Round 2...

Greetings ~ so we went to see Charlie again today. When we arrived at the safe home, he was in time out for being "aggressive" towards the staff. Time out consisted of him being gated in his room that has nothing other than a bed. He lost his dresser for jumping off it and he lost all his toys for misusing them and yesterday, during a fit, he tore down his curtains! As I write this I laugh, which is awful, but to think about it is kind of funny just because he is cute. But I am sure he can be a handful. Luckily we haven't see it yet...even today.
Let me set the scene for you...it was "let's decorate the house for Halloween" day at the safe home...think ghosts, spiders, streamers, lights, everything gory spread across the entire kitchen table. WE were over stimulated never mind the children. Staff were up on ladders stapling, taping and directing. This is a 4 year old's dream! BUT I must say when we arrived, Charlie turned his tears around, played well with us, tried to use the potty because he didn't want us to leave and was well behaved again. He definitely needed redirection, but seriously, go back to the setting and the stimulus. He did everything we asked him to do, even though at times he didn't like it. He gave Gabe a hug over the back which was very cute. He sat quietly with us as we tried counting and ABC's. He was VERY quick to say "I can't do it" so that will need some work.
All in all it was another good visit, nothing out of the ordinary for a 4 year old boy that we can see...and we did try to instigate him a bit, but he just didn't respond. There was some jumping and head flailing but more impulsive behaviors than anything else. He sucks his thumb when he is concentrating...and his fingers and fist when he is REALLY concentrating.
Our next step is to talk to DCF again and see where they are at with moving forward with terminating mom's rights and with seeking a behavioral health evaluation for him. Nothing so far has made us say we are walking away so our next visit will likely be off site (we have to put him in our car!) and perhaps then we will see some other challenging behaviors. He really wants to see JP!! Who can blame him though, really.
Until then...