Blessed by Caterpillar

We already saw Caterpillar again today.  I was going to wait a month or so and drop off his photobook/life book, but I found some medication-related things I needed to get to his new foster mom that meant sooner would be better.

It was good timing, as this morning Dinosaur had said sadly, "I want to kiss a baby."  He got his wish, and Caterpillar was really into looking at him.  He wasn't very smiley, but he's not always so smiley.  With him and Pterodactyl, I swear you can read their minds when they're uneasy.  They don't cry, but they just look you right in the eye and practically say, "I'm not sure what's going on" with their serious looks.  It was still good to see him, though.  Same cutie as a week ago.

Time for me to do my reflections on how I was blessed by Caterpillar, as I did with Pterodactyl and Beetle.

What I learned from Caterpillar

• Starting after the newborn stage is fun and so much easier.  I'd never had a child that I didn't meet in the newborn stage, so I wasn't sure what bonding would be like.  It was no problem for us, and Caterpillar's adjustment to our home was pretty smooth.  Don't get me wrong, I still love newborns, though they're hard on our family and we will probably only take so many more of them.
• B can bond emotionally with foster babies.  This hadn't been the case as much in the past.
• Hair care can be intense.  I had to do a lot more research about methods and products just to keep his full head of black hair healthy.
• Health concerns can be intense.  While Caterpillar was healthy overall, he had one issue that no one knew if it was really a concern or just the way he was.  We had lots of specialist appointments trying to figure it out.
• I can use phone and text to form positive relationships with birth parents.  This was new territory, and I know it helped me be a better foster parent, and I hope it gave some comfort to Caterpillar's mom that she could contact me between visits.

What I loved about Caterpillar

• His sweet charm.  You can't quite put it into words, because while he was less serious than Pterodactyl, he was still on the serious side.  But you just wanted to spend time with him, watching his expressions.  He was literally the life of the party at a BBQ we went to right before he moved.  He will be such a fun little boy; I just know it.
• His hair.  He liked when I massaged his scalp a little, playing with his dense tiny curls, which is good, because I did it without even thinking.
• His laidback nature.  He napped when he was tired, never for long, but always so flexible.  We got to do lots of fun things with him because he was so easy to take places.  Day-to-day life with him really was a joy, rarely stressful.
• That he sucked on his two fingers, just like Rhinoceros.
• His love for baths.  I have a picture of him grinning at himself in the mirror during a bath that is one of my favorite pictures of my babies, ever.
• His love for music.  The day after he arrived, I sang to Caterpillar while rocking him, and he instantly perked up, stared at me, and started cooing along.  I will never forget our family dance parties to "I Feel Good," just loving the pure joy he had when we sang just the right song to him.