Henry’s “orphan report”

 

“Outgoing, playful and tiny, Henry is a fun baby. He’s very rewarding to interact with, and is obviously very smart, but he has strong opinions about some things and is quite stubborn when it comes to food.

Henry has a hyper personality. He wiggles, writhes, and is especially expressive with his right arm. He points, waves, and weaves his arms up and down and around, as if it is his own sign language. Henry likes “rough” play like being “tossed” in the air and spun around in the walker. He giggles with delight when he’s plopped on the bed and enjoys almost fast, exciting games.
Henry is very chatty and will definetly be a talker. He can say “mama” though he probably doesn’t know what it means. Henry does very well with imitating noises and sounds that people make. He’s learning how to kiss and has already perfected lip smacking. He chuckles a lot and thinks it’s funny when people imitate him. 

Henry loves to play with toys and likes to sit on the carpet with the toy basket in front of him. His favorite items are things that are brightly colored or make a lot of noise when he bangs them on the ground. He usually has to empty the whole basket and often will be entertained for 20-30 minutes just playing with his toys.

Henry is doing great in his foster home and is very secure and loved. The whole family, as well as Martha (the household help), participates in his care, but Henry still knows who the mother is. He is especially close to his foster mom, but does well interacting with the other members of the family. Henry is however extremely shy of strangers and is especially afraid of men he doesn’t know. He will break down into dramatic tears and wails, and not stop until the stranger is out of sight. He does fine with children and a lot of women, but is generally afraid of new faces. During outings Henry is fine if no one comes up to him and talks to him directly.

Developmentally Henry has come a long way since being brought into foster care. At first he could only sit, but now he is able to scoot around on his tummy (he ends up kind of going in circles because of his arm), scoot a little on his bottom, and walk in the walker. He has even attempted pulling himself to a standing position beside the couch using his right arm (unsuccessfully). His real strength is seen in his mobility in the walker. Henry is now running all over the house, in and out of rooms, all by himself in the walker. The walker has done wonders for his legs, which are so much more muscular, strong, and mobile than before. His left arm has shown no improvement, but he is starting to wiggle his fingers a little more. His arm and hand is rubbed and massaged periodically throughout the day. Before Henry was able to wiggle is thumb, but recently he his tight grip has relaxed just a little, and he is wiggling a few of his fingers. He still doesn’t seem to know his other arm even exists, but at least his fingers are moving a little.

Henry is normally a happy baby, but you can always tell when he’s tired or hungry since he starts to get fussy and break down over little things. During these times he falls apart easily, but he has the very good quality of recovering fast.

Henry is an extremely fussy eater. He recently decided bottles were for babies, and since he is well over a year old, he should be taking all his nourishment from a spoon or a sipper cup. So right now he is eating formula with flavored baby cereal mixed in, as well as small servings of mashed table foods. Sometimes he acts like he doesn’t want to eat, even when it is well passed his mealtime, so the spoon or cup has to be forced in his mouth before he will realize that he really is hungry (often through barred teeth). Even though Henry has just grown his first set of molars, he still does not know how to chew. He likes to try a lot of feeds but sometimes gags in tiny pieces. If he is in a bad mood he will have gag intentionally on any food he’s given. Henry is offered a large variety of foods, but unfortunately he remains a difficult baby to feed. Lucky for him his foster mom is very persistent and patient. The one thing Henry always takes willingly is water. He likes drinking water from his sippy cup between meals.

Henry is on a great sleeping schedule. He goes to bed at about 9:00 and often sleeps through the night. He recently stopped getting up for another feeding at midnight , but still occasionally wakes up in the night hungry. He sleeps until about 7:00 to 7:30 in the morning. During the day he takes one afternoon nap from about 12:00 to 2:30 .

Henry is still very small for his age, but is in good health (he has not been sick since he was brought into foster care). He wears size 6-month clothes, size 2 diapers, and size 2 shoes.”