Merry Christmas

Early this morning Camille and her sisters took a road up up north to visit their grandparents. This is her first big car trip as earlier in the year she took an in-country plane trip. Grandma and Grandpa have yet to physically hold and hug their newest grand-daughter. At the moment she and her sisters are taking a visit to Camp Aunt. They wish everyone a Merry and Healthy Christmas.

photo of puppy dog at Camp Aunt

je

Camille Gets A Subpoena

Just got some news in the mail. 15 Jan 2010 Ms Camille gets her day in court.

wooohooooo!!!!

Walking to Court

With some daring do I have finally secured the required papers from the social worker to get out daughter adopted. Yes Rajal was right there are one (1) interview that is done in the home and 3 additional interviews. Four (4) interviews six (6) months or one every two (2) months. Now the kicker here is what constitutes an interview? Twenty some odd years ago when I was a prospective employee candidate with the Hewlett Packard Company their interview process was 100% phone. You didn't even get to set a foot in the door unless you get get past their phone exam/interview. So how do you help the process along. Keep in contact with your social worker. For us we called ours once a month. For our last interview we met at a half way point. Unfortunately that was 1/2 way in terms of miles not by hours. We were almost an hour and a half late due to traffic. Let's hear it for cell phones.

Armed with the documents from my previous blog and the Court ready paper form the social worker (I had to supply the exhibits that were mentioned like a copy of her Visa, and India court papers) I took a half day off to head over to the Edmund D Edelman Children's Court in LA

a little info about the place

http://www.laalmanac.com/crime/cr57.htm

Central Juvenile District

Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court

201 Centre Plaza Dr.

Monterey Park, CA 91754

More than 70,000 children each year in Los Angeles County are placed in the care of the Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services due to abuse, neglect, abandonment and exploitation. About 50,000 of these children require the protection of the Juvenile Dependency Court.

Prior to July 1992, dependency hearings were held at the Criminal Courts Building in downtown Los Angeles and in temporary trailers behind Van Nuys Superior Court. The proceedings and formal courtroom environments were seen by many as intimidating and stressful for already victimized children.

Los Angeles County became the first in the nation to establish a dependency courthouse designed specifically as a "child-sensitive" facility. The courtrooms are smaller and less intimidating to children than traditional courtrooms. Special areas are designed for children to play in, engage in interesting activities or just catch a nap. These features are meant to reduce as much as possible the stress and trauma associated with the child’s experience in the legal system.

It is a bit tricky to get there so here is a map if you happen to be in LA

more info here http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/Locations/ui/location.aspx?loc=CCJ&

The folks there are quite accommodating. I took my papers in and said I think I have filled them out correctly but I have questions on two of them. Once I got that cleared it was easy sailing. They asked where my VS44 was. I told them that i was not given a VS44 but if they had one I would go fill it out in the waiting are and come back. As I had the package that they gave me 6 months ago they took a look at at and noted that yep, it was missing from the packet. I took a look for it on line and found a couple of counties/cities have it on their web site. Mendocino had the shortest link...http://www.mendocino.courts.ca.gov/forms/VS-44.pdf.

You need to supply multiple copies of some of the forms. They stamp and gave back two Adopt-200 one for my records and one for the adoption agency. and Adopt-230. I made 2 more copies of Adopt-200 and sent one to the mother agency in another state and one to the agency here in California.

Now it is another waiting game for my self-addressed and stamped envelope to come back to me telling me when to show up at court.

HomeFront

I built a wall-to-wall shelf for the kids stuffed animals. It runs, as you can imagine, the length of the wall and it about 1 foot below the ceiling. Too many stuffed animals. Here is a partial accounting of the ones whose names I can remember and each of their afflictions.

Brown Baby this was Kermit's first big doll and is much loved. so much that she will soon be a single amputee

Baboo - a white terrier that we got when Kermit was about 1 1/2 on a trip to a bread baking convention in Prince Albert a small town outside of Toronto Canada

Sarah Baby

My Little girl

Moolawn

Tatia our Russian immigrant

Talia - she is deaf you know, one hand form the letter "a" while the other says I love you

Thurston - a stuffy bear properly dressed to the nines

Christmas Bear 2005

China - and yes she is Chinese

Gina

Kewpie Doll - an original Kewpie doll for Camille aka toilet bowl baby no details needed

Mee Baby - times 3 one for each small pink things with tails from our friend in the OKC

