rocked to sleep.

I have also been reading books to her. Thanks to friends, she has quite a collection now, including Goodnight Moon, The Bedtime Book, Dr. Seuss’s Strange Animal Sounds, The Tortoise and the Hare, How Does a Dinosaur Clean His Room, Pat the Bunny, and a book about a caterpillar. I personally love Pat the Bunny. Each page has something for her to touch. One page has scented flowers. She will actually put her nose on the page and sniff!
I wrote this letter to my doctor:

Hi Dr. M...

My niece, Carrie, has been with me for almost three weeks now. On Wednesday I applied for and qualified for a medical card for her. Things are going really well, aside from my being extremely tired. Now I need a pediatrician. My neighbors/friends recommended Dr. L at Ky Clinic South. He has been their pediatrician for 13 years. When I called to make an appointment for Carrie, they told me that South doesn't take medical cards. So, now I'm back to the drawing board. As a back-up plan, I made an appointment for her at UK General Pediatrics on August 5. I'm hoping that you will make a recommendation or two.

She is well and doesn't have an urgent need to see a doctor. However, I am required by the Butler Co. OH court to have her examined/evaluated by a physician that doesn't know of her history. All the physicians she has seen in OH have made most of their recommendations and treatment plans based on her mother's skewed reports of potentially fictitious disorders. The trial is November 2 & 3. So, I need to have her examined and perhaps have several tests performed well before those dates.

I look forward to your response. I hope all is well with you.

Thanks!

By this time, wake up is consistently between 6:45AM and 7:00AM. She’s been eating a banana and yogurt for breakfast. It’s best to use yogurt for giving her Prevacid. The script bottle says to use applesauce, but that’s not a very appetizing breakfast food (for me anyway). I took her to daycare at 7:45AM.

I went to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services at 3PM today and signed Carrie up for a medical card. She was approved on the spot. I finished just before 5PM and picked Carrie up right at 5PM. I love the way she is so happy to see me. She is actually starting to run to me now. This, of course, means that her walking is getting so much better. She stumbles very little now.

Our friends Drew and Gabe brought dinner over. Gabe is an excellent cook and sometimes bakes an extra casserole or makes an extra large pot of stew. They are such nice freinds. Carrie she ate well. She always does. Her little belly is getting bigger.

[I’m writing this on July 20. I’ve been terribly busy so the details will be a bit sketchy. The morning part comes mostly from notes on the daycare “My Day” sheet. I started my job at UK as a regular full-time employee on July 11, so I’m working longer days.]

Carrie slept in a little later again today. She got up at 7:10AM with a BM in her diaper. I love that she is so regular! For breakfast at home she had some applesauce and milk. I decided again not to feed her too much at home to see if she would eat breakfast at daycare. They had pancakes. When I dropped her off she sat down at the table as if she were going to eat.

When I picked her up at approximately 5:15 I saw the note that she didn’t eat breakfast. She did nap today, but only 50 minutes. She had cheeseburger, applesauce and baked beans for lunch. The note said she *loved* the cheeseburger.

I can’t remember what dinner was but bath and bedtime were the usual 8:00-9:00. She seems to be getting more comfortable with our routine.

Based on a recommendation from one of my neighbors I have chosen someone to be Carrie's pediatrician. His office asked that I have her records transferred before making an appointment. The trouble with this is that he will know her history before examining her. The attorneys want her to be evaluated without the new MD knowing her history. I'm going to call back and give the appointment receptionist a minimum of information and ask if we can set up an appointment without having the records transferred. I'll get a copy of the records for my own files and give them a copy later.

Last night was a bad night. Carrie woke up after about an hour and a half crying quite a bit. It was as if she had a nightmare. It was probably 30 minutes or so before she calmed down and went back to sleep. She slept in this morning until 7:20. This put us behind so I didn’t feed her breakfast at home. It’s time to see if she’ll eat the daycare breakfast. She had a BM diaper (as usual). She was a bit whiny while getting ready. The daycare breakfast was fruit loops with milk and pineapple chunks. She favored the pineapple over the fruit loops, but she did eat some of the loops with her fingers. She’s not great with a spoon yet.

