"Stop eating the dog food"

That's what I say about 10 times a day to Chase! What would possess a kid to eat dog food vs. very good table food for people? Does he have some vitamin deficiency? At least now the dog food is in the kitchen instead of being in my bedroom where the dogs were locked up for the past two weeks. That's right, all six of us (three people, three dogs) are living in one house with no locked doors, no separating the dogs and the kids, it's "peace in the valley" for the most part. Chase is getting along great with all of three of them, of course that's because he is constantly dropping food for them. Caroline has a little way to go as far as the dogs are concerned, she still is weary of them, but basically tolerates them. On a scale of 1-10, I would say we are at about a 6.5 which is way better than the 1 we were at when we first came home.

Caroline loves school! She comes running to me when I go to pick her up, babbling away in Russian and laughing, so I am assuming it's all good. She loves her teacher, Miss Rodriguez, and has made some little friends named Natalie and Sarah. She came home with a fruit loop necklace yesterday and you would think it was made of gold, she was so protective of it. Of course Chase tried to eat it. She is picking up English like you would not believe, mostly just single words, not really sentences, but it is amazing. I really need to watch what I say around her!

Chase is bonding with Mama. We had a good day today, only a few time outs. He is still a terror when I take him out, but it seems he is listening to me more and knows that he should not behave with biting, hitting, screaming, pinching or using foul language (in Russian). He knows it will mean an immediate time out. He is going to be evaluated by the school district for early childhood intervention, but the first appt. is not until November 29th! I nearly cried when they told me that and she did push us to the top of the waiting list for a cancellation. If he qualifies, he will be able to attend a preschool 5 days a week in the morning. Right now, no preschool or daycare will take him until his behavior is under control. We are looking for a private home daycare that may suit him better with a smaller group setting and more individualized attention. One of the preschools that we looked at is determined to find us something that will work for him.

Bedtime is going pretty well, they both love the bath. When we first got home they would barely stay in it 10 minutes, now I have to drag them out after 30 minutes. Chase refuses to sleep in his own bed, he sleeps with Caroline every night. I think he is so used to sleeping with 12 other children, he is scared to be alone. This is one battle I am not going to fight, I have bigger things to worry about right now. There will come a day when Caroline kicks him out and he will have no choice but to go to his own bed. He misses Caroline during the day while she is in school and needless to say, naptime is difficult since he has to sleep by himself.

I'm doing fine, although a little tired. Chasing after two kids is hard work! I have amazing friends who have offered to sit with Chase for a few hours during the day so I can get out and get some "Jane" time. I am planning a mani and a pedi for Monday when my friend Jan will stay with him. Definitely long overdue! My nephew Chris is coming down in October for Chase's 4th birthday, I am looking forward to that. He also says he's gonna "whip that kid into shape" - Ha, we'll see what he can do in 4 days!

Thanks for reading. This blog is kind of cathartic for me. I appreciate everyone's well wishes and support.

Jane