Rose Dawson - I think this one was a build a bear

Butterfly Heart Bear

Cozette - a flying dragon that used to play You are my sunshine

Smiley - a critter from Hellboy The girls love him and RN has had to put some limits on his movements. Since we use real words in our house his affliction is that he is agoraphobic. Now one day when the youngest wanted Smiley I made the mistake of taking him out of our room. Kermit just about had a meltdown. "Daddy you have to put him back, take him back, don't let Two have him he is getting scared. At this point tears are streaming down and Two is starting to well to give smiley Me. Dad he is agoraphobic and he needs to go back now hurry." Oh my gosh what is my daughter talking about. When she said agoraphobic I was translating to arachnophobic. So I am looking for a spider somewhere and then she says again "he is agoraphobic daddy he can't leave the room he gets scared when he leaves the room." Duh, neurons connect and I know understand what she is saying. "Sorry Let me put him back." Wow and Smiley is one of the not so nice critters in the movie and in our home he is just a love bug that is confined to a single room.

Two on the other-hand runs around with her stuffed Tyrannosaurus Rex – Jane, saying “I'm a Shea Butter Junkie.”

je

Another Post Placement

I am not quite sure what to do with this one. We have been following the trials and tribulations of another adopting family and it appears as though we are getting different information on the intercountry adoption. As a recap, India does not recognize the word adoption. What you get when you adopt from India is a court order that gives you legal custody of the child. When you are in your home country you complete the adoption. This involves going to the courts and removing the adoption agency from their hold on your child (consent and joinder) and making you the child's birth parents. In California we will get a California Birth certificate. When I went to the county court house for the papers I was given a pamphlet of information and was told fill it out and return. See the entry here First Post Placement Home study.

Rajal (Raj Blog ) has been experiencing something a bit different and has been on a roller coaster ride. I'll let Raj do the talking...

CALIFORNIA REQUIREMENT

IF YOUR ADOPTION WAS FINALIZED IN ANOTHER COUNTRY THEN YOU NEED TO READOPT IN CALIFORNIA THEN YOU NEED 1 POST PLACEMENT REPORT.

IF YOUR RECEIVED GUARDIANSHIP IN ANOTHER COUNTRY AND YOU NEED TO FINALIZE YOUR ADOPTION IN CALIFORNIA THEN YOU NEED 4 POST PLACEMENT REPORTS DURING A SIX MONTH PERIOD.

He supported what he was told with this web link to a pdf

http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/getinfo/pdf/adman8.pdf or hit this LINK

ADOPTIONS PROGRAM REGULATIONS

Regulations PROCEDURES FOR INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE 22, DIVISION 2

CHAPTER 3. ADOPTION PROGRAM REGULATIONS

SUBCHAPTER 6. PROCEDURES FOR INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS

Article 1. General Administrative Requirements for Intercountry Adoptions

35307 HOME INTERVIEW DURING SUPERVISORY PERIOD

(a) During the supervisory period the agency shall conduct at least one interview in the home of the prospective adoptive parent with the prospective adoptive parent and the child to be adopted.

NOTE: Authority cited: Sections 10553 and 10554, Welfare and Institutions Code; Section 1530, Health and Safety Code; and Sections 8621 and 8901, Family Code. Reference: Section 8900, Family Code.

35309 ADDITIONAL INTERVIEWS DURING SUPERVISORY PERIOD

(a) The agency shall conduct at least three additional interviews with the prospective adoptive parent unless the duration of the supervisory period has been reduced to less than six months as provided for in Section 35303.

NOTE: Authority cited: Sections 10553 and 10554, Welfare and Institutions Code; Section 1530, Health and Safety Code; and Sections 8621 and 8901, Family Code. Reference: Section 8900, Family Code.

Section 3503 are exceptions which are for those that have completed a California adoption within the past 5 years or are in the military service of the United States or is employed by the American Red Cross

Now that was back in 1998

I think it has been modified by an amendment in 2008...

http://www.cdss.ca.gov/lettersnotices/entres/getinfo/acin08/I-12_08.pdf or hit this LINK

And there you have it - left hand not talking to the right hand. A couple of weeks ago we had our 2nd post placement study. When our social worker gives me the paperwork to take to the court I will head out. I am hopping for an October time-frame but I have no idea. I have found out you can't push this train you gotta ride it.

