Seeing is believing

Princess has been on the GFCF diet for a little over a week now. We are already seeing results. We really didn't notice at first but then I realized after I picked her up from daycare the other day, she didn't make a peep in the car. She didn't make any OOOO sounds or say ticka, ticka, ticka like she usually does. In fact, I can't even remember the last time she did "ticka". Earlier in the week, I asked her to pick up her toys and put them in the toy box and she did it!! In the past, I had to tell her to pick up each toy and then tell her to where to put each toy (which was in the toy box). She is also keeping eye contact more then before and will sit and watch cartoons. Watching TV is a big improvement too. Last week she couldn't sit still for more than a few minutes. Yesterday morning she watch most of the Mickey Mouse Club House. Most days are good but we had another bad night of crying. I still thing it might be withdrawal. It was early in the week and only a few days from starting the diet.

The GFCF diet is challenging and some what expensive but we are learning. We discovered Princess won't eat the GFCF pretzels. We went to Rainbow Foods to buy some more sandwich cookies and also found some rice chips she likes. She seems to like the bread with peanut butter and jelly. I also found a blog site that had a recipe for homemade chicken nuggets. I haven't tried them yet but I will. I am also going to try a recipe I found for GFCF bread in the bread machine. PB&J is a good quick lunch for the ride home from the "visit".

The kids had a parental visit for the first time in three weeks. Little Prince didn't even acknowledge his mother like he had in the past. He just went right to the puzzle table. The mother tried to get a hug and kiss from Princess but she just put her arms down by her side and turned her head. Their mother didn't look so good. She wouldn't make eye contact with us and didn't seem happy to see the kids. I left some PB&J sandwiches for her to give them and explain which one was Princess' and they could not get mixed up. I think there is only one visit left on the books. We should know what's going to happen within the next few weeks.

So, everything is going good at this point. Little Prince is trying to use the potty more and Princess is showing improvement with the GFCF diet...seeing is believing. (Maybe someday I can show video of before and after). We are not allowed to video foster children.

Last night we attended a mandatory training for the foster agency. It was about 3 hours long and was full of information. We saw people who attended the same training as we did when we started. A group of us even got our picture taken for the local paper as new foster parents. We saw the foster parents of the twins we did respite for. I really expected the twins would be back with their parents a long time ago but they are still in foster care. We saw one of the girls (Cuddly), we both agreed she didn't have the sparkling smile she had four months ago. I hope she was just tired and hasn't given up. I also saw the girls we kept for our first respite. DH talked to the foster mama and she told him their adoption should be final in about 3 to 4 months. We are happy for them and the mama