We were able to spend about 3 hours with Zoie before we had to leave. I spent some time in her room and with the other babies and her Nannies. I tried to keep mental notes on how they held her, patted her, laid her down for sleep so that I could see what she was used to. There are about 10 babies in this small room and some very, very little ones. There is a mattress against the wall where they put the babies when they are out of their cribs. The Nannies are wonderful. They are very affectionate with the babies, give out tons of kisses and talk to them. They tend to them fairly quickly when they cry. However, 10 babies is a lot to handle. Even though the babies on the mattress are out of their cribs, they kind of just lay there. I didn't see many toys.

There are several different baby rooms in the Transition Home. There's Zoie's room, another room with about 13 babies in it and an older toddler room where most of the kids were walking. Katie spent some time in this room and played with the kids in there. You are required to take your shoes off before entering any of the children's rooms. There is a bathroom, a kitchen and a front porch with couches.

There's TONS of laundry hanging outside to dry.

There's a Dr.'s office and I believe some beds in there for the really sick ones. Overall, this place is nice and I really do believe the kids are getting good care there. But, as good as this place is, it's still an institution. There's only so much attention they can give to each child. Also, most of the kids that met their parents today had a nasty cough and a yucky nose. It must be close to impossible, with that many children, to keep the kids healthy all the time. Here's a video of Zoie's Nanny loving on her.
Jenny - Your posts are so thorough, I feel I've been to ET myself! Alicia and I are moving to SDGO the first week of March. I hope to catch up with the social worker you recommended this week (I'm in town for a Navy school) so we can determine exactly what is required to update our HS. If I thought we could do it with boxes to the ceiling, I'd have her over to our home the day we move in! Once we get settled (and you too with your newest family member), we hope to catch up and get as smart as possible from your trip before we go. Our Dossier is at AWAA, and the snow will most likely delay DTE a week or so.
ReplyDelete>David Rowland