"What would we do with the little sculpture?"

"Whatever you like! Put it in your bedroom, or give it to someone as a present, or make a toy you can play with later. My son Jeremy made a tiny flowerpot out of modeling clay once and we put a plant in it." 

"Oh, that sounds nice. I'd like to make flowerpots and stuff."

"I think maybe actual pottery clay is better for flowerpots, especially if you want to make normal sized ones and not tiny ones, modeling clay is pretty expensive and it can come out brittle. I don't have clay but my friend Anita does pottery at a studio, I could ask about bringing you along?" This child deserves to have ACTIVITIES and OUTINGS and Evelyn is very determined to make it work. "...I guess I need to ask if the studio plays music." 

"A pottery studio sounds great if, yeah, there's no music and nobody will sing or hum."

"Oh dear, does someone absentmindly humming things count? I guess I'd been hoping it took, you know, some level of musical talent before it counted. I think I don't always notice if I'm humming but please tell me if I ever do and it counts." 

"You will notice because I will scream."

"Fair enough!" Which does sound like a rather effective way to train herself to stop humming, though of course she'll try very hard to get it right without any causing Annie to experience agonizing suffering. "I'm sure we'll figure it out." 

She thinks for a moment. "And what about things you dislike? Other than the obvious ones, I mean. Are there activities you know you don't want to do here? Or foods you really can't stomach? I usually tell children who stay with me that they can choose one kind of food as their least favorite and I will never expect them to eat it. ...One kind of food isn't a hard rule, it's mostly to avoid the problem where some kids will decide they find all foods intolerable except for biscuits. And if you dislike something but only ever had it cooked one way, I think it's good to be willing to try a different way - like how when I was small I hated brussel sprouts, but it turns out most vegetables are worse boiled, and brussel sprouts fried in butter are much better." 

"I'm not picky about food really. I guess you might make something I hate but I don't know what it is yet. I'm used to research hospital food from when they were trying to figure out what-all's wrong with me, and the things the Georges made which was mostly sandwiches and beans and salad."

"Very good! I love beans but so many children don't. In fact, beans in salad is a favorite of mine." 

And she'll ask Annie some other general questions about her routines. Does she have a usual bedtime? Does she like to wash up in the morning or evening, and does she usually have help in the bath? (Evelyn would generally ask an older child if they prefer the bath or shower, but kids under four need to be supervised in the bathroom anyway and she's never met one who specifically wanted to shower.) In Evelyn's household they usually bathe in the evening, because it's relaxing before bed and also the mornings are more rushed, but Annie isn't old enough to be in school yet so their daytime is less constrained. 

"The Georges were putting me to bed at seven-thirty and getting me up at six and I don't have much of an internal clock because I can't see the sunlight. Usually they'd have Marisol wash my hair but I don't think I actually need help. It was before bedtime."

Evelyn nods. "That seems sensible, though I'm inclined not to wake you at a particular time, I think most children your age usually need a bit more sleep than that. I do need to supervise you in the bath, for safety, but it's up to you whether you would rather wash your own hair." 

Evelyn pauses. Chooses her words carefully. "Marisol is your foster sister, right? ...Anthony said there were no plans for sibling context, and - there's no pressure, it's completely up to you - but it's not all or nothing, either, if you did want to see Marisol sometimes and not the others, we can try to make that work. I'm not sure where exactly she would have been fostered, I know your siblings were mostly split up because there are so many of you." 

"Marisol was fine and if she wants to see me I don't mind but I am not attached to her."

Nod. "That's all right, then." What else should be covered in the Routine Logistics conversation? "...I haven't had a chance to look at your belongings, yet, but do you like the clothes and toys you have? I have plenty of spares too, and also a clothing allowance for you, so we can go shopping soon." It's been so long since she's gotten to dress a TINY and CUTE three-year-old, though she has to remember that Annie can't tolerate warm clothes and that rules out a lot of princess dresses. And maybe she doesn't even like princess dresses - well, probably she has no opinion on them because she can't see the design and has also presumably never meaningfully watched a Disney movie. 

