2021 :: week 8

 

February 14

Church was cancelled, but thanks to the zoom system our ward already has in place we were still able to "meet" together for church. Anthony hosted the meeting from our front room and Will and Lauren gave the opening and closing prayers. In honor of the passing of Christopher Plummer we watched "The Sound of Music" in the afternoon. Due to an act of parental neglect our kids had never seen the movie before. Elliott's vivid imaginations led to bad dreams about the Nazzies coming to get our family and him defeating them with his Darth Maul lightsaber. There was a lot of Elliott and Dad cuddling during the second half of the movie.

February 15

This week was the coldest week we have experienced since we moved to Kansas eleven years ago. Anthony was sent home from work early on Monday because Evergy (power company) was performing "temporary controlled power outages." We planned on using the sauna, but decided to wait as the sauna requires a lot of electricity. We didn't lose power on Monday, but were part of the rolling blackouts on Tuesday morning. Our power was out for just shy of three hours from 8-10:45am. The kids were already off from school Monday and Tuesday, but had Wednesday as a remote day due to the cold and power issues. Anthony's work was closed on Tuesday as well.

February 16

Tuesday night while we ate leftover French Dip sandwiches our kids discussed and ranked their favorite meals. I made a note in my phone because I find the rankings and how they described them useful and amusing. Will's "favorite foods" are: smashburgers, steak, tikka masala, zupa toscana, salmon soup, homemade pizza and stroganoff. Lauren's "top foods" are: creamy chicken and rice, tikka masala, smashburgers, pulled pork, homemade pizza, steak and sweet willy chili. Elliott's "top ten" are as follows: (1) French toast and bacon, (2) holiday ham, (3) homemade pizza, (4) beef and barley stew, (5) salmon soup, (6) smashburgers, (7) steak, (8) tikka masala, (9) friend chicken, and (10) mashed potatoes. He gave an honorable mention to zupa toscana, his "third favorite soup." 

February 17

We have started working with Infant & Toddler Services to help Miles talk. One of the things I have started doing is narrate every single thing we do. For example, if we are going to go outside I will say to Miles, "Let's get ready to go outside. Let's get our shoes. Where are Miles' shoes? Where are Mommy's shoes?" I pick up his shoes. "Is this Miles' shoe?" I put on his shoes. "Miles has his shoes on." I do the same things while I put on my shoes. Then I'll walk over to the hat bin and say, "Let's put on our hats. Where is Miles' hat? Where is Mommy's hat? Is this Mommy's hat? Mommy has a hat on her head." It is simple, but also a little tedious. Since I started doing that Miles has said both shoe and hat, words he was not saying before. I thought he looked cute when he put on the football helmet, and was especially pleased when he said "hat" while he was wearing it.

February 18

Jolie texted me after school and said she was taking her kids sledding and wondered if we wanted to join them. It was almost thirty degrees warmer than it had been earlier in the week, but it was still very cold. It was fun, but both Jolie and I agreed we would be okay if we didn't go sledding again until next Winter.

February 19

Miles did not take very good naps this week. I am very worried about this development. I refer to him as "Thumper" because he will often lay in bed and kick the wall when he is tired of being in his crib. He had been kicking the wall while I was doing dishes so I decided to make him wait until I finished. When I went upstairs to get him up he had fallen asleep and looked so peaceful. It must be hard to be a toddler, full of feelings, but few words to express them.

 

February 20

Will has been asking to go to Freddy's for weeks. On Saturday afternoon we made his dreams come true. It was the first time our family had eaten inside a restaurant since...last spring? We have had plenty of take out. We went just after 4:30pm and had the place virtually to ourselves. Miles has a ways to go on his eating out etiquette, so we didn't stay long. The food was tasty, but we all agreed that Tony's burgers are better. 

2021 :: week 7

 

February 7

We had such high hopes for the Super Bowl, but alas, Tom Brady and company thwarted things again. On the plus side Anthony made some delicious smashburgers for dinner and we got in some epic dancing to the Weeknd at halftime.

