They came and took him! What do I do now? *UPDATE PAGE 5!*

[sumbirdy]

My mothers nurse came out and looked at him today (actually she just left) She said they were some kind of bites but she didn't know what...possibly those red ants. Charles and Stephanie sit him out in the grass a lot without bug protection so it's no wonder he has bites all over him. The last time Nathan has seen this nurse was the day before they took him. When he first saw her then he smiled at her. Today he's reluctant to smile at anyone. I guess he lost that trust in humankind. He used to be the type of baby who smiled at absolutely everyone. Now he just stares at them and if they talk to him he buries his head in my (or mom or dad's) shoulder.

Stephanie is bugging dad about handing over Nathan's social security card and birth certificate (for some reason they think this is going to get them a bigger apartment) When Nathan was born she marked on his birth certificate that she didn't want the hospital to get Nathan a social security number. And you know who ended up getting it? Dad. I can't tell you how many times I seen dad on the phone with those people, filling out stuff and sending stuff in to get Nathan a social security number. Because Charles and Stephanie wouldn't do it. Now she wants him to just hand it over to her and dad won't do it. I don't blame him. If they want it so bad they can go through all the stuff dad had to go through to get it.

DHS will not help us. We've told them, other people have told them. They won't listen. They said they went out there and everything was fine. But that was just Stephanie playing her "I'm a perfect Mommy" card. She does it well, I've seen her do it. And as soon as they were gone she sat Nathan in a chair and walked off and left him.

When Nathan was 2 or 3 months my parents decided to leave everything alone for a day and see how good a mother Stephanie was. She left him sitting in a chair all day and the only attention he got from her was when she shoved a bottle in his mouth.

She had the nerve to call dad yesterday and ask all this stuff about Nathan and say she was just a worried mother! Where was she when he had an ear infection and was cranky all night? Where was she when he had the sniffles? Where was she when he cut his first tooth? When his tummy was upset? When he learned to crawl? When he first ate solids? His first in-the-tub bath? When he started cruising? She wasn't here. We never kept her away from him yet she never called, never asked about this stuff, and only visited on holidays. And then she never acted like she wanted to take care of him! She would complain about it! And now she has the nerve to pretend she was the perfect mother all along and just wanted her baby back because she missed him?!

Mom has 2 years to press charges on Stephanie with Adult Protective Services. By then Nathan will be 3 and maybe, just maybe DHS will listen to a child when he confirms all that we have said. (When he's older I'm going to teach him to dial 911 if it's an emergency, I think living with her he needs to know how.)

I really got lost in this rant.

[Catty1]

I still like the idea of a small tape recorder - or digital recorder - the next time your parents go there.

I wonder if the nurse noticed the change in him?

Prayers coming all the time.

[sumbirdy]

The nurse did notice a difference in him. And she also told us another bit of info. She told us that she used to work with abused children. We have noticed Nathan slapping himself in the face. When she seen it she said she used to see that with abused children whose parents hit them.
Charles is changing his story so much. At first he told us that Stephanie didn't act like she wanted to take care of Nathan and when he cried she would either ignore him or scream at him to shut up (I believe this story)
And he also said he was going to tell Child Welfare about it.
NOW he's saying that she doesn't do any of this stuff and that she's a great mom. (I don't believe this story)

Nathan's sleeping peacefully now and I'm hoping my little angel has a night with no problems, no bad dreams.

[sumbirdy]

More pics! I got a couple of him smiling this time. He's sitting in his exersaucer behind me eating some Graduates Lil' Crunchies and drinking his juice. I'm about to go clip his nails. That should be fun since he's so wiggly.

Last night he woke up at 10:00 and wouldn't go back to sleep so at 1:00 in the morning we had to drive him around. It might have been because it was so hot in our house last night.

[Catty1]

I hope the nurse can report this to DHS or SOMEONE! Maybe she has some advice that will help your parents.

Maybe, with a but of information here, a bit there, your mom will be able to lay charges sooner rather than later.

[CathyBogart]

CPS is a bunch of BIG FAT IDIOTS if they'll harass my teenage siblings at length about something that happened a decade ago and yet won't help you and Nathan.

[sumbirdy]

*sigh* We got him to bed by 8 tonight and he's already woke up twice. The number of times he wakes up is getting worse but it's getting easier to get him back to sleep. I just don't get it. Monday we are going to ask her directly what she has done to him and if she won't admit it I'm going to make it known that I know she has done something and I intend to find out. It's cruel to a baby to take him out of the only home he has ever known and force him to live with complete strangers.
Mom told her he was allergic to Huggies diapers and you know what she said? "You don't have to worry about that, I'm not going to waste my money on that" I understand a mother saying she can't afford a more expensive brand but saying she's not going to waste her money on something that will go to her child?! That just tells us even more that she doesn't love him. Well, I take that back, she loves him like somebody loves a possesion, like their car. She's a control freak, she wants control over everything and everybody. When she lived here she tried to take control over everything in the house and when we wouldn't let that happen she got mad. When she went grocery shopping with mom she would tell her what she should buy and she would rearrange the whole house to suit her without asking anyone. I guess she thinks Nathan is someone she can have control over. But Nathan has a mind of his own and he's not going to be her little puppet. She also thinks she is going to get money off of him because we did. We got money because the government looked at him as our foster child. And everything we got went to him. Almost everything we got went to him. I can't tell you the last time any of us have bought something new for ourselves unless we absolutely needed it. She makes me so mad using Nathan like this.
Nathan came back to us so insecure and so clingy. And unless they have a change of heart and let us have him (doubtful) or Charles divorces her (even more doubtful) and gets sole custody, he's always going to be like this. I just hope that once he figures out we're always going to come back for him and we're not leaving him forever then this will get a little easier for him. I just want him to be the happy, carefree little boy he once was. I don't want to take him back because I don't want him to think we are abandoning him with them. I just wish he was old enough to understand.
Here's a pic I took of me and him about 20 minutes ago when he woke up. Babies are gifts from God, they don't deserve to be hurt or abused. I just wish everyone would look at it that way. The world would be so much better.