And what is up with Miss Camille? Well she is getting assimilated into the Borg collective. her older sister goes to pre-school twice a week. lately she has been crying when her sister stays and she has to go. We might try her at school for an hour or two and see how she does. Her assimilation of English is coming along and unfortunately her sing-song lilt is blending away. When she says something that no-one can interpret she seems to revert to babbble and the at the end give an "ohh kayyy?" to make sure we understood what she was saying. Her younger sister sometimes takes advantage of her by snatching a toy from her but she is learning top ask for it back and if that doesn't work to seek a higher authority. All three have become adept at blaming each other for actions that they took. Camille blames Kermit, Kermit Blames, Bee and Bee blames Camille. God help me when we get a dog!

The wife is a signer for the deaf at our church. The other day we, Camille and Two, were in the overflow room. They have a large flat screen monitor in the front of the room. About 15 minutes into service Camille started to whimper and curl her lip in readiness to wail. I asked her what the problem was and she said she couldn't see her sister Kermit. I told her she was sitting with mommy as last week she sat with mommy. She accepted it for a short time but was not convinced. I then asked why she wasn't upset that mommy wasn't with us. She pointed to the screen and said mommy there Kermit not there.

je

Sibling Bonding

There is not much that we can do until we get the 2^nd home study and get a recommendation from the social worker in writing to take to the courts. I am not sure where this rule comes from that we have to have 2 post placement home studies done before we go the the courts to adopt. As far as I can tell India does not place this restriction. Our adoption agency says we can adopt after the first post placement study. The hired social worker says we can adopt after the 2^nd pps. Someone ain't telling the truth or someone don't know the facts. In either case I have my hands tied until I get that recommendation to take to the courts. As they say just roll with the machine. Frustrating as all get up in the meantime.

Miss Camille has taken her first side trip out of the state to the mid-west. I was a bit apprehensive about shoving her onto a couple of planes to get to the plain states. She handled the adventure quite nicely. She may be a bit de-sentised as we are near a small muni-airport and we get a couple of planes a day running the pattern near the house. Single engines low and high wing and a bi-plane trainer painted a nice blue and gold.

Backing up from when she arrived in March she has made great strides. Th first 6 weeks were extremely rough for everyone. She had crying jags at the top of her lungs that lasted almost an hour. When that wasn't doing it for her she gave us poopy pants. Just lovely. I think one week I was bucket washing about 8 pairs of panties.

Here is what her younger sister thinks of that – ooooh schtinky.

Unfortunately for her we are like the Borg. Resistance is Futile, You will be assimilated.

I got confirmation of the assimilation when last week we took her older sister Kermit to pre school. When she got home she went to the middle of the living room floor and started one of her crying jags that we had not had in over a month and a half. When questioned about it she said she misses her older sister and wants her back!

je

First Post Placement Home Study

The Engineer in me said “Let's get it on” I was on a roll to get the adoption finalized. Jumping onto the net for Los Angeles County courts and came up with a forum posting from 2007

http://forums.adoption.com/russia-adoption/304400-re-adoption-california.html

Readoption in CA is done via the Family/ Juvenile Court. I would recommend a trip to your local county court, within the Juvenile dept. They have a packet that they hand out that has all of the forms, etc that need to be completed. In general, it worked this way for us:

1. Complete and hand-file all forms with the court

2. Court assigns a case number

3. Provide case number to your homestudy agency

4. HS agency completes report (may require visit to your home) and submits that to the court along with a Consent and Joinder

5. When you know that has been submitted, call the court to ask for a court date

6. Court date is easy - appear before a judge, sign stuff, get a picture, and you're done

7. Within about 6 months, you'll receive the CA birth cert

CA does not do foreign recognition like some other states do. We have readoption processes available and in-place, so that is what you need to do.

Here is the link to all of the CA adoption forms:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/forms.cgi

(you may need to pull down "adoption" on the menu)

Here is the package that is handed out at the courthouse:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/documents/adopt050.pdf

There are 12 documents plus the one above that can be downloaded. You have 2 choices one is a straight pdf that you print out and pen & ink it. The other is a fillable pdf. Depending on the reader you use you may or may not be able to save the fillable form. I sometimes find that .if you use Adobe Reader you sometimes, depending on the form, may not be ale to save your work. I have a full version of Adobe 5.0 and sometimes that works. For the files that are stubborn I have been using Foxit Reader Of the forms on the site I will need to fill out form 020, 200, 210, 215 and 230. It will take about all of 1 to 2 hours to do them and that is just what I did. Then I called the adoption agency and said hey get my that home study... Screeeeetch. Sorry, you can't have the first Post Placement Home Study until Camillle has been home for 3 months (India requires quarterly updates). Well that is a bummer.

