These days: a kid update

There are countless times in a week (and sometimes in a day) when one of the kids says or does something and I think, I really should be documenting this stuff.

Sometimes I'll grab a post-it note and jot down random words, hoping that my scribbling will help jog my memory about a particular moment. Other times, I file the story away mentally, promising myself I'll write it down later.

So, in the spirit of keeping that promise to myself, here are some random stories, thoughts, and information about Camden at almost 5 years old and Macey at just over 2 years old.


Camden: 

• Your Little League games are so fun to watch. You have such a great attitude. You struck out last week for the first time, and you took it like a champ. I worried about how you'd rebound from the strike out. Turns out, you're a resilient little guy. You play hard. Even when you're in the outfield and not getting much action, you keep your eye on the ball. You give every at bat and every defensive play your best effort. I am so proud of you.
• Your favorite joke right now is, "I'm going to hide under there." You can't help but snicker quietly to yourself while you wait for the inevitable "Under where?" response. And then you can barely get out your punchline in between fits of laughter: "I just made you say underwear!" Oh, (almost) 5 year old humor-- gotta love it.
• You're completely obsessed with video games. Right now, your favorite is Bomber Man. We limit your screen time, but even when you're not playing, you're still living in a video game world. I love to listen as you quietly discuss levels and bad guys and strategies for defeat with yourself.
• You are doing wonderfully in school. It's so different this year; there's more real work and structure. They're preparing you for kindergarten and you're taking it in stride. You look forward to going each day.
• You talk a lot. And you ask a lot of questions. I don't think you ever run out of things to say and I love to listen as you try to figure out the world around you. You ask questions about everything from God to the Ghostbusters movie (and no- we haven't let you see that movie yet).





Playing catcher. That equipment he's wearing weighs almost as much as he does.



Macey:

• One of my favorite things you're saying right now is, "I'm sowwy." Sometimes you use it appropriately, like if you accidentally hurt your brother. The other day, your clumsy mom fell while walking up the stairs. I said, "Ouch!" and you yelled, "I'm sowwy, Mommy!" from downstairs. Also, when I apologize to you for something, you say, "It's otay, Mommy."
• You are still totally pacifier obsessed. I'll be honest: I kind of slacked off on the weaning process when we transitioned you to your toddler bed. It seemed like a lot of change all at once. Now that you're (mostly) adjusted to your new bed, I should really start working on the paci wean again. But I'll admit that I will miss hearing you say, "Cat sassy? Pwease, Mommy." (Your pacifiers have ridiculously large stuffed animals attached to the end of them. Your current favorite is your cat paci.)
• You've mastered jumping and you do it repeatedly. You're quite pleased with your new accomplishment.
• You do the funniest little snort/smile combination when you're being silly (or when you want attention, because you know it makes everyone laugh).
• Another attention getter? Your fake sneeze that's followed by a ridiculously precious, "Escoooose me."

The famous snort/smile. (Watching bro play baseball with Nonnie, who is Matt's mom.)

It's Wednesday, but it's not wordless

 

 

Right now, I am:

 

 

Enjoying this fall weather, minus the rain. Camden had a baseball game last night in the cold, wet rain. The kids handled it like little troopers. Macey and I huddled under a blanket in the dugout. But the Stars won their first game! Not that they care. I doubt very many (any?) of them could tell you what the score was. And that's exactly how it should be with kids at this age.

 

 

Reading my daily plans on my She Reads Truth app. I heard about this app from Diana over at Diana Wrote and found that it was the perfect thing for me. I so want to find a church that's right for us when the kids are a little older, but in the meantime, these short daily Bible verses and commentary that's in relatable terms are just what I need right now.

Cooking really good chili in the crockpot! I was so excited. My dinner rotation is getting really old and I was in desperate need for some new recipes. After my first new recipe attempt was a total bomb (sweet and sour chicken in the crockpot- it was just downright gross), I didn't have the highest expectations for my first attempt at chili. But it was excellent!

Excited about Macey starting gymnastics in two weeks! When I registered her for class, they told me to make sure she has her hair pulled back each week. That made me laugh. One day my girl will have hair that can be pulled back! In the meantime, I'm excited to see her in adorable leotards doing what she does best: running around and flipping with endless energy.

Anticipating our family Disney Trip early next year! This will be the kids' first time at Disney, and my first time there since I was seven years old. I have no idea what to expect, but I can't wait. We will be going with my parents and my sister and her family.

Watching Nashville. Yay for the return of the fall TV lineup!