When I picked her up from daycare I got a note that she had not napped. I can’t help but wonder if she did have a nightmare and if it made her afraid to go to sleep at daycare. I braced myself for a cranky baby. At home I made some macaroni and cheese for dinner. She ate quite a bit. I have been using saucer-sized paper plates for her to eat from. She ate two platefuls and drank about 6 ounces of milk. We went to see our friends John & Pat. Some of our mutual friends were in town from Florida and wanted to meet Carrie. Several people brought gifts like books and stuffed animals. It was all very sweet. Despite no nap she was very well behaved. I think she liked the attention. The sweetness ended promptly at 7:30. She was very tired, but didn’t want to leave the party. I had to wrestle her into the car seat. Once we got home she took a bath and went to bed with no problem.

Carrie had a BM diaper this morning when she got up at 7AM. She had a banana and yogurt for breakfast. When I toasted my bagel and put salmon-flavored cream cheese on it she wanted some. She ate maybe two bites of it.

Lunch was the usual chicken nuggets with some apple sauce and crackers. She definitely has her favorite foods. I tried today but still haven’t been able to get her to eat ravioli. Tonya the foster mom said she liked it. Maybe she doesn’t like Chef Boyardee. Her diaper was wet after lunch.

My friend Rob stopped by again at 3:00. This time he came bearing gifts. He had a book titled Good Night Moon for Carrie and one called What to Expect: The Toddler Years for me. We were planning to be at Peter & Toby’s by 4:00 but Rob didn’t leave until around 4:15. In the meantime I had to change Carrie’s diaper: BM.

I took fish sticks and apple sauce to Peter & Toby’s house for Carrie’s dinner. Toby was going to serve a salad with freshly grilled tuna on it. I wasn’t sure if Carrie would go for that. He also served a cold soup made of carrots and something else. Carrie ate all of her fish sticks and tried my tuna and soup. She only had a couple bites of each. She played hide-and-seek with us by hiding behind the dining room door. Peter played with her over and over. Her imaginative play skills are really coming through. After dinner, Carrie played the piano. After a few notes she applauded. This went on for nearly 30 minutes. Toby gave her a small teddy bear to play with. She began to play hid-and-seek with it by putting it in the TV armoire. We left at 7:30. I gave her a bath at 8:00 and put her to bed.

This morning Carrie woke up at around 6AM. I got up and checked her diaper. I thought that she surely wasn’t ready to get up so early. Her diaper was dry. She didn’t want to go back to her crib so I brought her to bed with me. I rationalized this by saying it was a weekend treat. I certainly don’t want to make a habit of letting her sleep with me. I don’t think it’s very restful for either of us. Kent finally took her down for breakfast at 7:10. She had a banana and a 6oz container of yogurt.

When I got up we made biscuits and gravy. She ate 2 biscuits covered with gravy.

My journal has been filled with too much narrative so far. I’m going to be a little more succinct.

Carrie ate many small meals today. Throughout the day she had a bun top, apple sauce, yogurt, French fries, chicken nuggets, Ritz crackers, peaches, water, juice and milk.

We played in the inflatable pool for about 30 minutes. At 6:00 we went to the arboretum for a free concert presented by the Central Kentucky Concert Band. Carrie moved to the music, “talked” on my friend’s cell phone, waved at a passing airplane, drank from my water bottle and many other things. She went to bed at approximately 8PM when we returned from the concert.

My friend Rob stopped by to meet her. When he was playing with her he asked where her nose was. She pointed to it correctly. I’m thrilled every day to see her pick up a new skill.

Carrie got up this morning at 6:40AM and ate a banana and some applesauce. I gave her a quick sponge bath and dressed her for daycare. Once at daycare I stayed for a few minutes chatting with the teachers. Carrie sat down and ate some pancakes with syrup and pineapples. I sneaked out without her seeing me.

