The Good, The Bad and the Messy

It finally happened. Adam has been released from the infirmary and is in a regular room. The only down side to him being in a regular room is that we don’t get one-on-one time with him. However, this change means that there is A LOT to tell today. There are a total of 9 kids in the room with 2 caretakers. The “room” is actually two rooms with a little kitchen area. One room is lined with cribs. They are nice wooden cribs with brightly colored blankets. Adam’s crib is near a window. If he turns himself around, he can look outside, through a sheer curtain. The other room is a play room. There is a lot of floor space, a small playset with swings and a slide. The large floor area is a great place for us to do Adam’s exercises and massage with him. They have a couple of walkers and even a piano which the caretakers or the kids can play. There is a large play crib where they are enclosed but have lots of room and toys. There is a smaller crib and a couple of tables and chairs.

When we got to the room this morning, Adam was in the play crib. I went up to him and his face lit up. I picked him up and he saw his dad and his face lit up again. We had a great time playing with him on the big open floor. Lots more room for him to roll around. He isn’t crawling yet, but he wants to. For the first part of our visit, he was all laughs and giggles. Then, I got to feed him!

At 9:30 am, he gets a bowl of milky baby cereal. They feed them with a regular sized spoon. The kids with teeth got an apple slice. Adam, who does not have teeth yet, got grated apple in his cereal. Whoever does the feeding has to wear an apron and a handkerchief on their head. Yes, Larry’s turn is tomorrow, complete with photos! If it’s not challenging enough to feed a 9 month old with an adult sized spoon, they also get a shot glass full of fresh juice. Today, the juice was apricot. You read correctly, ladies and gentleman, the kids are fed from a shot glass. What fun! No sippy cup, an actual shot glass. I think I did pretty well today. Most of the drink went into Adam, not onto him.

Adam is the youngest kid in his room. 6 walk. One sits up and we don’t believe that the other little one sits up. I think the oldest in the room is about 14 months old. The “older” ones took a nap right after feeding time. The other 2 younger ones played in the play crib and Larry and I played with Adam on the floor and the swing after breakfast. It is certainly a nice change and a wonderful experience to be able to feed him. I’ll be sure to take lots of pics of Larry’s turn tomorrow.