Routine changes

We were told yesterday that one of Jack-Jack's contact days had now been changed permanently to a different day, and the time and location would also change. A few days earlier we'd been told that the time and location of another of his contact days had changed. He's been here less than two months, and already we've met four different sessional workers, had the days change three times and the times change four times. Our social worker Jane happened to ring me just after the email came through, so I told her what had happened, and she let me have a bit of a moan! We just don't know how we're supposed to keep Jack-Jack in a good sleep schedule when it gets disrupted three times a week, he misses naps, and then he's so unsettled for days afterwards that it takes up to a week for his behaviour, sleep and eating to return to normal. Jane completely agreed and told me that she'd voice her concerns to the relevant people. We're very lucky that she's so supportive of us. She made the point that even aside from the impact on Jack-Jack, we're a family not a residential unit, so we shouldn't be expected to have to keep changing our plans at such short notice. In some respects, it's part and parcel of fostering (Jack-Jack's arrival was very short notice), but these seem to be things that don't need to be this complicated and disruptive.

Aside from the above, Jack-Jack's doing great - spending every day exploring, discovering and honing his new skills. He's been feeding himself at every meal, we very rarely use "baby" food any more. New tastes over the last couple of weeks have been cucumber, apple, satsuma, jelly (very messy but a hit), custard, roasted winter veg, apple pie, mashed potato, raisins, sausages and fizzy pear juice (just a sip - best face ever when the bubbles hit his nose, but he liked it.) His favourite foods so far are marmite toast, yoghurt and sausages, but anything that can be smooshed in his hands and smeared all over the high chair is generally a winner!