I went to pick her up at 12:15PM in order to go to Hamilton, OH for a visit with her Mom. She was asleep. I picked her up from her nap mat and carried her to the car. Once at home I put her on the sofa to finish her nap. She finally woke up at about 12:50PM. We loaded our cooler of refreshments into the car and hit the road.

She didn’t sleep at all on the way to Hamilton. She ate several Ritz crackers, drank some juice and played with her Elmo “boom box”. She eventually dropped the Elmo toy and became cranky. I started making animal sounds to amuse her. It worked She giggled every time I imitated an animal.

We arrived at BCCSB at 2:45.

Trina brought Carrie out from her visit with her Mom very close to 3PM. Trina reported to me that Carrie’s mom fed her baby food from a jar and one Gerber entrée. I don’t know if it was stage 3 or graduates. In any case, Carrie eats regular food now, so I would prefer that her mom not feed her baby food.

Carrie fell asleep after being in the car a few minutes. She slept all the way home. Kent had made loose-meat sandwiches (like sloppy joes) and French fries for dinner. Carrie ate a bun top from my plate and a few French fries. She played in the kitchen while I cleaned up. She got into the lazy susan cabinet and pulled out some plastic lids to play with. Later, she pulled open one of the large, deep drawers where I store miscellaneous kitchen things, like the microwave bacon tray, the microwave plate cover, veggie steamer basket. She spread many of these things all over the kitchen playing with each one. She didn’t start to show signs of sleepiness until about 9PM.

I gave her a bath and then we sat in the living room for a few minutes. She slowly drifted in and out of sleep. It was close to 10PM when I took her to her crib. She had a big smile on her face when I laid her down. She grabbed her blanket and rolled to her side to go to sleep.

I don’t really know how to say what I’m thinking right now. Carrie had a good evening, but she was up too late. I’ve been wondering whether it’s good for her to visit with her mom or dad until 8PM in Hamilton and then face a two-hour ride home. Now that I’ve done both back-to-back, I can definitely say that the 8PM ending time is best. This way she sleeps on the way home and goes directly to bed. The 5PM ending time results in staying up too late because she sleeps in the car from 5PM until 7PM.

This morning was like so many others. Kent got Carrie up when he finished his shower, changed her diaper and took him down for breakfast with him. She ate a banana a small piece of a bagel. I got her ready for daycare after I showered and dressed.

I picked her up at 2PM in order to take her to Hamilton, OH for her visit with her daddy (Stewart). We showed up shortly before 5PM. Stewart brought a Wendy’s chicken nugget kid’s meal with French fries and chocolate milk. She ate all the chicken, some of the fries and most of the milk. During the next three hours, she drank water from a water bottle, sampled some Skittles, ate a sour gummy worm and played a lot. We drove home at 8:15PM, arriving at about 9:45PM. She slept most of the way. Once home, I took her straight to bed, removing only her pants, socks and shoes.

Things appeared to be back to normal this morning. Kent got Carrie up, changed her diaper and gave her yogurt and a banana for breakfast. I showered, dressed and then got Carrie dressed for daycare. I dropped her off just before 8AM.

I picked her up shortly after 5 and headed home. Dad and Rita showed up shortly before 6PM, just in time for dinner. They brought her some presents, including an animal-shaped plate with a matching fork and spoon. I made macaroni & cheese to go with her favorite chicken nuggets. She only ate the chicken. When I saw that she wouldn’t eat the mac&cheese, I put some French fries in the toaster oven. She ate a few.

Dad & Rita took her for a stroll/walk around the Bell house property. My friends Rodney, Jeremy and John stopped by with dinner from Fazoli’s for us. When Carrie came back from the walk, she sat in my lap and ate some spaghetti. Rita wanted to give Carrie a bath early so she would have time to “love on her”. The bath was shortened when I checked in on her. She reached for me and indicated that she wanted out. I got her out and dried her off. Then I took her into her room and put her on the changing table. I let Rita take over again.