Deciding what the kids are going to be for Halloween. Macey has been saying "I'm a bee. Buzzz." a lot lately, so I'm having visions of her in a cute little black and yellow bee costume with wings. Camden, on the other hand, has no idea what he wants to be. Most costumes for 4-5 year old boys are of the superhero variety, and that's just not Camden's thing. He has suggested an Angry Bird and a bat (but not Batman), so stay tuned.

A little photo dump from the week:

 

Scaling "mountains" in the neighborhood. That tiny figure at the top is a very proud Camden.

After we reach the top, we must slide down. Side note: I found a small piece of glass right after I took this picture. Mountain scaling and sliding was abruptly halted.

I'd like to title this section: My Wild Child at the Playground

 

Exhibit one: Doesn't that face just sum everything up?

Exhibit Two: Debating the most adventurous way she can go down this slide. Because sliding down the traditional way is boring and thus unacceptable.

 

Decision made: A full-on sprint was the winner!

 

 

And school time:

 

This week we worked on graphing how many of each color baby dinosaur we had...

 

 

...we also did some story sequencing.

 

And I've started to display some sight words around the house. He enjoys looking for those each day and "reading" the words to me. (Those are supposed to be apples. Macey calls them hearts. I've never called myself artsy. Or crafty.)

 

Random life updates

If you're looking for a cohesive post with a central subject, click away now. Now that you've been forewarned, here are my random thoughts/life updates for the night:

• Know what makes me feel old? Having a kid that punctuates the end of every sentence with "dude". Wasn't it just yesterday that I was celebrating his first babbles? And now he's talking like a 14-year old skater boy. I have to admit, it makes me smile every time he says it though, because I know he picked it up from one of his older cousins, and I love the way he admires them.
• The switch to the toddler bed has made the past month-ish interesting. Overall, she's done well (with the exception of a rough first week). She still has her off nights every once in a while, but mostly, she stays in her bed. Nap time has become entertaining though. Most days, she chatters and plays for a good 30 minutes after I put her in her room. When I go to check on her after she falls asleep, I often find her like this:

Who doesn't sleep with a carton of milk and a microwave?! For the record, when she woke up, I also found pretend broccoli, waffles, and cookies under her.

• Macey had her two year check-up a few days ago. It was smooth sailing with the exception of (surprise, surprise!) her weight. She is in the 61st percentile for height and only the 2nd percentile for weight. Camden has always been a skinny kid too, but he has never fallen below the 5th percentile for weight, and usually hovers around the 10th percentile. The pediatrician wasn't overly concerned (he is aware that Matt is 6'2" and 155 pounds soaking wet), but he does want me to keep her on a high fat diet indefinitely. Right now, she weighs just under 22 pounds; the goal is to have her at 23 pounds in 6 months. I know one day she will be thankful for her lightning fast metabolism!

 

 Admiring fish at the doctor's office. There's nothing like a happy child at the pediatrician to make you feel guilty about the upcoming shots.

 

My skinny little trooper.

• I was looking at classes to register for next semester and realized that, after I complete my class next semester, I only have 3 classes left before student teaching! This doesn't change my timeline (meaning, I will still go back to work when Macey starts kindergarten), but it does give me a light at the end of a tunnel that I've been slowly trudging through for the past decade! And I'm very thankful that there's another degree and a licensure waiting for me at the end of this tunnel.
• I haven't forgotten about my home preschool series. I kind of debated whether or not I was going to continue working with the boys while they were in "real" school. It seemed a bit redundant, as my main focus was the alphabet and I knew they would be covering that in preschool this year. Plus, with baseball starting, the boys are busy, and I didn't want to pile too much on their plates. So, I have been working here and there with Camden, but I'm not doing any formal lessons again until (most likely) next summer, which will be right before they start kindergarten. I am still doing a little bit of alphabet work with Camden, but I'm also focusing on some kindergarten readiness stuff, which I will be sharing here and there. I'll likely continue my home preschool series next summer.

Some of the activities we've been focusing on lately: math (understanding the values that numbers represent), sorting (by shape, color, size, animal type, etc.), and patterns. We've also started to work on some sequencing.

 

Game one is in the books.

I'll be honest: I had absolutely no idea what to expect when it came to Camden's first Little League game. He's playing on a rookie team, but the skill levels are all over the place; there are some kids on the team who are seven years old and have played a few seasons, and then there are a handful of four year olds on the team who are brand new at baseball. It's quite the eclectic mix. Mostly, I just wanted Camden to have fun out there and for it to be a good experience for him.

