Random everyday moments

I find myself most often blogging about events, or updates on the boys' latest triumphs and misadventures.  So when I came across a random grouping of photos, I thought I'd use them to talk about some of the small moments of our days.

This first picture is actually from our return trip from Montana.  But it represents something we see every single day, multiple times a day at our house - Charlie trying to be just like Zach.  I snapped the shutter a couple seconds too late, so I didn't get Charlie staring at Zach, trying to arrange his body so they were laying exactly the same way.  Serious "monkey see, monkey do" type stuff!  It amuses us most of the time, although of course Zach has a few habits we would prefer Charlie not mimic.  :)

While Zach no longer goes to school with his buddy Brett, we try to get them together regularly.  Here are all the brothers (Riley, Brett, Zach & Charlie) enjoying build-your-own ice cream sundaes!

If you've never experienced true chaos, I invite you to our house.  Particularly between 4 and 5:30 PM. The noise level is over the top, and the constant motion is enough to make me tired just watching.  It does not, however, tire the boys out.  They seem to have reached a stage where they really want to play together, but they don't necessarily know how to do so without someone crying or yelling "ow".  It doesn't help that the things they want to play must involve a ball, running, throwing, wrestling, and especially jumping.  9 times out of 10 this ends badly.  It often makes me wonder why it was again, that we thought two kids would be a good idea?  Then one of them makes the other laugh in the way that only they can, and I remember.  Must hang on to those moments!

A rare photo of Charlie not moving; the result of a nap-less afternoon followed by a short trip in the car.  It did give me a good chance to cut his finger and toenails, which isn't fun to do when he's awake and aware.  :)

Our days are settling into a new routine - Charlie and I trudge out to the bus stop each morning with Zach, with Charlie yelling "Zach's bus!!!  Bye bye Zach!!!" at the top of his lungs, and Zach smiling with a combination of embarrassment and enjoyment.  Charlie's weekly morning adventures include an ECFE class (with me), speech therapy (at home), and his "Terrific Two's" class* (without me).  We also try to fit in some good solo playtime, some time playing together, and some gym and shower time for me.  It amazes me how many days I find myself racing home to meet Zach's bus at 11:20.  I'm so glad he's the last one off the bus!!

We fill the rest of the day with lunch and ideally, some outside playtime.  Then while Charlie naps Zach has some solo playtime and/or some tv-watching time, or we might work on a project or play a game or two, and then it's his favorite time of day - when the neighbors get home from school!  Pictured above is Katie, our neighbor across the street, who has played with both boys most afternoons lately.  As I think I mentioned before, she is a great sport, and does a tremendous job balancing the two boys and their very different ideas of how/what to play.  Happy moments for the boys.

* Charlie appears to absolutely love his class.  When I was signing him in this week, he said "bye bye mama!" moments after he walked in the door!  Separation anxiety?  What's that??  I am also intrigued by his ability to do the sign-in procedure; I thought it was a fluke the first time but he's repeated it... At his spot at the table is a small whiteboard with his name written on it and magnet letters that spell his name, but scrambled out of order.  He is supposed to put the magnet on the matching written letter - and he does it!  This from a kid who argues with me that all letters are "As"!!

Anyway, it's very fun to pick him up; when Zach and I get there the class is usually finishing up their music time.  When we walked in this week, Charlie was very intently watching the teacher, his eyes trained on her as she did the gestures for "I'm a Little TeaPot," his arms all bent at his sides.  When the song broke into free dance time - he got his groove on.  And then he sees us and comes running with a happy yell... another moment I love!

Celebrating Fall - kid style!

For the second year in a row, Zach and I headed north to our friends' neck of the woods to join them for a unique fall celebration. A greenhouse/nursery creates all sorts of activities for kids, and Zach and Caitlin had a blast checking out each one!

After bouncing away in the bounce house, Zach tested his balance in the spider web.  Then off to the duck races - something Zach remembered from last year and couldn't wait to do again.  Something so simple - rubber ducks, a hand water pump, and some gutters - can be so fun!

This thing was new this year - basically a big trampoline that tapers off toward the ground, which is covered in sand.  Both kids spent a lot of energy on this, jumping and sliding down the edges, and I sorta wished we adults could give it a shot!

Our Halloween cuties!

Another favorite: the pedal-power go carts!  It took Zach a while to find the right size for him, and then he was off like a shot.  Caitlin could really go in her big cart... which was a bit frightening at times.  Someone needs to give that girl some driving lessons!

Next up: the potato slingshot and corn cannon!  Somehow Zach managed to get two corn cobs through the opening in the target - he's a sharp shooter!

And what's a fall celebration without a corn maze?  Cindy and I are always relieved the kids don't want to spend too much time in the maze; it freaks us both out a little.  And since the corn was crazy-tall this year, it was even more intimidating!

Once again, this place had the most amazing petting zoo.  Where else can you hold a possum (did you know its tail feels like a snake?) and a hedgehog, pet a porcupine, and feed a kangaroo??  Zach is not, and has never been, into animals, but even he was interested in some of these!

I thought this guy looked pretty regal for a llama!

A very dusty train ride was followed by some time in the corn pile.  The corn pile, however, is the only activity Zach won't partake in.  A little too dirty for this boy.  Caitlin, as you can see, does not share his concern!

Music to our ears

I've been meaning to do a random update on both boys; I'm going to start with Charlie.  And while I'm sure there are lots of other things going on, the main thing that Charlie has been up to is talking.  And singing.  And yelling.  And babbling.  And quoting movies.  He may be a little late to the party, but we're still having a lot of fun!