A friend of ours has worked her whole life with lawyers and pointed us to

http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/courtrules/chapter13.htm#13.5c

Don't go there! it is a black hole reserved for lawyers and if you are going to adopt without lawyers then you will not need this web site.

In fact the county of LA has really made it easy. After searching the Superior Court web site I decided I better figure out which one those web sites were really right. First of all we have a courthouse right next to LAX and it is quite convenient. The other one is off the 710 and the 10 freeways aka Monterey Park. Not sure about other cities as the county has numerous courthouses for adoption. Note that not all LA county courts do adoptions. Since I was still on leave I took a quick jaunt up to the court to get an info packet. Parking is $4 a hit. Yikes didn't like that. I had Aiden d and she wanted to walk so we did. It was a nice day for a walk with my 1 ½ year old. This courthouse is specialized, they only deal in Juvenile cases. It is called the Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court. Not like any courthouse I have ever seen. Children are actually welcomed and it is nowhere near as stuffy as the LAX courthouse. So Nah! when the time comes we will file there. And yes they gave me a packet of material to fill out and except for one form it is exactly what was on the first web site. Found out the LAX courthouse does not do adoptions.

• Some extra info that was not on the web site:

• Prepare original -200 and make 4 copies

• Attach complete set of copies of foreign country adoption docs along with notarized translation (not a problem here as the India courts use Kings English)

• Attach cert for grounds for assignment to district to the adoption request Form-020 (not on the web site of forms but you can get it here www.lasuperiorcourt.org/forms/pdf/FAM020.pdf )

• Memorandum for Setting for Hearing – original and 1 copy (not available anywhere from what I can see)

• Original and 2 copies of form 210

• Original and 3 copies of form 215

• Original and 1 copy of form 230

Filing cost - $20

je

My Review of Radian80 Convertible Car Seat - SuperCool

Toys R Us

The highest capacity convertible car seat made, the Radian80 Convertible Car Seat in SuperCool from Sunshine Kids is designed to provide the safety of a 5-point harness from birth up to 80lbs, which makes it the only car seat a child will need. Features a steel alloy frame, 4-panel side impact pro...

Radian80 Convertible Car Seat - SuperCool

Own 3, buying another CORRECTION====>>

It is the Manhattan not the SuperCool. Manhattan has heavier (sturdier) material Still I am buying another...

jengineer Los Angeles 5/4/2009

4 5

Pros: Sturdy, Safe

Cons: Heavy

Best Uses: Newborn, Infants, Toddlers, 80 pound children

Describe Yourself: Parent of Two or More Children, Engineer

I currently own 3 of these seats. They fit nicely in a row in a B5/B5.5. chassis system aka Audi/VW Passat (see my photo). Sure they are one of the heaviest seats out there. They are also one of the fewest seats that meet current FAA CFR regulations. That means 16g dynamic test. Can we say crash test dummies? The weight comes from the internal steel frame. This system is not conducive to flip in and out of your car. It was ok when we only had one child but with 3 under 4 yrs of age they now get left in place. When we took our 2 children cross country they had their own seats in the plane. For them it felt like home. Complaints. yes it does take thin hands to thread the belts in place on a plane. As for fitting had no problems on SWA or UA. It was a PITA carrying them through TSA and down the gates. Oldest seat is 3.5 years and shows no wear - used daily and the newest is 1.5 yrs

: Using Product

()

The Health Insurance Blues

Back in November of last year I called our health insurance plan and asked them about what paperwork I needed to give them to get our daughter on our health plan. I am quite sure that I told them that we would be getting a court order that gives us guardianship of her from an Indian court. They said all we needed to send was the court papers. Oh sweet hindsight. I should have gotten that in writing. A week or two before we took her to the doctor I sent in the papers as requested to get her put onto our policy. After that battery of tests we were reported to the county health department due to that little contagious stomach parasite. The Doc wrote a scrip for it which we tried to get filled at our favourite pharmacy. About 6 hours later I get a call from the pharmacy telling me that the system is kicking out the scip saying she is not on file. Humm no insurance means $95 out of pocket rather than a mere 7 to 20

Dang, we are talking 3pm . A quick call to the agency gets me a nice person that tells me oh yeah we sent you a letter just yesterday (thursday) telling you that we have denied your request because she is not adopted. I said no you are right she is not however I have a court order that gives me guardianship thus making me her sole provider for her well being from providing a roof over her head to filling her empty belly. well they said we need a US court order we don't recognize non-US courts. Huh, well that is odd, the US Customs and Integration Service recognized that court order and has given her permission to live with us, the US Embassy also recognized that little piece of paper and gave me a Visa that grants residence and citizenship in the US. And yet you do not recognize her!