I think that was accomplished last night. In his rookie league, kids get four chances to hit the ball that is pitched to them by a coach. If they miss the pitches, they get to try hitting the ball off of a tee. Camden was at bat 3 times; twice he hit off the tee, and he hit the coach's pitch once! He even scored a run. I was super proud of my boy out there. The best part was, he was having a great time. Watching him play defense was quite entertaining. He played catcher once (and my goodness, seeing his tiny self in the catcher's mask was pretty darn adorable and hilarious) and he played outfield a few times. Since this is a rookie league, there's not much action in the outfield. However, Camden paid attention the entire time he was out there, and as soon as a ball was hit, he'd go running towards it (even when it was nowhere near him). I was impressed that he didn't get bored and roll around in dirt like so many of the other kids.

Overall, the game was a combination of painfully long (rookie league= no one is able to stop the ball and get outs) and completely adorable (small kids in baseball uniforms= the cuteness is overwhelming).

 

Camden and Daddy (otherwise known as Coach O)

 

#99 up to bat!

 

Playing catcher.

 

Waiting on base.

Running to second!

 

With his cousin/BFF/teammate.

 

Time to Party!

We had Macey's Peppa Pig themed birthday party a couple of weekends ago. It got off to an interesting start. On the day before the party, my mom was running party errands and just being a big help to me in general (as usual). She was planning on making and decorating Macey's Peppa cake and cupcakes (because, as I've made abundantly clear over the years on this blog, I am mediocre in the kitchen. And that might be generous). Well, late that afternoon, she started feeling sick, and by Saturday morning, she was completely miserable. Mostly, I felt awful for my mom, but I'll admit that there was a moment of panic and visions of a last minute store bought cake (or, alternatively, burned cupcakes). So, I called for backup in the form of my sister, who generously took over baking and decorating duties while I finished all of the last minute party preparations.

My mom was a trooper and made an appearance at the party (because, as she put it, she couldn't miss her only granddaughter's second birthday! Don't worry- she wasn't contagious.). We had family members visit from Virginia and South Carolina; it ended up being a great evening with so many of the people we love. Macey was a little overwhelmed by the crowd (and especially when we sang 'happy birthday' to her), but mostly, she loved running around with her cousins and getting extra attention from her grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

And I just have to share this story before I share pictures. On the morning of Macey's birthday (which was also the day of her party), Camden and I headed to Macey's room when we heard her wake up on the monitor. "You ready to tell Macey 'happy birthday'?" I asked Camden and he nodded excitedly. He rushed to her door and barged in ahead of me. Then, he was silent, as Macey said, "Hi, bro!" from her bed.

"Camden, aren't you going to tell her 'happy birthday'?" I asked him, as he continued to stare at her.

Then, he turned to me and said, "WHAT?! You're still a BABY when you're two?!"

Even though he looked totally disappointed, I couldn't help laughing. Clearly, he thought we were going to open Macey's room that morning and she was going to be as big as he was.

These kids never fail to entertain me.

Party decorations:

 

 

 

 

 

Check out Macey's expression. To say that she liked her Minnie Mouse airplane is an understatement.

 

My father-in-law caught this sweet moment during the party; my nephew, Alex, was reading to Camden. Camden idolizes him.



 

Getting some love from the birthday girl. Alternate interpretation: Macey hiding her face while everyone sang 'happy birthday' to her.

 

Yum! Chocolate icing!

 

Aunt Lauren's cupcakes were Macey approved.

 

Macey enjoying one of her birthday gifts. I can only hope her maternal instincts improve with age. :)

 

 

 

Back to School

It's that time of year again; time for football, sweaters, cooler weather, pumpkin spice lattes, and...school.

A few days after we got back from the beach, we went to meet Camden's teachers. They're both great- I'm pretty convinced they were made to be preschool teachers.

Meet the teacher day. Camden can no longer pose for a photo without a photo bomb in the form of a little sister.

Camden's first day was this past Wednesday. Gone were the nerves that overtook him on his first day last year; he's an old pro at school now.  He walked right in and started working on an activity immediately. He didn't look up to see where I was a single time (I was trying to hunt down Macey, who had also welcomed herself into the classroom and made herself comfortable in the corner with toys). We kept our goodbye casual and quick, and he didn't give me a second glance as I left the classroom. Now, that might make some moms sad, and I get that. Not me, though; I was proud of my boy, who has grown and matured so much in the last year. I'll take the casual "see ya later, mom" over crying and clinging to my leg any day.

 

 Happy first day of school! Macey was convinced that she was going too; we've been hearing a lot of "May May school".