It's been a crazy and amazing week since we got our first foster care placement. Overnight we added 2 kids to our family. Ethan went from being the only child to being the middle child. We went from having a preschooler to having a kindergartener, preschooler, and baby.
I was expecting to be dealing with scared, angry, and confused kids, but surprisingly, they have both adjusted well. Big brother started calling us "mommy" and "daddy" by the end of day one. Baby girl doesn't seem to have any separation anxiety. They both seem to like it here. But maybe it's still the honeymoon period and the tough behaviors are yet to come. Maybe their current grief cycle is shock or denial. Time will tell, and I guess we'll just enjoy this while we can.
It's amazing how easily they've fit into our family. It's almost like they have always been here. There's been changes to our daily routine, of course, and bedtime is a bit harder and takes longer, and I no longer have enough time to feel like I'm wasting it on facebook and netflix (when I do have time for those things, I now feel highly justified).
Of all the kids, Ethan was the one having the hardest time adjusting. But he's improving, and learning to play with big brother without constant fighting. He is a little copycat and mirrors a lot of what big brother does. Thankfully there hasn't really been anything bad for him to copy (the worst thing he's learned is how to make fart noises). Having baby girl here has lead to some jealousy from Ethan. He will sometimes say things like "You don't want to hold the baby" or "You don't like to hold the baby." Aside from me holding her, his biggest issue is when she touches his toy masterpieces or gets in his way. But having him help out with taking care of the baby and making sure I still hold him as much as possible is helping.
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