The week I missed Wicked

Back in October my mother-in-law invited me to California to see Wicked with her and my six sisters-in-law. I was excited by the prospect but knew Logan wouldn’t be weaned by June. I thought maybe I would take him with me. However, as he stopped taking a bottle and started having ear infections and started crawling and getting into everything, I knew the trip wouldn’t be the vacation I had so hoped for. So I decided to stay home this weekend. Good thing, too, because both Logan and I came down with colds–again. I was only slightly disappointed that I missed Wicked. I know that I will only nurse Logan a few more months, and then I’ll have my life back. I thought I would want to nurse him, my last baby, longer than a year, but I only feel excited to wean him. Not anxious, not sad. Just (almost) ready. And for those of you wondering why I don’t just put him on formula now, it’s just laziness. I’d rather give him the boob for two more months, then switch to regular milk in a sippy, than go out and buy bottles and formula and then have to wean him from the bottle later. Just plain lazy.

The weather has been horrible. Just plain depressing. Highs in the 50s and rainy. Every day I had to remind myself, “I’ll be in South Carolina very, very soon.” And there’s no shortage of heat and sunshine there. Ben and Logan are also taking alternate naps, Logan in the morning and Ben in the afternoon, and I can’t seem to get them on the same schedule. Once again, I remind myself that I’ll be in South Carolina for a month and their nap schedules won’t matter so much.

Luckily, this week was filled with end-of-the-year excitement. I may not have seen Wicked, but Ben’s preschool put on a production of The Wizard of Oz. Some words that come to mind: cute, disaster, overambitious. Who tries to put on a musical with 3- and 4-year-olds? Little Gems, that’s who. Ben was supposed to be a munchkin, and went backstage fine. However, about five minutes before start time, I got a page, “Ben’s mom, to the bathroom.” It was his third time in an hour. Then he decided he didn’t want to go back up there. So he sat on my lap and we watched his friends. He sang the songs from the audience and made the whole evening for me when he jumped up and shouted, “Well done, my friends, well done!”

We made it through “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” and then headed outside. He had spotted the playground on the way in and hadn’t forgotten about it. Megan was with me (Gavin and Logan had stayed home with Christopher). We played for a little while, got Ben & Jerry’s on the way home, and all in all it was an enjoyable evening.

I have also been frequenting the elementary school for Megan and Gavin’s end-of-year events. Megan had a 4th grade concert with singing and recorder playing, a Poetry Cafe in her classroom where we viewed poetry by her and her classmates, and the Pacific Rim festival, where students had paired up to do reports and presentations on a Pacific Rim country, complete with food from the country. Megan’s country was Peru.

Gavin had his 1st grade concert, with singing and some instruments like hand bells and marimbas. Watching him sing is so funny to me, because he is Devin’s mini-me. I’ll have to post some video soon. Gavin also had an open house in his classroom, where they presented their Backyard Animal displays. Gavin picked the rabbit that shows up almost every day in our backyard.

Fortunately, Ben has been in preschool for most of these events, and Shay kept him one morning. I could not have managed him at these concerts and open houses. Logan has been pretty good. He’s getting bigger by the minute. I snapped this picture of him the other day, with a spaghetti stain on his mouth. It reminded me of a picture I took of Ben at around the same age. These boys are growing up fast.

 

Christopher insists Logan will have brown eyes and he just might be right. Gray or hazel, at the least.

Ben has my dad’s ears. Logan has Christopher’s.

They both have the cutest little noses and chins. I love my babies.