Back downstairs, Dad and Rita played with Carrie in the living room while I visited with my friends. Carrie wandered into the kitchen and reached for me to pick her up, so I did. Dad or Rita commented that I had spoiled her. I don’t think I have. She’s just comfortable with me. She hardly knows them. In time she’ll be more comfortable.

Before Carrie went to bed our neighbors Chuck and Amelia rang the doorbell. They had come bearing gifts. What a surprise! I let Carrie open the bag. Inside were a “huggable” purple sheep and a bedtime story book. Dad and Rita left. Then Chuck and Amelia left. Kent took Carrie up to bed shortly before 9PM.

Sunshine Kids in Lexington will only supervise visitation if one parent has custody. The director gave me the name of a person who does private supervision. Her name is Bobbie. She doesn't have a facility. Instead she will supervise visits at a pre-arranged location for a minimum of 2 hours and a minimum of $20/hour. This could possibly work for Stewart in the short term since you're working on getting Interstate Compact pushed through. I'm not sure how he would pay for it, unless our Mom or Dad pitch in. I'll leave it up to Trina as to whether or not she wants to present it to Stewart as an option.

I have an appointment on July 13 to apply for a medical card. In anticipation of having the card by August 1, I made an appointment for Carrie at the UK Pediatric Clinic on August 5 for a full check-up. In the meantime, I would like for Trina and/or Norah to make a list of what they want me to have her checked for.

The First Steps initial assessment has been completed. Carrie qualifies for therapy services. My next steps include choosing Speech and Physical Therapists then setting up an Initial Family Service Plan meeting. After that, therapies can begin. First Steps is also going to make a referral to Commission for Children with Special Healthcare Needs for a hearing assessment. First Steps recommends this for any child that needs speech therapy. They like to rule out hearing loss if possible. I'll get a copy of the assessments to you as soon as I have them.

Regarding the Bureau of Disability, I contacted Kim J about the postponed appointment. She said that she was going to transfer the case to Kentucky since Carrie is now in KY. I faxed a copy of the court entry to her.

I think that's all I have for now.

Carrie got up at approximately 6:45. She had a BM diaper. The pattern now is almost always a BM diaper first thing in the morning and then another one before lunch every day. She had oatmeal and a banana for breakfast.

We had an 8:15AM appointment at home with someone to assess Carrie for First Steps, Kentucky’s early intervention program. Verity Mathews, the speech-language pathologist showed up right on time. She was finished and gone by 9:30.

I washed Carrie’s face and dressed her. Instead of going directly to daycare I took her with me to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to apply for a medical card. There were lots of people in the waiting room. Once at the window, I asked the clerk about making an appointment to come back another time. She said that an appointment was the best idea because otherwise I would be waiting indefinitely. She referred me to a caseworker and asked me to have a seat. 45 minutes later a caseworker spoke with me to let me know that my appointment is on July 13. We left that office at 11AM. I dropped Carrie off at daycare and went to class.

Kent picked her up at 2:00 and took her to our house so my mom could spend the afternoon with her.

When I got home I decided to start preparing Carrie’s dinner right away because she starts to get cranky if not fed by 6PM. She was quite hyper. Mom said they played in the pool again today. They also played hide-and-seek under the sofa console table. Mom said that she bumped her head twice. Mom also said that she had just changed her diaper…BM.

Shortly after I came home Carrie got very cranky. I looked at the day sheet from daycare to see if she took a nap during her short stay today. She didn’t. Her crankiness quickly turned into a screaming tantrum. I encouraged Mom to say her goodbyes so I could try and calm Carrie. She ended up going to sleep at 6PM without eating.

My friends Drew and Gabe stopped by around 7PM to pick up a computer that I gave to Drew. I woke Carrie up to offer her some food. She started in with the screaming tantrum again. I just let her go at it and waited patiently. I put her in the highchair and gave her some food. She quietly ate.

