Week Three With Baby “J”

Well, we’re midway through Week 3, and things aren’t any more certain than they were Hour 3. Like I said in the last entry, the judge has asked the parents’ home state to take the case, and the following Friday, they still hadn’t responded with a yes or a no. Ditto on the continuation on Monday. So, this Friday is the continuation of the continuation of the continuation of the continuation of the very first part of the process. It is a little like knowing you’re running a marathon, and stepping into quicksand right from the start.

No one’s happy about this limbo. DCFS doesn’t know whether this is a real case or not, the birth parents aren’t sure whether to stay here or go home, we don’t know if we’re foster-adopting or just babysitting.

But J continues to amaze us. When he first came to us, he could barely raise his head during “tummy time,” and now he can prop himself up. He can sit by himself with no support, if not quite consistently. He can roll over from his back to his stomach if not – alas, for him – from his stomach to his back yet. Last night, Ian and I taught him to wave “Hello” and once he caught on, he couldn’t stop laughing.

He has a little bit of a cold and is beginning teething, and then there are the usual other bodily secretions, making him the gooiest baby. And yet, even goopy, he is good-looking. So adorable that I was stopped by no fewer than five women at Ralph’s stopped me to admire him.

“How old?”

“Five months,” I smiled. The woman smiled. J smiled.

“Enjoy her while you can. She’ll grow up fast.”

J had no idea he had just been feminized. I hope to be around when he’s old enough to get mad about that.