I have pictures of the twins, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to share them on a public blog, particularly since they aren’t ours … yet. But damn, are they cute. Trust me on this. Or you could trust the official statement of the County of Los Angeles on the matter on their adorability. From the report we were given today on the girl:
Current caregiver perceives child as: happy, easy going
CSW perceives child as: cute, curious
And on the boy:
Current caregiver perceives child as: happy, stubborn
CSW perceives child as: curious and loving.
Both are also describes as “very affectionate.” So the huge smiles in the photos are not just for the camera.
We’re sending the reports on to some pediatricians to see if there are any notes back from them. The next step will be to meet them at their foster home … and then, to take them home.
It may just be a matter of a few weeks now. Oh, boy. And girl.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Twin & Tonic
So we just got off the phone with our social worker after her meeting with county social workers. Overall, more good stuff than bad. Our concern about the twins not being developmentally on target is largely gone. Since we last talked, they are not only sitting on their own, they’re crawling, cooing, engaged and interested in everything, and sleeping through the night. Who knows, they might be walking soon too.
On the bad side: the mom right now is in rehab, so she sees the kids for 3 hours every Sunday. The county social workers say this is the usual pattern, but once she’s finished with rehab, she’s likely to disappear altogether. The other annoying bit is that the judge on the case is “very thorough,” which our social worker says means parental rights won’t likely be terminated very soon. On the other hand, the county social workers are adamant that the twins shouldn’t be given back to the mother … who, by the way, is pregnant again. Our social worker still consider this a “low risk” case as far as reunification goes. It just might take a while.
So, we said to sign us up for the next appointment, where we meet with the kids’ social worker … I believe we see a photo!
Other than that, looking forward to our 3-day-weekend which begins to tomorrow. In Vegas baby!
Ian says he’s going to “invest” $20 on slots because babies need new pairs of shoes!
On the bad side: the mom right now is in rehab, so she sees the kids for 3 hours every Sunday. The county social workers say this is the usual pattern, but once she’s finished with rehab, she’s likely to disappear altogether. The other annoying bit is that the judge on the case is “very thorough,” which our social worker says means parental rights won’t likely be terminated very soon. On the other hand, the county social workers are adamant that the twins shouldn’t be given back to the mother … who, by the way, is pregnant again. Our social worker still consider this a “low risk” case as far as reunification goes. It just might take a while.
So, we said to sign us up for the next appointment, where we meet with the kids’ social worker … I believe we see a photo!
Other than that, looking forward to our 3-day-weekend which begins to tomorrow. In Vegas baby!
Ian says he’s going to “invest” $20 on slots because babies need new pairs of shoes!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Careful What You Wish For
I was in the gym this morning, when I got the voice message from our social worker, “You and Ian have been selected as parents for the twins. I’m going to give Ian a call now.”
What followed was a series of attempted phone calls between me, Ian, and our social worker. I was on my cell phone getting bad reception in the gym garage, Ian was dealing with work phone calls, and Kitaho was en route between home and work herself. And then there was my brother and sister-in-law calling in because they knew today we were supposed to get the news, even though we had assured them that since the other family had been waiting for children longer than we have, the odds were that we wouldn’t have good news.
So finally, we all connected. It seems that the twins have more medical issues than we thought, and we’re looking into the seriousness and treatability. They are not developmentally where 11 month old children should be, but that is not unusual for preemies. Once we get the medical records, we’ll know whether they’re progressing or if the issues are serious. And the parental rights have not yet been terminated, though that seems to be the direction things are headed. On the plus side, the kids are apparently mentally and emotionally on target, and particularly giggly.
Next step is another, more detailed meeting about the kids and their needs with a larger group of social workers, and when we get the information on that, we’ll know what all is likely to be involved with taking care of them. And then, if we think we can handle it and want to proceed, we’ll meet them in a couple weeks.
Very excited, but on information overload. It’s a lot to process, thinking about dealing with major medical issues for one child, let alone two, so we’re still a bit cautious until we have more details.
Still – I think champagne’s called for. (But then again, isn’t that always true?)
What followed was a series of attempted phone calls between me, Ian, and our social worker. I was on my cell phone getting bad reception in the gym garage, Ian was dealing with work phone calls, and Kitaho was en route between home and work herself. And then there was my brother and sister-in-law calling in because they knew today we were supposed to get the news, even though we had assured them that since the other family had been waiting for children longer than we have, the odds were that we wouldn’t have good news.
So finally, we all connected. It seems that the twins have more medical issues than we thought, and we’re looking into the seriousness and treatability. They are not developmentally where 11 month old children should be, but that is not unusual for preemies. Once we get the medical records, we’ll know whether they’re progressing or if the issues are serious. And the parental rights have not yet been terminated, though that seems to be the direction things are headed. On the plus side, the kids are apparently mentally and emotionally on target, and particularly giggly.
Next step is another, more detailed meeting about the kids and their needs with a larger group of social workers, and when we get the information on that, we’ll know what all is likely to be involved with taking care of them. And then, if we think we can handle it and want to proceed, we’ll meet them in a couple weeks.
Very excited, but on information overload. It’s a lot to process, thinking about dealing with major medical issues for one child, let alone two, so we’re still a bit cautious until we have more details.
Still – I think champagne’s called for. (But then again, isn’t that always true?)
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