I'll try to keep this post short, but I would like to recap my last three days. Tuesday was busy with laundry and grocery shopping, as well as some projects I had wanted to accomplish for a long time. As a result, as always, the children needed more attention, because they weren't getting their usual quota. When the evening came, I asked Elijah to help the children with their evening routine. I was exhausted and sat down to read. I even missed a get together with some girl friends, which I really wanted to attend.
I took Charlton to the doctor on Wednesday for his 9 month check-up. The doctor was amazed at Charlton's health, and especially his mouth full of teeth (eight so far). Charlton is way excited about his crawling and is trying to climb stairs. He hasn't had any luck yet, and I'm not cheering him on. He really likes to imitate what we do, and when walk past him, you can tell he is trying to figure out how to stand up and walk. He tries to stand up by holding on chairs, and then he gets frustrated and falls. It's then when he wants me to pick him up. My back is starting to hurt, because I'm carrying this 25lb baby in my arms. You can't help but want to hold this chunk of deliciousness, though, especially when he continues to smile for you. Here is a short video of our crawling Charlton.
After the doctor appointment, Gillian had a play date, while I cleaned and cooked. They wanted a banana slip, but ended up not eating the bananas in the end. Funny kids.
Thursday was a very busy day. I had wanted to do some summer shopping for me for a long time. So, I took Charlton and James and visited few stores. It helped that Jefferson had a play date with one of his friends, which gave me more time to browse longer. When I got back, my friend Alice asked me if I could take care of her kids for an hour or so. Her kids and my kids get along well with each other, so I knew it wasn't going to be just an hour. They usually end up staying the whole day, which is totally fine with me, except today I was planning to do a lot of cleaning. Our friend from Virginia, Paul, was coming to visit with us for the weekend, and as a result I wanted my house spic and span. I said "yes" of course, and tried not to get panicky. When Jefferson was back from his play date, he took over playing with Clare, which wasn't what James wanted. However, because he is a good sport, he asked Clare's mom if she wanted to do something with him. When she said yes, he told her he had the best activity for them both: listening to the Old Testament tapes. He further continued to share his knowledge about his favorite prophets and kings of the Old Testament. He really wanted to be like King Solomon, the wisest man on earth. This was amazing coming from James, because he has hard time expressing himself, as well as he is a bit private about his own feelings. He listened to the tapes for a long time, and he fell asleep doing so on the floor. James surprises me each day. I'm really glad he is opening up more for me to understand him better. And I have no doubt that his improvement in speech is a direct result of listening to the scriptures.
I did have just enough time to clean the bathrooms and put the house in order. I had to go to my book club at eight, so I asked Elijah to vacuum. He, then, took the kids and picked up Paul from the metro station.
It was our first book discussion. We had a good turn out, and the discussion was stimulating. The food that Jacki prepared was awesome. I brought two little bags full of Jacki's fudge for Elijah and Paul, and they both thought it was 'out of this world' delicious.
I'm so glad we've started this new book club. It is fun to feel like an adult once in a while.