A call to our adoption agency said take it up with the California Department of Insurance. They were unable to help as I think they deal with all insurance but health. All was not lost as they pointed me over to the California Department of Managed Healthcare (www.hmohelp.gov). The reposne I got was WOW! You definitely have a case here with possibly punitive damage. So he started taking my info. We get to my insurance card number and he says oh well here is bad news. You are a government employee and we are not allowed to get in it with your issuance agency. If you were still at your other company then we could have helped. You need to call the OPM (Office of Personnel Managemnt) in DC. Sorry no toll free number. Great. So I call the OPM and grr they patch me through but as that is happening the time crosses into the dead zone and gee sorry we are closed for the weekend. Awesome I go to work for the first time an a month and a half and this is on my plate.

Half of Monday is spent trying to hit upon the right department at the OPM. Ah my government at work. Shuttle her shuttle there, dropped me on hold, given wrong numbers to call. Finally I decide to call our office manager who is not located in our office but is a phone call away. Sorry she is on vacation for the day call her back-up. This gets me over to our HR department with whom I leave a message. Ok yime for lunch now and I should probably get into the 400 plus emails and 20 plus phone messages.

The next day our HR department calls me. I give her the info and she says lucky for you we can help. If you were in the private sector you would probably be working on this for a week or two. Our contract with your insurance is a bit unique. Go to page xxx and see this paragraph? That right there states that if we (your employer) says to add a dependant onto a policy they must add the dependant and there is no arbitration on this. Here fill out this application and we will code it so that it states you are FOSTERING your child. You probably confused them when you said guardian. That option is not in their code book. Foster child is in their lexicon. When you finally adopt then we will change foster to dependant.

So I get my paper back from HR with their signature an ph number. Now to hunt down and submit a few claim forms.

So what is the lesson here other than speak softly and carry a big stick?

Choose your words carefully When dealing with your Health Insurance group get it in writing and tell them you are fostering a child.

je

post signature: the Wall Street Journal had a blurb about the font that my boss for almost 10 years turned me onto Comic Sans MS. He started using this font whenever his management had him do fun-sucking work such as year end reviews, budget for the next 5 years, weekly reports... Kinda a thumb your nose at The Man font. Ends up that typesetters have a bit of Toffee Nose Snoberry in them and this font really tweeks them. cool If the link doesn't work ping me and I'll do something about it.

23 Little Tests

The wife long ago started looking and asking around at her work who they would recommend for a doctor to look at our daughter once we came home. At the orphanage we got scant information about her medical record. We got the normal height and weight and 2 cards filled with the normal childhood immunizations. One thing we were concerned with was exotic diseases that may not be seen, nor well understood here in the US. This is a valid concern as some time ago my dad was working in Guam (a US protectorate/territory) and he came back with some jungle disease that several docs could not diagnose until he hit upon the right specialist. We were referred to a specialist that deals in foreign adoptions only. He also does assessments on the child both physical and some sociological. The visit will kill a full ½ day. Yep he is local (Long Beach). We got a prescription for a few blood tests. Our next stop was the phlebotomist. They looked at the order and said – does he know how much blood this is. I had no idea. They looked at her and shook their heads. I asked if they could draw some today and some the next week. They said it would take another order. Hey no problem. They said they would draw what they could.

Since we want Camille to get a better bond with mom I got the envious position of holding her as they drew blood. It was ugly. She squirmed – she has good veins but man is she a lightweight. They needed 6 vials. After 1 and ½ they blew the vein on the right arm. After a ½ vial on the 2^nd arm that vein got blown too. Almost half of what was needed and 2 vials that did not have the required quantity. I aksed if I needed to get another order. They said they would send what they had to the la and wait for the results. I said I would be back when her arms were healed.