"- Oh, speaking of a thought I just had, for activities. I'm not sure if you have a swimsuit, but I have a paddling pool in the backyard, and that might be a good way for you to feel cooler at least for a bit?" It's pleasant but not hot outside, definitely not the kind of scorching summer day that tiny Jeremy needed to have any kind of interest in a hose-filled paddling pool, but it's not like Annie will get hypothermia, even if her overheating thing is entirely a sensory miswiring and unrelated to her actual body temperature. 

"I don't care what I wear as long as it doesn't make me any warmer than I have to be or make me trip more than I already do, I can't see it. Cooling off in a pool in the yard sounds really nice but I don't have a swimsuit right now. I just have a stuffed rhinoceros and clothes and a couple of books."

Nod. "Well, it's just our backyard, I suppose there's no rule that you have to be in a proper swimsuit and not shorts and a T-shirt. We should unpack your things, first, and maybe there's not much point in a proper house tour but I should walk you around the places you do need to know about, bathroom and bedroom and so on, so you know how to navigate your way around." Since it seems like however Annie's blindness affects her, it does let her walk around and avoid obstacles and such. Maybe Evelyn should try to find some books at the library about different kinds of visual impairment, presumably Annie's doesn't match an existing diagnosis or that would be in her chart, she had all those tests - though they were all when she was so young, early language development or not she must not have been very well able to describe what she was experiencing... 

She frowns. "Did they ever have a stairgate at home?" Sheeeee sort of doubts it on grounds of Neglectful Parenting even if it would have been a good idea, and three-and-a-half is old enough that she would usually skip it, but Annie is blind - well, partially-sighted, that's a term right? - and Evelyn has already observed that she has a tendency to trip, even if it's not at the times she would expect - maybe it makes sense, if she has just enough visual acuity to be aware of larger obstacles like curbs, but not cracks in sidewalks? "Your bedroom and the bathroom are at the top of the stairs. I don't know if your old house had stairs. I won't use it if you can show me that you can walk around in the hallway safely and you'd rather not have it, but I want you to be safe." 

"It had stairs and a gate on them, there was one kid younger than me and he needed one. - I don't especially, I trip a lot but I can be extra careful around stairs."

"Okay. I trust you." Kids need to feel trusted, in Evelyn's experience, and the toddler-preschool age cohort in particular is a period when kids crave independence, and so she always tries to start out giving a new child the benefit of the doubt as long as it's not actually dangerous. Also she's 90% sure Annie is right and will be fine. But only 90%. "- If it's okay with you, I'd like to use the stairgate for the first night? We can take it down after we're both sure that you'll be all right." 

"I guess, if I can open it. I might wake up in the middle of the night and want to go get the bag of peas to help me get back to sleep."

Aaaaaaaaaaah that gives Evelyn a very nervous feeling! "Did you do that at home? I'm a bit worried that even if you're okay on stairs during the day, at night it's dark and you're sleepy. ...I do think the stairgate makes it safer, I can show you how to open it and you'll be able to go down the stairs on purpose, but you won't trip and take a tumble by accident. I can get it out now and we can try it?" 

"I did not do that at the Georges', because if I got out of bed at the Georges' they would hit me."

"...I'm so sorry. That should never have happened to you." Evelyn has a feeling she's going to be repeating that line kind of a lot. It feels important, to reinforce that how the George's treated Annie wasn't normal or acceptable, but she's also not going to dwell on it. "I'll go collect the stairgate from the basement. ...You can come," not look, not see, "with me if you want, though the basement is off-limits if you're not with a grownup. Or you're welcome to wait for me here. It's pretty boring, it's unfinished and I just store things there." 

"Why is it off-limits if I'm not with a grownup?"

"That's a good question! The rule is for all the children who stay here, not just you. It's because the basement isn't one of the parts of the house that I've made sure is safe for children. It has exposed insulation and electrical wiring, and there are also just a lot of things you could trip over, and there's no reason you should ever need to go down there by yourself." 

"Okay."