February 8

A late night Sunday means a slow morning Monday. Miles was extra snuggly after I returned from walking the big kids up to school so we cuddled on the couch and I read while he watched some Daniel Tiger. Miles isn't much of a snuggler. He likes to sit on my lap and read, or to keep siblings from sitting on my lap, but he rarely lays on my like this, I was happy to soak it up.

February 9

It snowed overnight on Monday and dusted again Tuesday afternoon. In the afternoon I shoveled our driveway and sidewalk to the corner so when the kids walked home from school they would have a clear path. We had salmon soup for dinner that night and it was the perfect meal for the cold day. 

February 10

Wednesday Tyler turned seven! We had cookie cake at Memaw's to celebrate. The little boys and I went to Target in an attempt to buy him some pokemon cards and every single pokemon item was sold out! Lauren made him a poke ball out of felt. Tyler is a fun cousin and one of Elliott's best friends.

February 11

Miles is an opportunist! He seized the moment that Elliott left his Lego unattended and climbed on the bench. Elliott likes to bring his Lego downstairs to play on the kitchen or dining room tables. His skin has gotten really dry lately so we are keeping him in pajamas throughout the day to prevent him from scratching the eczema patches on his feet, knees and waist.

February 12

Friday the kids ended up having a remote learning day due to the cold. I was a bit skeptical about the closure, but when I went for a walk in the afternoon I had to cut back early because I was losing feelings in my legs and face from the cold even though I was dressed to walk in 4 degrees! The wind was biting. I liked having all my kids home together. We spent so much time together over the past few weeks and the last year really. It's nice to know that we still enjoy each other's company.

February 13

Tony and I slept in a bit on Saturday morning and while we did the kids were up having a "John Kid Lego Masters Competition" up in Will's room. Elliott was the judge and feelings were hurt as he gave hard feedback about Will and Lauren's builds. Will built a house that was on fire while Lauren built a zoo. I thought both were pretty impressive considering that the kids were limited to using the bricks and minifigs we have at home, compared to the massive amounts of bricks and figures the contestants have access to on the show. Elliott didn't think so. Cue many eyerolls.

2021 :: week 6

 

January 31

We celebrated Grandmamere's 89th birthday by eating Klondike bars in her honor for dessert.

February 1

Monday marked the first day of Lauren and Elliott returning to school, so it was a little disorienting how quiet the house was while I worked on laundry. I feel a lot of satisfaction when I get our laundry washed and sorted. The big kids put their own clothes away while I help Elliott with his. I put away Miles' clothes as well. 

February 2

Post dinner dance parties have become the new normal in our house. Anthony puts on one of his Spotify playlists and we dance. The kids were surprised that dad knew the macarena. Anthony and I got tested for Covid and once again we tested negative. 

February 3

Wednesday was a great day!  The weather was beautiful, sunny and unseasonably warm. I hired the kids to pick up the many sticks that had fallen from our trees over the past few weeks. With everyone working together we were able to gather up four bags of sticks and twigs in less than 15 minutes. I paid each of the kids $1 and a pack of fruit snacks. Elliott wasn't interested in helping until he saw everyone get paid. 

February 4

I have a hard time sensing how old Miles is. Obviously I know his age (23 months). But he is the youngest which makes him seem younger than the older kids did when they were his age. When Will was 2 I felt like he was a man. He was talking in full sentences and newborn baby Lauren was the baby. The fact that he talks like a 1 year old also makes it difficult. But he does several things that make him seem older. He has a great attention span for books. When he plays with his phone he "talks" in it with gibberish that has the intonations of a conversation. We are in the initial stages of working with infant toddler services to help him with his speech. The benchmark number of words for an 18 month old to use is 10, for 24 months it is 50. He uses less than five words regularly--ma (mom), da (dad), hat, ba (ball) and tee (teeth).

February 5

We are exchanging Valentines with our John cousins this year and Lauren in crafting conversation heart pillows out of felt for each one. She has been working on these while I read the Vanderbeekers of 141st Street to her before bed each night. 

February 6

Saturday afternoon we made our first family outing in over a month to Will's basketball game. The nice part about our kids having had Covid is that we are less worried about them getting sick. We have also been told that they are not considered contagious for the next 90 days. Will played great at his game, playing point guard for a few rotations and scoring a few layups.