So what did this cost us? Camille is essentially potty trained. However mom got 4 pants filled with poop. I told her that since she can't speak English and we can't speak Oryian this was her way of saying what we did to her was shitty!

Here is the list 21 blood plus 2

CBC + Diff

TSH + T4 (Reflex to FT3 & FT4)

RPR

Venous Lead

Hepatitis A IgG

Hepatitis B S Ag

Hepatitis B S AB - qualitative. Reflex to Hepatitis B AB - quantitative

Hepatitis B core AB IgM

Hepatitis C AB (Reflex RIBA if positive)

HIV AB (Reflex Western blot if positive)

Diphtheria IgG (Post immunization titres)

Tetanus AB (Post immunization titres)

Polio neutralizing AB Types 1,2,3 (Post immunization titres)

Measles IgG (Post immunization titres)

Varicella IgG immunization titres)

Mumps IgG (Post immunization titres)

Rubella IgG (Post immunization titres)

Comp. Metabolic Panel

Phosphorus

Stool O & P (X 2 or 3 depending on lab pick-up sensitivity)

Giardia antigen

Iron studies - Ferritin, Total iron binding capacity (TIBC), serum iron

Urine- U A

So far TB is positive but I have been told that most foreign adoptions test positive because the TB serum that is administered in other countries is more strong than in the US and most of the kids react to the test. One family has a child that has been in the US for over 10 years and is still testing positive for TB although 4 years worth of X-rays shows clear lungs. I will keep a set of the x-rays for our use whether they are clear or not. The other test that came back positive is one of the stomach parasites. Drugs should take care of that.

Camp Aunt

While JE & RN were in India their two other children were picked by JE's sister and taken to Camp Aunt. Our oldest is nicknamed Kermit while our youngest is Two as in Two of Three an homage to Star Trek's 7 of 9.

The Players

Kermit age 3 going on 4

Two age 1 going on 2

FSIL, JE's older sister a principal at a local school, nickname given by RN

Buckwheat, JE's younger sister, my nickname for her, also known as FSIL but that would just get confusing here

Cousin1, Kermit's first born cousin, offspring of FSIL

Cousin2, Kermit's 2^nd born cousin

Cousin3, you figure it out

KW, a friend of the family

Mamma Dee, JE's mom

Kermit and Two -isms

09FEB09

One of the first things Kermit asked me after I arrived on Monday: “Aunt Buckwheat, are we going to fly on an airplane?”

Buckwheat: “No, we are going to drive in Aunt FSIL’s big green Suburban.”

Kermit: “Okay!” (Planes hurt her ears.)

-----

Buckwheat: “Kermit, how old are you these days?”

Kermit: “5!”

Buckwheat: “Wow! You went from 2 to 5 in one year! Did you know your cousin Cousin2 went from age 2 to 16?”

Kermit’s response: Wide eyed and silent – definitely processing that one.

------

Kermit: “Mommy, I’m perturbed.”

RN: “Why’s that?”

Kermit: “Because I’m tired”

-----

Tuesday night after JE and RN had gone to bed and I was still watching TV in the living room, Kermit walked in. I asked if she needed something. She looked at me and ran from the room straight to her parent’s bedroom. The next morning I asked her if I scared her.

Kermit: “No. You woke me up!”

-----

While I was getting dressed Wednesday morning, Kermit joined me in the bathroom. I had my hair wrapped up in a towel. I asked her if I should wear my hair like that to work. She laughed and said, ‘No!’ Two, who was nursing off her mom in the adjoining bedroom, shook her head, ‘yes’!

-----

Wednesday morning as we were all getting ready for work, everyone happened to be in the kitchen and Kermit was whining about not wanting to go to the babysitter’s house.

Buckwheat: “Hey Kermit, I have an idea! How about I go to T ’s house, and you go to work for me?”

Kermit (after pondering that offer for a minute): “Buckwheat, I’m little!”

-----

Thursday evening as Kermit, RN and Two were driving home…

Kermit: “Mommy, is our friend going to be there when we get home?”

RN: “Our friend? Do you mean Aunt Buckwheat?”

Kermit: “Yes! Is Aunt Buckwheat going to be there? Is she going to sleep over again?”

-----

While I was getting Two into her pajamas on Thursday evening, Kermit was jumping on the bed (yes, I had the ‘5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed’ song running through my head, but didn’t sing it out loud as she did not need to be encouraged). She stopped when I got done dressing Two and jumped in my arms and said, “Carry me”. So I picked her up and then scooped up Two.

