X-Man

3 weeks ago our social worker came for a visit, regular, nothing odd.

The kids were down for their naps and we were able to talk quietly w/out any interruptions (that never happens).

We talked for a little bit and then she got down to the nitty gritty.

“We have a little boy, he’s 7 months old. He has galactosemia (that’s another post all together). He was with another foster family, but the husband had to go into the hospital. The other family that we would have put him with just got a baby about 2 weeks ago. His situation is the following (this is where the story is kept private due to confidentiality issues). So how would you guys feel about fostering him? He would only be foster.

At this moment I am filled with emotion. I’ve never been comfortable just fostering. But something just felt right. It felt that this little man needed our home for a period of time.

So without really thinking anymore about it, we both said yes.

This was a Thursday afternoon. By Thursday evening, our home went from a mother and a father and 2 boys to a mother, a father, 2 boys and 1 foster baby.

By Sunday night I was ready to give him back. It was rough okay more like excruciating. He was a miserable little man. He didn’t smile at all. Not even in the bath, while rocking him, while tickling him, NOTHING. He was in a new place and he had his guard up. It really is crazy how we protect ourselves, even at such a young age. He cried, the bloody murder kind , ALL the time.

 

3 weeks later

 

He’s a happy little man. He opened up. He still cries a horrible cry. He’s eating. The poor little guy had never had solids. He now knows how to eat. He actually loves to eat. He was being fed only bottles ( a massive amount of them). So now that he has tried the real stuff there is no stopping him.  He loves bath time. He plays and crawls all over the place.

He loves the boys. Lukas loves  him, Manny on the other hand, not so much. To Manny, X-man is like a Monet, from far away he’s okay, but up close, it’s a mess.

X-Man (Xavier) is 8 months old. He is biracial, so he has this amazing color. He will be living with us for about 5-6 months. Could be shorter, could be longer.

Fostering. I thought I’d have a really hard time at just the thought of having to give him up at some point. But it most definitely is something different, once you have your own kids and then know that you are pretty much his caretaker. A place where he can feel safe, loved and cared for, until, well until his family situation gets straightened out. Until then, we’ll be the ones enjoying him.