2019 :: week 15

April 7

Sunday evening Will and I went for a walk after the other kids went to bed. His bedtime is an hour after Lauren and Elliott's. That extra hour is the best time to talk to Will and find out what is going on in his life. Will is such a accomodating kid that it is easy for me to go all day without really having a meaningful interaction with him. For me, juggling four kids has come with a bit of a learning curve. Some of my kids demand my attention in ways I can't ignore, so it was nice to have a few quiet minutes with just Will. I really like him and the thoughtful, kind person he is growing up to be.

April 8

Miles has seborrheic dermatitis, which I think is basically cradle cap but all over his face. All of my kids have had legitimate cases of cradle cap, but Lauren and Miles have gotten in on their forehead and eyebrows too. At his one month appointment Monday morning the doctor advised me to put a small amount of lotrimin on it each day. I took this picture in the afternoon after the first application. At his appointment we found out that he weighs 11 lbs. 4 oz. and is 23.25" long. Miles has been a more demanding baby this week, wanting to be held most of his waking hours. I spent quite awhile that afternoon just holding and rocking him on the rocking chair. I can't spend that  much time doing that everyday, but it was nice to snuggle with him and put off non-pressing chores for a bit.

April 9

Lauren was named "Artist of the Week" by her art teacher, Mrs. Phillips. Lauren loves art and takes her work seriously and was so pleased to be recognized.

April 10

The daffodils are finally in bloom! I look forward to them every year and they took a little longer to pop up this year. Between pregnancy and a long, cold winter spring I am savoring spring a little extra this year.

April 11

Thursday night we went to the Oak Park Carpenter Open House. Will and Lauren have been hard at work and had a lot of neat stuff to show off in their classrooms. Lauren did a report on Africa and made a cool display about things she learned. She showed us her daily journal and I was impressed with her creativity. They have a prompt each day and can also draw a picture and her pictures were quite detailed. Will did his endangered species report on sea turtles. He also wrote a clever poem about his blue crayon based off the book The Day the Crayons Quit. His teacher remarked that he makes great use of adjectives and I totally agree. The spring book fair was also happening that night in the library and each of the kids found a few overpriced books to take home. I have to remind myself that the book fair is a fundraiser everytime I hear how much the books are going to cost.

April 12

Thursday morning Anthony flew to Boston to spend a weekend with his siblings and parents in his childhood home one last time. Anthony's parents are leaving Boston after living there over thirty years and moving in with Tina's 97-year-old father. Bobpa is doing remarkably well, but isn't as agile as he used to be and needs some light but constant assistance. The six John siblings decided to gather together for a weekend of reminiscing about all things Belmont/Boston and a Red Sox game was on the agenda for Friday night. Hillary's baby Lucas was the only grandchild in attendance.

April 13

We had a lot of stuff going on Saturday morning, which I had the most anxiety about before Anthony left. It ended up being a breeze and what I should have been concerned about was Miles crying for hours on end. Saturday morning Will had his first piano competition at Mid American Nazarene University. He did a fabulous job and earned a superior rating, which is the highest score he could receive. At the same time Lauren had a soccer game with team pictures being taken half an hour before the start time. I worked out a car pool for Lauren to get her to her game and my sister Emily watched Elliott for me so I didn't have to haul him back and forth. Will's competition was running ahead of schedule, so we were able to make it back in time for the second half of Lauren's game. That afternoon we picked up a few groceries and ate dinner at McDonalds.