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So the first thing I needed to do was see if Mark still had infant instinct for a bottle. I took a small bottle of milk and sat it on a low table; I made sure he saw it. I then walked away from the area, still watching to note what he did next. Perfectly on cue Mark ran over and picked up the bottle, then hid under the table so as not to let me see he had it. I played blind. A job well done, I thought. OK now Mark my dear child we are ready for an adventure. I walked over to him and he cowered, thinking he was in trouble. I told him, "It's ok, you can have it." Come and sit on mommies lap and we'll rock in the chair." At first he refused to sit on my lap, so I kept telling him it was ok for him to have the bottle. He started to relax in my arms; once he did that we seemed to rock for hours. After a couple of days Mark and I had a very special time just rocking and talking and drinking his bottle. He was learning trust and closeness doesn't have to hurt. I was learning time pays off. It was during this time; Mark seemed to be warming up to Mike too. They became buddies, Mike would come home from work and him and Mark would sit and talk and play with little toys together. Mark was still pretty stubborn and not real warm to others, but he was coming around.
I was still worried about the girls. Dianna was showing more acting out at the center, the worker had kept me updated on them. They, the workers decided that Dianna needed to be placed in a home called a " therapy" foster home. This is a home with only one or two foster children and intense supervision. The parents in these homes knew how to deal with emotional problems these children had. They had said that Mandy the four year old wasn't acting out to the degree that Dianna was. She was going to be placed with a grandmother. My first thought was, there goes the contact between the children. I had taken Mark back to the crisis center for visits with the girls several times. I was becoming very attached to the girls as well as to Mark. I was concerned with where they would be going. I'm not real sure how it happened but the grandmother placement fell through. Mandy was moving into our home. All I knew was this little girl was messed up and needed a home and someone to try and love her. Could we handle this little girl? Did we know how to deal with her problems? Somebody had to do something for her. What's one little four-year girl going to do to our family? A question I should have worded differently. Could our family handle what this little four year old could dish out?
Mandy came into our home she seemed to be happy. Mark seemed to be happy she was there too. By the time Mandy came to stay with us, Mark had made many improvements in his bonding with us.