Three more weeks.

At court this morning, the judge ordered that the baby stay in foster care at least until the next court date, which is set for March 8. There is concern that the baby's mom, who is supposed to only have supervised visits at the visitation center with both children, is frequently at the grandma's house, where the baby's three-year-old brother is. I also learned today that the three-year-old brother's dad (not the same dad as the baby's) is filing to get custody from the grandma, which is an interesting complication. The other official reason for adjourning for three more weeks is so that the mom can get signed up for the things she's supposed to be doing to get the baby back, because apparently a month isn't enough time for her to have done that yet. (Her lawyer did tell the judge that she called about one set of classes THIS MORNING. She must have done it from the court waiting room, because we were there at 9. Naturally, there was some reason about why she couldn't get into the classes.)

The baby's dad's lawyer was there with the dad and said that his client would accept custody, but the CPS investigator on the case told me afterwards that they have some issues that would need to be taken care of before that happens, and from what I can tell about dad he may or may not be willing to do any work at all here. I get the impression that custody of his five-year-old son sort of fell into his lap, so I don't know if he'll do much to work it out that this baby come to him.

The judge today reiterated to the baby's mom and grandma that there is a court order instructing the mom to stay away from the grandma's residence, and that the grandma is not to allow her to be at the residence for any reason. After court, the mom told the CPS investigator in front of me that it's her mom, she's not going to stay away from her, and that the order is bullshit, and then stormed away. The grandma then told the CPS investigator that she doesn't invite the mom over, she just shows up, and what is she supposed to do, kick her out? The investigator said, very patiently, "That's exactly what you're supposed to do. You've agreed under penalty of law to protect your grandson and to keep him away from his mom for now, so that's what you are required to do." The grandma just sort of stared at her and mumbled something about it's her daughter, what's she supposed to do, she doesn't invite her over.

I feel sad for the mom and grandma, because I really don't think they understand that the grandma might never get this baby and might lose the brother if they don't comply. I think they feel that they should be able to see each other, because they're family, instead of following the order. Like, I don't know if the grandma can understand that by accepting custody of the brother she made the choice between seeing her grandson and seeing her daughter. Ugh.

So in three weeks, we'll go back to court. It's possible by then they'll be looking to place the baby with her dad instead of with the grandma. I am so glad to still have the baby, because I love her a whole lot, but it is going to really suck if this drags out for months and months while we get more attached to her (and her to us) every day.

So! Any questions about court stuff? I'll answer if I can!