I said goodbye to Drew and Gabe at 7:30 and gave Carrie a bath. She was cheerful for about 2 minutes. When she slipped sideways into the water, she started screaming again. This little tantrum intensified because she was already cranky and then the little fall made her mad. When I tried to hold on to her she pushed me away and fell again. This time I decided to get out and get ready for bed. She was asleep within minutes.

Visitation Woes

I heard from Mom and Stewart that it may take several months for Stewart's visitation to be supervised in Fayette County Kentucky.  That's too bad for all of us Kentucky people on many levels.  I've already discussed with the Ohio social worker the concerns I have for spending an entire day in Hamilton.  The primary concern is that it is a 10-hour day for Carrie.  The longer I'm with her, the more I know that she benefits from a set routine.  This kind of visitation schedule will wreak havoc on her routine for that particular day of the week.  The following day will likely be impacted also.  The other concern is for my employment.  The powers-that-be must understand that as Carrie's sole caretaker/breadwinner I have to work full-time.  Especially with little to no assistance from either state.

The Ohio social worker and I need to have a conversation together with Norah.  I wonder if she can arrange for her to meet both of us one day either before visitations begin or after they're finished?  Also, I wonder has she talked with Norah about NOT allowing Carrie's mom to attend the physician's appointments?

I'm still waiting to hear from the Ohio social worker regarding financial assistance.  I have an appointment with the Kentucky Department for Families and Children on July 13 to apply for a medical card and perhaps food stamps.  I may not get anything else.

Since Stewart's visitation will be in Hamilton indefinitely, we need to revise the schedule.  I hate to repeat myself, but nothing about having visitation for both parents in Hamilton weekly is good for Carrie.  Taking that into consideration, I strongly recommend that visitation for her mom occur on Thursdays from 4-6 and visitation for her dad also occur on Thursdays from 6-8.  Carrie will sleep in the car on the way home, then go to bed at home.  I have to be able to work as many hours as possible in order to keep my job in good standing.

Today was the traditional Bluegrass 10K race. Kent runs every year, and I cheer on the side of the street as he passes by. Then I meet him downtown past the finish line with a dry shirt. After that we walk around to see who has a display booth or what may be for sale. This morning I got Carrie up at 7:00 and gave her breakfast of a banana and some oatmeal. She didn’t eat much of the oatmeal, so I put it in the fridge for the mid-morning snack. Then I gave her a bath. I felt guilty about not giving her one last night. My friend Karen showed up close to 8:00 to walk to Main St. with us. We met some other friends at the edge of Mentelle Park to watch the runners. We saw Kent run by going East. A few minutes later he ran back by to the West going towards the finish line. Karen, Carrie and I headed downtown to meet Kent. Karen said her goodbyes at the end of our street.

By the time we got downtown, around 9:00, Carrie had gone to sleep. I found Kent in front of the courthouse. Then we did our usual walking around and exploring. Carrie slept about 30 minutes. She was awake by the time we headed home. Back at home I fed her the uneaten oatmeal. No problems this time. I count this as her mid-morning snack. Afterwards we played a little.

It seems really boring to say what Carrie ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day because she’s doing really well at eating ordinary table food. Lunch today was a repeat of chicken nuggets. She likes them so well, I can’t help but give them to her. In any case, she ate 3 again and had some yogurt. She loves yogurt, any flavor.

The unexpected morning nap caused a problem for the afternoon nap. She didn’t want to take one. I had hoped she would take a nap before the parade at 2:00, but she didn’t. Instead, we decided to pack a cooler of refreshments and go to Jay’s pool for a swim. Carrie stood at the edge of the pool not quite knowing what to do. I let her dangle her feet but she didn’t seem to want to get in. I finally got on a float and invited her to join me. She did. She ended up falling asleep on my chest.

By 1:30 we decided to go home and quickly get ready to go watch the parade. It didn’t quite work out because Carrie was cranky from not having a normal nap schedule. She and I both fell asleep and slept until 4:00. The rest of the evening was a little crazy. We played a little, went for a walk, had dinner and took another bath. She was in bed before 8:30.

