I found out today that our newly assigned caseworker in Fayette County is Ramona K. She is coming to our house for the first time on September 6.

It has only been about a week since we were in court. Norah called me this afternoon and said, "I hope you're sitting down. Carmen's attorney contacted me and said that she (Carmen) is ready to terminate her rights voluntarily." I was floored. I'm not sure what this means just yet. Apparently OH law won't allow one parent to terminate his/her rights without both parents terminating. Wow. This is big. Why has she suddenly changed her mind?

Casey, the physical therapist, sent me her assessment of Carrie today. Here's the summary:

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Assessment:

1. Major Strengths:
a. Carrie has developed good balance for independently moving in her environment without falling.
b. Carrie is now in a supportive and loving home with caregivers who are willing to work with her to support her development.

2. Major Areas of Concern:
a. Carrie has a mild delay in gross motor skill development.
b. Carrie demonstrates some mild low tone throughout her body which has contributed to delays and instability in age-appropriate gross motor skills.

3. Recommendations:
a. Direct physical therapy services are recommended at a frequency to be determined by the IFSP team.
b. A home program and education for Carrie’s caregivers will be established for gross motor development with a focus on play-based strengthening techniques to increase muscle tone and help Carrie achieve age-appropriate gross motor skills.

Plan: Specific goals for Carrie will be set by her caregivers at her IFSP meeting.
A suggested outcome is as follows:

Carrie will run, climb, jump, and negotiate all surfaces independently throughout her day so that she can keep up with her peers on the playground.

I have been reading articles and such about Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome. I found a British article that gives some statistics from a 1996 study. It states that 63% of children who are victims of Munchausen by Proxy had at least one sibling. 12% of these children had a sibling die previously. In most cases, the deaths were classified as SIDS. Carmen has claimed that she had a child several years ago that died. In some of her stories she miscarried, but in other stories, the baby was born and died of SIDS. This would be something worth looking into for the current case. The article can be found here . I passed this info to Trina G so she can share it with Norah (GAL) and Gilda (Attorney).

We went to court yesterday. The hearing was for two motions: (1) Carmen objected to my having custody on the grounds that Carrie was at my house when she was allegedly bruised in April (the week before removal from her mother) and (2) Carmen is asking for Carrie's court-appointed attorney to be disqualified because she isn't "neutral". I got word about an hour ago that both motions were overruled.

The psych eval reports are now available for both of Carrie's parents. The psychologist recommends that children services pursue terminating the mother's rights ASAP.

Here's a quote from Carmen's eval report, last page: "Axis I Neglect of a child. Axis II Personality Disorder NOS With Borderline, Histrionic and Narcissistic Features"
Here's a quote from Stewart's eval report, last page: "Axis I Bipolar I Disorder, most recent episode unspecified (296.7). Axis II No diagnosis (799.9)

First and most important, the princess is as adorable as ever. She continues to be the bright spot of my life (and of Kent's if he won't admit it). She is now saying Kent's name. It sounds more like Key, but she uses it in context. She keeps eating like a little piglet. She's picking up new words and pieces of words everyday. She kisses and blows kisses now. And much more.

Mom told me yesterday that she can see that I'm giving Carrie the security and love that she needs. My dad said that he's glad I have her. Stewart behaves as if he wants to be the "fun uncle who spoils her occasionally" more than he wants to truly be her father. His visitation has been liberalized. Mom can now supervise him locally. He can visit her at our house if mom brings him or he can visit at a neutral public place, like a park, restaurant, mall, etc. He and mom are scheduled to have home studies completed soon. If they pass, then he can have visitation at his apartment (with Mom) or at Mom's house. Otherwise, I can take Carrie to family functions with me. During Stewart's visit at our house on Tuesday I told him he needed to change Carrie's diaper. He said, "That's your job." Decide for yourself what that means. :-)

Right now the next step is the trial/adjudication set for November 2 & 3. Her mother has asked for expanded and liberalized visitation. The GAL and caseworker both said no way. There has been talk of terminating visitation leading up to proceedings to terminate rights. Carrie's attorney and GAL agree that it's best not to muddy the waters with a motion to terminate visitation right now. They want to reduce the likelihood of appeal. We all know that she *will* appeal if rulings don't favor her. Visitation may be reduced if not terminated.

At least Stewart has liberalized local visitation now. Carrie doesn't have to spend 4 hours per week in Hamilton. I suspect that Stewart's interest will wane over time. It already appears to be waning. His visits in OH have been consistently 2 hours. This week in Lexington, he was chomping at the bit to go home after 3 hours. He didn't even want to stay around for bath time.

Carrie has a prescription for Prevacid 15mg ("take one capsule by mouth once daily [sprinkle on apple sauce]"). from Cincinnati Children's Medical Center with 3 refills left until 06/14/06.

I went to Kroger Pharmacy last night to have it refilled. The pharmacist told me that Kentucky Medical Card won't cover this because it wasn't written by a Kentucky physician. It also must have prior approval (PA). She will run out on Sunday, August 14. I wrote an email to Dr. M asking is he could call in a prescription without seeing her. Someone from his office wrote back and told me to just stop by the office and get some samples. Great! She gave me enough to last almost 2 months.

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EMAIL TO TRINA G

Trina,

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but the attached photo is of Carrie when she was 3 months old. Notice that the baby carrier is labeled "Latex Allergy" in permanent marker. This is incongruent with her mom's statement at Dr. K's office that she has a sensitivity that was discovered only recently. :-)

Trina B sent her SLP assessment for Carrie to me today. I'm not crazy about the part where Trisha says that Carrie identifies a person as "mama". I'm disappointed that she still seems to be so behind according to tests, but I know she really is behind. I am now anxious to get therapy started.

We have an appointmnet with a Physical Therapist named Casey at our house on August 11 at 4:30.

We're also getting ready to go on a road trip to Abingdon VA this coming weekend. I have these things on my list so far for packing:

this is what I have on my list so far.

change battery in toothbrush
digital camera
video camera
crib w/sheet
cooler/snacks
laptop
phone cradle
helmets (not the cracked one)
diaper bag
bath stuff for Carrie
beach/pool towels
stroller
bike trailer
my pillow