Hello, Caterpillar

4-month-old baby boy Caterpillar* joined our home this week.  He's our first placement that's had a home before ours besides the hospital.  Also my first real interaction with Child Protective Services, as so far I'd only dealt with my private agency and hospital social workers.

He's big!  Yet he fits into 6-month clothes, so maybe he just seems big because we had Beetle most recently, who was both a little younger and on the skinny side?  He's had some sad spells, but overall we're shocked at how you can actually lay him down and he stays. asleep.  Even if he doesn't sleep long, it's still amazing compared to Beetle.  I guess I'm a comparative parent.  Sorry, kids!

Dinosaur and Rhinoceros are thrilled, though Rhinoceros can't say his name.  He did start pulling his baby doll on a wagon around the house and putting it down for a nap in the closet.  Dinosaur has been asking more questions about why babies stay with us than he has before, but I think it's going well.

I hold Caterpillar close as he experiences the loss of his home, his mom.  I was rocking him and started singing, thinking it would put him to sleep.  He perked right up and started cooing back!  Mom must be a singer.  So I've been singing all day, especially He Knows My Name, which I'd never connected to my foster babies before but now it'll always remind me of them.
 
I have a Maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
my life was in his hands

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
and hears me when I call

I have a father
He calls me his own
He'll never leave me
No matter where I go

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
and hears me when I call

*I have a knack for choosing nicknames that are hard for me to spell, and I'm a pretty good speller.  I always want to type Rhinocerous and Pteradactyl, now Catepillar.  But I like it too much to change it.