The Sammy Saga

Once upon a time there was a cute little chubby baby boy named Sammy who I fell in love with.  He was my Co-workers baby.  His Mom lived in the USA working hard to support him & his Dad lived in England.  Sammy's little family was in a really tight spot.  His mom was dealing with some pretty dark times. So, some Co-workers and I took turns watching Sammy while his mom was working, but pretty soon Sammy would only come to my house.
Lauren and I watched Sammy all the time, we'd take him wherever we had to go.  We'd rock him, get him to smile, and try and get him to love tummy time when he was old enough to hold up his head...he hated it!!  But other then Tummy time Sammy never really cried. He was so happy. 
And we really loved watching him. It didn't take long before Sammy felt a little bit like our baby.  We had lots of his bottles and formula at our house. He slept over, we bought little binkies, blankets, pants & shirts for him.

He learned how to hold his own bottle really fast

He absolutely hated bath time!

And he really did grow up so fast

You can imagine how devastated we where when Sam's mom lost her job. She no longer needed our help, and we no longer had the ability to personally make sure Sammy was okay. We would still see Sam-o every once and a while. We worried about him. But as time went on it became harder and harder to get a hold of his mom. Our visits became more spread apart and Sammy began to forget us. That was really heartbreaking.  I would check in with Sammy's mom every once and a while to see how she was doing. My heart sank when one day she replied that Social Services would be stepping in and taking Sammy away from her. Within the hour Lauren and I were calling around trying to find a way to get him placed with her and her husband. With the help and guidance from our dad (a social worker) we knew it was possible. Lauren worked on this for months!  They had a room with a bed and toys waiting for Sammy. They met with the social worker, and the foster parents, and Sammy's mom. 

When all was said and done, as well as months later.  It was decided that Sammy was to stay with his foster parents.  The social worker on the case had lied to Lauren and Felipe. To be completely honest, they had been cruel to Sammy's mom as well. Overall, we were very unimpressed with the way they handled everything. We didn't feel like Sammy's best interest was taken care of nor was his mom treated like a human being. 

Sammy's mom eventually got conditional custody back of her boy, on the grounds that she live in a facility that was in a sense a 'drug addicted/alcoholic mommy' bootcamp. She is turning her life around and getting the help she needs. We all still think about Sammy.  He was a big part of our lives for a time.  We worry about him and wonder if he will ever know about how much we cared and did for him.

I still talk to his mom every once and a while and hope to meet back up with them soon. Sammy has grown into quite the little person since the last time I saw him.  We wish him and his mom the best!