The Zoe Hotel Part Two

Pictures From Zoe's First Sleepover

Zoe painting a flower pot. Funny thing is that Zoe's flower is growing really well. When we told the staff this, they said they haven't had any luck with any of the flowers they planted. Zoe must just have that special touch (perhaps it is all that extra spit on her hands).

I had already posted about a respite place, Safehaven, that we recently tried out with Zoe. The first sleepover went really well. Zoe seemed to have a great time and was well cared for. So we decided to try it again this week but this time we sent Zoe for two nights.

Zoe immediately smiled and laughed as we entered the building, which we took to be a good sign. She immediately walked off in her walker to check everything out and say hello to staff. Zoe was already tired from a busy day at school so we stuck around to feed her before handing her off to staff. We explained to Zoe that this time Zoe would be spending the entire next day and the next night at Safehaven and Zoe kept laughing and smiling at this idea. So we felt pretty good when we left.

I called periodically to check on Zoe and heard what she was up to. The staff love how mobile she is in her walker. Most of the kids there are not able to ambulate at all. We were told Zoe was eating and sleeping well.

When we picked Zoe up on Wednesday she was busy playing with a staff member. I jokingly said, "Hey Zoe, chopped liver is here." She walked over to us and signed that she wanted me to pick her up. She was all smiles and laughing and after a few minutes of mommy snuggles she indicated she wanted the staff (who happened to have strings on her sweatshirt- how can I compete with that!) to hold her again. Zoe was in a great mood all afternoon and seemed to be happy to be home. She kept walking around, looking at and touching her toys. We joked that she seemed to miss her singing dog more than she missed us!

We are feeling really positive about Zoe's stay and using the respite centre in the future. We were so tired (I have been up for six-eight hours every night with contractions but no real labour) that we didn't even do much while Zoe was gone. We went out to eat, which is always a nice treat but didn't make it to the movie. My contractions are worse in the evening so I didn't feel much like sitting in a movie theatre while cramping every 4 mins. We were hoping the baby would come when Zoe was away so that would make getting to the hospital easier for us. But I guess babies don't always follow our plans!

It is great to see how secure Zoe is and how much she is able to be independent. We know that Zoe needs lots of different people in her life to meet all of her many needs. I think dropping Zoe off for the sleepover was much harder on me than it was on her! I think she really enjoyed herself and did not seem to miss us much at all. When we have done overnights before, the respite worker would come to the house and we would leave. Zoe seemed to miss us more then perhaps because she was not distracted by being around other kids, lots of staff who are kissing her butt, and new toys to play with.

We don't have any other overnights planned in the immediate future but it is really good to know that this is there for us if we need it.