A Timmy Update

For any of you wondering about Timmy, I offer the following update:

He was tested by a specialist in child development, and found to be between two to six months developmentally delayed in just about every area - physical ability, talking, following directions, etc. Jean and I have worked with developmentally delayed children before (three of our previous six foster-children were developmentally delayed), so we know what needs to be done, and have started working on it. Timmy is also going to have physical therapy (gross-motor development), speech and language help, and some fine-motor development therapy.

Right now, Timmy is in many ways a typical two-year-old - exploring everything, getting into mischief, and wanting to try everything, especially our patience. His mother visits about once a week for an hour or so, which is far less than we expected. He also sees his maternal grandparents occasionally, as well as his two maternal aunts and their children. He's learning about two new words every day, and uses them at the most unexpected - but appropriate - times. His latest words are "baby" and "socks". He's trying to count, but the numbers don't always follow in order. He's learning to be appropriate with our cats, but he's still having problems with my daughter's Labrador Retreiver puppy.

All in all, he appears to be a happy, normal child. We won't know if there's any permanent brain damage or developmental problems until he's been in a stable environment for at least three or four months, and has been re-evaluated for his progress (or lack of).