Carrie woke up today at about 7:00. She had the usual BM in her diaper. At meijer yesterday I bought some regular quick oatmeal. I decided that I want to start eating a healthier breakfast and share it with Carrie. I made it a little too thin, so I mixed in some of her Gerber cereal to thicken it up. She ate it with no complaints.

We had a fairly low-key day. We didn’t go anywhere because Mom and Drew came up for a visit. I told them to come after Carrie’s nap so she would be more energetic for them. Kent spent the morning doing things on his computer, like catching up on the bills. I put the baby gate at the top of the stairs so Carrie and I could play without worrying about her falling. Some friends gave us an inflatable kiddie pool as gift. I decided to blow it up. At one point, I was lying on the floor with it on top of me blowing it up. Carrie must have thought that I was hurt because she tried to pull it off of me and was on the verge of crying. Kent came out to help finish it off.

For lunch I gave Carrie some fish sticks. I cut them into bite-sized pieces for her. She ate three of them along with some apple sauce.

Mom and Drew showed up before Carrie took her nap. I told them that she might take a nap if they took her for a stroll. Sure enough, she fell asleep. While she was asleep Kent and I went out to run a quick errand.

Upon our return, we stripped Carrie’s clothes off and put a swimmer diaper on her for the pool. I slathered sunblock on her. At first she didn’t really like the pool. I was surprised because she loves taking a bath. The adults all pulled chairs up to the edge and put our feet in the pool to splash a little. Carrie finally warmed up to it and got in. Once in, she loved it. When the sun got a little too intense for me, I got an umbrella to hold over me and Carrie. She was then intrigued by the umbrella and wanted to play with it. After about an hour of playing she was ready to get out.

We put her clothes back on and Mom & Drew played with her for a while. At 4:30 I started getting her ready for the philharmonic concert in Gratz Park. I dressed her in the denim dress with red stars stitched on it. It also has red gingham bloomers to go over her diaper. I put red hair clips in to keep her bangs out of her eyes. She was adorable. I prepared a cooler with drinks and snacks to take with us. We were planning on getting something from Lee’s Famous Recipe to eat at the park, so I prepared some Tyson’s chicken nuggets for Carrie.

We got to the park at 5:30 and put out our blanket and chairs. I went ahead and let Carrie have her dinner before all our friends showed up. I didn’t want her to be intimidated or distracted. To my knowledge, she hasn’t been in a big crowd yet. She sat in my lap during her meal. She was curious about all the people, but didn’t venture very far away. At one point we went to John G’s house to use the restroom. He lives on Market St which borders Gratz Park. He was having dinner with his mother and some friends before the concert started. Everyone commented on how adorable she was and asked lots of questions.

Once the concert started, Carrie ventured a little farther from me, but she always came back to touch base. At one point she became a little antsy so my friend Dana took her for a quick stroll to see if she could see anyone else she knew at the park. Shortly before 9:00 I took Carrie home. The concert had maybe 30 more minutes to go, but she was getting very sleepy. She fell asleep in the car. Once home, I took off her dress and put her to bed. No bath tonight.

This morning Carrie was in a much better mood than last night. She didn’t have a BM in her diaper. For breakfast I mixed up the Gerber cereal with cheerios again. She ate every bite. Then Kent decided he wanted us to make gravy & biscuits. Carrie ate about one and a half biscuits with the gravy on them. Very soon after breakfast was over, she had a BM diaper.

At 9:00 we got the stroller and diaper bag ready for a trip downtown to Farmer’s Market. She enjoyed the ride. We ran into Will & Toby. Lynn, Will’s sister, and Tara Lynn were with them. Tara Lynn, who is 7, was thrilled to meet Carrie. She had a lot of questions, such as how many toys she had. She wanted to know if we would be at the philharmonic concert in the park. I told her we would.

One of the vendors had cut a watermelon in half and provided samples. Kent gave a small bite of it to Carrie. She touched it with her tongue a few times then ate it. There was also a cantaloupe. Carrie didn’t like it.