Kermit: “Can you carry two?”

Buckwheat: “Yep, I have two arms!”

Kermit: “Why?”

Buckwheat: “Because God gave me two arms to carry two kids.”

Kermit: “Oh.” And you could see the wheels turning.

JE said tomorrow, Kermit will be carrying around her two baby dolls all day.

-----

RN: “Kermit, did you do that?!

Kermit: “No mommy. Camille did it. I told her not too!”

Poor Camille, already getting blamed for stuff and she is still in the orphanage.

-----

Saturday morning while I was getting out of the shower, Kermit comes in.

Kermit: “We are having oatmeal for breakfast!”

Buckwheat: “We are?!”

Kermit: “Yes! Can you make it?”

-----

Saturday morning:

Kermit: “Buckwheat, we have to say good morning to Jesus.”

Buckwheat: “Where is Jesus?”

Kermit: “In our hearts!”

-----

I think we are going to have a blast on our Grand Adventure to Camp Aunt next week!

More 10MAR09

I was ratted out twice before 6:15am on Tuesday, 17 February 2009:

#1 – While Kermit and I were brushing our teeth, she attempted to hand me her toothbrush (but due to our proximity, it seemed more of an attempt to put it in my mouth). I told her not to do that, as that was how germs and bugs were spread around. She ran off saying, “I’m going to tell my mommy!” I finish up, and Kermit comes back in followed by RN:

Kermit: “Buckwheat, you need to verify!”

Me: “Verify what?”

Kermit: “That my teeth are clean!”

Me: “Oh! Is that what you wanted? I thought you wanted me to use your toothbrush. That would have been gross!”

#2 – KW made the road trip with me. He was still laying on the couch all snug and warm in his sleeping bag.

RN: “Kermit, shhh…you woke up KW.”

Kermit: “No I didn’t, Buckwheat did!”

Kermit: “When is your boyfriend going to get up?”

Buckwheat: “KW is not my boyfriend, he is my friend.” She got a strange look on her face when I told her that I changed his diapers when he was a baby!

Driving by Coalinga on Wednesday, 18 February 2009:

Buckwheat: “Kermit there are the cows!”

Kermit: “It stinks!”

At a pit stop in Patterson, while I was changing Two’s poopy diaper:

Kermit: “That smells like the cows!” [Sad part was, it was true - Two's diaper smelled like Coalinga.]

The next day while driving to the store:

Kermit: “I want to smell the cows again!”

Too bad Kermit was asleep when Two had another Coalinga smelling load after her nap!

19 February 2009:

An attempt at ratting me out again...

Kermit: "Buckwheat you didn't squeegie down Aunt FSIL's shower!"

Buckwheat: "Aunt FSIL doesn't have a squeegie in the shower, so I couldn't!"

Kermit, looking at a picture of Cousin3 on the refrigerator:

“When is my friend coming?”

Overheard while driving to Trader Joe’s:

Kermit: “I want to see cows.”

A few minutes later…

“I saw some cows!”

Two was a horse in her past life. When changing her diaper, she will suck her belly in and then push it way out when the diaper changer is trying to tape it up! Of course she giggles all the while.

20 February 2009:

Kermit: "You scared me last night. I thought you were a stranger!"

Buckwheat: "When?"

Kermit: "When you got in my bed."

Buckwheat: "Is that because I had to climb over you?" (She was on my side, so I took the side next to the wall.)

Kermit: "Yes."

Buckwheat: "So do you want me to sleep in the other room tonight?"

Kermit: "No, just don't scare me."

Buckwheat: "Then leave me some room, so I don't have to climb over you."

Kermit: "Ok"

Kermit to Cousin1: "You ask a lot of questions!"

(Kermit has met her match - they both ask a lot of questions!!)

Kermit learned to pedal her bike today, here is what she had to say when she started going:

"I can't do it! I can't do it! I can't do it! I can't do it!"

She went about a quarter of a mile total, not being able to do it!

At the end of her bike riding lesson:

Kermit: "I have to go potty!"

Buckwheat: "Ok, let's hurry home."

Kermit: "No, here."

Buckwheat: "You can't go potty here."

Kermit: "My dad let's me go potty in my yard."

