April 2021: a recap

I have no idea if I'll ever get caught up to real time in this space, but I'm just going to keep chugging along anyway. Here's a general recap of April:

We're always reading something. Even if it's "reading books" in ABC Mouse, via the iPad:

In this season of life, millions of stuffed animals are VERY much a part of our daily lives. Trumpkin, obviously, but also Trumpkin's friends. You never know where you'll find them:

Hallie continued with all of the baby progress and development:

The big girls continued to be such marvelous help with watching Hallie, keeping her safe, and entertaining her:

Everyone still loves Brad:

I made sure to get in a few pictures with my offspring:

If you've never been to our house, I should maybe explain that we have an ENORMOUS mirror on a wall that most people never would have thought to put a mirror (we inherited it with the house- we did not put it there ourselves). It would be really pricy to have it removed, so we've just learned to live with the super strange mirror. 

And sometimes we use it for selfies.

We've hit a season where there are a lot of sibling squabbles, which is hard and frustrating. I spend a lot of my time mediating fights, trying to instill good habits of interpersonal communication and conflict resolution, and generally disciplining bad behavior resulting in (or from?) sisterly fights. That said, I did snap some pictures of sweet moments:

These two are the primary culprits for the squabbles. Bless.

These two are rarely ever squabbling.

And I grabbed this picture of Lily and our neighbor, Bruce. He and his wife live behind us, and Lily really attached herself to Bruce over the past year. When we were pandemic-ing particularly hard here in Durham, they would chat in the yard all the time (Lily *mostly* remembering to socially distance). If Lily was outside, Bruce could not even open his front door without her hollering, "MR. BRUCE??", never missing a beat. While it can be an aggressive and overwhelming form of affection, Bruce has loved it and loves Lily.

We also finished the school year on April 30! Although, I didn't plan things out well enough to get a picture of that. Right after we wrapped April, May came in hot with ALL THE THINGS. As May usually does...

Letter to My Hallie: 10 Months

Sweet, sweet Hallie,

How another month has already gone by is BEYOND me. This is my fourth time to experience the time warp of having an infant, and I still cannot wrap my mind around it. I love every moment of watching you grow, and I'm still a teary mess when I think about how big you are and how quickly you're growing.

You are still the world's sweetest and easiest baby. I am SO THANKFUL that you are so laidback and chill. Things around here are pretty chaotic most of the time, and you are naturally so calm and nonplussed, for which I thank you. You recently hit a slight 10-month sleep regression, but I hesitate to even mention it, as it doesn't require much of anything out of me. You just kind of fuss/cry for about 10 seconds a few times during the night. I'M NOT COMPLAINING AT ALL.

No teeth, no crawling, totally content to sit and watch the passing parade. This is very par for the Boswell Baby Girl course. The pediatrician almost doesn't even ask about these things anymore after so many of you follow this same pattern. Just like Brynn, though, you LOVE the Jenny Jump-up. You are very skilled at it! Your legs are so strong, and you've got very good control. We're all impressed!

We are loving your faces these days, particularly your fish face and your scowl face. You started out just trying these faces out for fun, but you did start using your scowl face to express your feelings at some point. Thankfully, it's usually not accompanied by crying. And never screaming.

You've had a bit of separation anxiety/fear of strangers (or, rather, not your immediate family) over the past few weeks. I get it; it's a normal developmental stage, and you are also a Baby of the Pandemic and are not as used to being around non-family members as you would have been otherwise. We'll get through it, and I'm sure you'll be very much like your people-loving sisters with time.

We are all very interested to see what color hair and eyes you end up with. So far, you are following Brynn's coloring: blue/gray eyes (like mine), fair skin, and very light hair. Additionally, like Claire, you are heavily favoring your left hand. Can't wait to see how these things pan out.

Music is your favorite. You have (since you were merely weeks old) been a hummer/singer, and you also now dance whenever you hear music, and it is the cutest. You just about jumped out of my arms at church this week. I love watching you light up all over when you hear any music.

Hallie, you are the sweetest. You are just always waiting to be delighted and are very hard to upset. Please hang on to that as you grow; and may I work to be more like you.

Love you love you love you,
Mommy

One of my baby dresses

You always go for the coffee.

I pulled out all of the swimsuits and paraphernalia; you loved this water hat. Ray Ray gave it to Claire when she was a baby.

I love this picture of you!

Lily wuz here.

I love when you poke out your little tongue.

Brynnie wuz here.

40 Weeks

41 Weeks

42 Weeks

10 Months

And a few outtakes: