Joseph.

Sunday we went to see Joseph.  When we came in I think he recognized us in a "are these people here to take me away from you, mom?" kinda way.  He was a little whiny at his foster mom and cried when I walked him out to the car from her house.  I strapped him in the car and gave him his sippy cup and from there everything went WONDERFULLY!


He didn't cry one bit and had a great time!  We had such a great time too.  We took him to a mall that was about 25 min from where he lives and he was so good in the car.  We got to the mall and went right to the children's play place and we let the kids play.


This is where we got to see the difference between his capabilities and Lizzy's.  Lizzy is 16 days younger than Joseph but Joseph was born 3 months early and only weighed 1 lb 13 oz when he was born.  He also is living with a foster mom who told me she doesn't really leave the house except to take the kids to appts and I think then she has a baby sitter for him.  At our last visit we took him to a Library that was literally across the street from his current home and I found out he had never been there before.  So, all these thing factored in I think he is doing pretty good.  


Lizzy is very jump-y and climb-y and Joseph is not.  When we first got to the play place he just stood around and watched.  Then Ben and I started playing for him and with him and he lighted up and would run for his next turn to go down the slide - all while still hanging on tight to his sippy cup!  We were glad to see how fast he warmed up and smiled and laughed.  At lunch he fed himself better than Lizzy does (when you live with typically 3 other little ones I think you have to learn to feed yourself!) and then we took them to a Chuck-E-Cheese that was in the mall and we saw that he could really throw well and mimicked Lizzy when he saw her doing something fun.  I would say the only REAL difference is that she is just way more steady on her feet than he is.  I have a sneaking suspicion that he was held A LOT and probably still is.


We had such a blast watching him get to know us and have fun.  He would go from my hubby to me and back with no problem and on the way home we got to hear him say "no" and other baby babble that was so sweet.  He has a very cute voice when he isn't whining at his current foster mom :)


I just want to add that I still very much LOVE his foster mom.  She is pushing hard to get him to us asap and she has done so much good for him.  She was the one who cared for him while he did a lot of growing and healing and I am indebted to her for that.  Even if she has spoiled him rotten ;)  I am even thankful for that!