Buckwheat: "Well, this is not your yard, it is public property, and we are in front of other people's houses and those are not toilet-trees!"

Kermit was quite concerned as there are no men here.

"Who is going to do the laundry?"

21 February 2009

Cousin1 kept calling Kermit by her dad's name, JE.

Kermit: "My name is not JE!"

Cousin1: "Well you look so much like your dad."

Kermit: "But I don't have a penis!"

Two has become my little "cling-on" like Cousin3 used to be. I was telling Cousin3 about it and she said, "Well us youngest ones have to stick together!"

22 February 2009

Cousin1 and Kermit were reading together on the couch. Kermit wanted Cousin1 to close her eyes, but Cousin1 wasn't cooperating.

Kermit: "I'm going to tell your mom!"

Cousin1: "Go ahead she is sitting right there."

Kermit: "No! I'm going to tell Mama Dee."

Cousin1: "Okay."

So I called up Mama Dee, and Kermit filled her in.

Kermit to Cousin1: "Mama Dee says to close your eyes!"

She then proceeded to talk a hundred miles an hour to Mama Dee. Explaining over and over how she wanted Cousin1 to close her eyes, then she put Cousin1 in time out.

Kermit to Cousin1 while talking on the phone to Mamma Dee:

"Stop talking to me! You are disturbing me!"

Two got 3 rides on the Merry-Go-Round at Arden Faire Mall since Kermit was too scared to ride. By the third ride she had figured out when the bell rings the ride is about to start.

Cousin1 and Kermit were reading/looking at one of the Anne Geddes books:

Kermit: "That's the baby I had in my uterus!"

Kermit: "And that's the baby I had in my uterus!"

Kermit: "And that's the baby I had in my uterus!"

Cousin1: "You sure have had a lot of babies in your uterus."

FSIL: "Well she lives in LA." [Just a dig on the Octomom and doctor that did the IVF!]

24 February 2009

When putting Kermit to bed:

Kermit: “Can you stay here with me?”

Buckwheat: “I have to go get some work done. I haven’t done anything all day.”

Kermit: “Oh. Will you come check on me?”

Buckwheat: “I will come check on you in about 15 minutes, and again before I go to bed. I’ll also check on Aunt FSIL and Two before I go to bed too.”

Kermit: “Why?”

Buckwheat: “Because I’ll be the last one to bed and I always check on everyone before I go to bed and tuck myself in.”

Kermit: “Who’s going to check on you?”

25 February 2009

Buckwheat had come home from team training right at bedtime.

Kermit: “Let me smell you!”

She then jumped in my arms and buried her face in my chest for a good whiff (gross!).

26 February 2009

While at the zoo the chimpanzees were in rare form.

Kermit: “Why did the monkey pick her butt and lick it?”

Buckwheat: “Because that is what monkeys do.”

27 February 2009

Kermit to Cousin3 (who came home sick): "You sound like garbage!"

All during Camp Aunt

Two with arms raised up to me: "Mama, mama, MAMA!"

She started doing the same thing to FSIL at the end of the week.

Kermit: “Tell my dad I want my flying monkey when I grow up!”

(She is afraid of her flying monkey and other assorted animals the go flying through the air making their respective animal sounds, so JE took them to work. Seems she is starting to work through some of her fears.)

When the day arrived to drive the girls back to LA, Kermit was hugging my leg as I was getting dressed in the morning and looked up at me and said, “After you get dressed, and we eat breakfast, are you going to take us home?”

Buckwheat: “Yes. We have a long drive ahead of us. Are you ready?”

Kermit: “I want to stay here!”

Buckwheat: “Did you have too much fun?”

Kermit shook her head yes.

Buckwheat: “Maybe you can come back to Camp Aunt again.”

While eating breakfast, Kermit told FSIL she didn’t want to leave.

FSIL said basically the same thing about coming back to Camp Aunt . Then we suggested she come in the summer time so she could swim and do other fun things that we couldn’t do since the weather didn’t co-operate this trip.

Kermit: “But I don’t have a bathing suit.”

Buckwheat: “We can get you one.”

Kermit: “Okay.”

During the drive to LA, and out of the blue, this is what I hear coming out of the backseat from Kermit: “Aunt Buckwheat! When are we going to stop so you can buy me a bathing suit? And Two needs one, and so does Camille!”

And the ultimate comment when we arrived at Kermit’s house after only one stop in Kettleman City for lunch: “My butt hurts!”