Rotten

24/365
5:00pm

Ever felt like this? Poor guy. Nothing to cause alarm, just a cold. But still. His dad and brother left us for a fun little party this evening and he was feeling too crummy to protest. So, we played a couple cut-throat games of Sequence, watched a fascinating Reading Rainbow episode on manatees, had an unusually calm and civilized dinner together, and read several bedtime stories before the other two even made it home. It was the very first time I have had an evening alone with only Jack since Charlie was born. I suppose I was feeling a little sad about that until two things happened: the first, Jack insisted Charlie and John wake him up the minute they got home to say good-night; and second, before Charlie even said hi to me when he walked in the door, he asked, "Where's Jack, Mama? Want to see Jack now!"

Every time I look at the picture my bottom lip juts out a bit and I can hear the voice in my head lend a sympathetic "aww" to the child. I wasn't going to post it--really, who needs a memory of this? It occurred to me, however, that I don't have any pictures of the kids when they're sick (why would I?), and that's the point of the project. One moment, every day, a whole year. This was today. And for the record, I have no idea why in the world he is wearing a mitten.