We ran into several other friends before leaving. On the way home, Carrie fell asleep. I reclined the stroller so she could sleep more comfortably. I had hoped she would stay awake until we got home so I could also nap with her. I was very tired. Once at home, I decided to leave her in the stroller since it was reclined. I lay on the floor in front of the sofa. She woke up after just a few minutes. I got her out of the stroller and encouraged her to lay with me. Instead, she crawled and climbed on me. She thought I wanted to play instead of nap. So we played. Then we had lunch.

She wasn’t very interested in food. I managed to get her to eat some yogurt and that’s about it. We ended up taking a nap for real at a little after 12:00. We slept until 2:00. After the nap we loaded Carrie into the car in order to go shopping and run errands. We went to Babies R Us, Target and Meijer. At Meijer the cashier gave her a sucker. Kent took the plastic off after she started chewing on it and grunting. I’ve never seen such a mess! Her fingers were sticking together. After only a few licks, she lost interest in it so I put it in the trash. She began to get very sleepy before our errands were done. She wiggled in her car seat in order to keep from going to sleep.

Finally back at home, I offered Carrie some ravioli and green beans. She didn’t want either one. She did drink some juice. I was worried about her calorie intake for the day so I managed to get her to drink some pediasure while I rocked her. I gave her a bath at around 8:00 and then in bed shortly after.

We hit a bump in the road last night. Carrie woke up shortly after 11PM crying. She was very agitated as if she had a bad dream. I picked her up from the crib and held her while I sat in the chair. This didn’t really seem to help, so I walked around from room to room. The motion seemed to calm her. She was asleep again by 11:30PM.

She got up the next morning at the usual time between 6:30 and 7:00. She had a BM in her diaper. Kent took her down to the kitchen with him while I showered. He gave her cheerios with a sippy cup of pediasure. She really only nibbled the cheerios. In order to liven things up I added cheerios to the usual Gerber cereal. This added some texture, and she ate quite a bit. After eating, we went back upstairs to get ready for the day. I took her to daycare at about 7:40 and sat with her for a few minutes in order to ask the teachers how the past two days had been. Wile I was there, Carrie ate about a half of a banana. I talked with the teachers about my concerns with her eating habits and her weight. I asked them to be more specific on the day sheet about how much she eats.

Since this was the Friday before a 3-day weekend, I decided to pick Carrie up early at daycare and take her to work with me. I wanted to introduce her to my immediate co-workers who have heard so much about her. I went home for lunch and did a few chores in order to give her the maximum nap time. When I got to daycare at 12:45 she was still asleep. I waited around thinking she would probably wake up at 1:00. At 1:05 she was still asleep. I couldn’t bring myself to wake her up so I went back to work.

I decided to go back to daycare during my 3:00 break and get Carrie. I was back at work by 3:15 since daycare is not far away from my office. She loved the opportunity to explore my office. Judith gave her a squishy stress ball to play with. In my office I gave her a baby food container of apples & plums and then another of apple sauce. She drank water from her sippy cup.

By 5:30 (at home) Carrie felt warm to the touch and seemed to be sleepy. She didn’t want anything to eat or drink and became a little whiny. She went to sleep and slept until 8:00. I took her temperature while she was asleep. Her temp was 100.9. When she woke up I gave her some children’s Tylenol and a cool bath. She perked up after the bath and didn’t have a fever anymore.

Having slept from 5:30 to 8:00 spelled trouble for the evening’s sleep schedule. She began to get a bit cranky around 10:00 but wouldn’t go to bed. Kent and I took her for a stroll/walk through the neighborhood hoping she would go to sleep. Around 10:30 she finally fell asleep. Back in the house, however, she woke up. Still cranky, we sat on the couch and turned on the TV. Toy Story 2 was playing on the Disney Channel. We watched last 10 minutes or so. This seemed to cheer her up. Around midnight I finally put her in her crib while I lay on the other bed in her room. She cried for about 10 minutes and went to sleep.