I truly had forgotten how much pure fun it is when your child first starts talking.  And since we've been waiting and worrying, I think we're enjoying it even more.  He had the tubes put in his ears about 2 & 1/2 months ago, and since then the improvement has been amazing -  his vocabulary and willingness to talk has just exploded.

We never really doubted that Charlie could understand us, since he found other ways to make that clear.  But I'll never forget one morning when Charlie and I were the first ones up and made our way downstairs.  Something made Koskie bark, and when I told him to be quiet Charlie looked at him and said "Shhh... Zach sleeping."  This is an echo of what I've told him on our early mornings when the rest of the family is still snoozing away.  To hear him apply it to the dog just cracked me up!

I think Scott's first "wow" moment was one day when he was sitting on the couch, and Charlie walked past him toward the kitchen and said "I eat now."  To hear a three-word sentence... hurray!!!

One phrase he has definitely mastered is "I want."  I want Daddy.  I want Zach.  I want that.  I want to eat.  I want to play cars now.  I want to play baseball.  I want outside.  This boy wants things, and we no longer have to guess what those things are.  Now we just have to figure out how to help him handle the situations when the answer is no!

When the speech therapist came last week (the first time in a while; we just started our weekly meetings now that school is back in session), she used the term "carrier phrase."  That is apparently a phrase that a person repeats regularly, and is something speech pathologists recommend.  We decided Charlie's natural "carrier phrase" begins with "hey!"  I hadn't noticed how much he says it until then, but it's often how he begins every sentence.  My favorite is "Hey!  Where Daddy go?" (or Zach, Koskie, Katie, etc).

Speaking of Katie... Charlie's new best buddy is our 11 year old neighbor.  He loves her.  It's been an interesting dynamic, since she's always been one of Zach's favorite playmates.  But she does an excellent job of balancing the two boys' demands; she'll throw a baseball endlessly for Charlie to (try to) hit and then join Zach in a game of kickball.  We're all big Katie fans in our house, but Charlie is the one who cries when she has to go home.

Katie's younger sister, by the way, is named "Ellie."  Charlie calls her "Yellie."  :)

Ok, two other favorite talking things and I'll move on!  One is when you ask Charlie how old he is.  He holds up each of his pointer fingers and says "I two."  We have it on video, but I'm not quite organized to put it out here now.  I will though, because it's darn cute.

The other thing that has made me smile is that Charlie now introduces me.  We've been in several situations lately, like meeting Zach's teacher, where someone would ask him what his name is.  (He says Charlie as Zhe-Zhe... that's the best phonetic description I can come up with).  Usually I'd say his name, and he'd nod and then point at me and say "mama."  Nice manners, huh?

Ok, one more thing - I mentioned movie quotes.  Charlie started this a while ago, and it took me a couple listens to figure out what he was doing.  He'd babble something unintelligible, and then say in a gravely voice what I interpreted as "by me!" and then laugh hysterically in that same gravely voice.  Now fortunately I've seen Cars enough times to recognize what I was hearing: the line where Chick Hicks says "That was some pretty fine racing out there.  BY ME!!! HA HA HA HA!!!!"  Charlie's imitation is great, particularly the laughing.  We've gotten parts of it on video, so I'll try to get that out here soon too!

Let's see, what else.  Well, we're starting to ponder potty-training.  I don't think Charlie is ready, but we're encouraged by the fact that he's been telling us for a while when he poops (he even says poop now, not "boop!")  A few times he's even come to me, saying "mama I poop" while pointing at the front of his diaper.  Sure enough, a wet diaper.  But he has no interest in the toilet, so we're not pushing this issue!

Charlie's car obsession continues.  It makes things easier sometimes; the day care at my gym, our ECFE classroom, and Charlie's new school classroom all have matchbox cars in them, so our boy can be comfortable in new places pretty quickly.  He also loves to tell us the colors of all the real cars around us when we're driving - blue car!  red car!  gray car!

Charlie has discovered baseball.  We have these plastic stakes that are supposed to be used for horseshoes; well, Charlie thinks they make the perfect bat.  He will stand there forever with his "bat" on his shoulder, waiting for the pitch.  Recently he even started saying something that sounds like the "batta-batta-batta" part of "swing batter batter batter, suh-wing batter" chant.  Neither of us remembers teaching him that; who knows where he picked that up!

I mentioned above that Charlie needs to learn how to handle the answer "no."  Our boy is a hitter, unfortunately, and often his response to being told he can't do something is to walk over and give us a swat.  It's often accompanied by a deep growl... ???

Hitting is also Charlie's first reaction when Zach is doing something he doesn't like, or when some poor unsuspecting kid his age thinks he can play with whatever Charlie is playing with.  We're working on this, but I don't think we've found the magic solution yet.  Most of the time Charlie laughs when he's scolded.  Sigh.

Other things I want to remember about Charlie at this age...
 - he continues to be a rock-star independent player.  It's quite amazing how content he is, mostly to play with cars, but with other toys at times too.  His teacher commented on it the first day he was at his new school.
 - He can climb just about anything.  Yikes.
 - He loves to give hugs and kisses, and all kisses must be on the lips.  Well, if he can reach your face.  Often times he'll plant some kisses on my leg, since that's what he can reach.
 - He is quite the pitcher in kickball.  And after he pitches, he runs to third base.  We don't know why.
 - All letters are "As."  Don't try to convince him otherwise.
 - He sings a mean "We Are Young" by Fun.  Another thing I think we have on video... stay tuned.
 - At the moment he will not put on a sweatshirt/coat.  We've had some cold nights, which means our walks out to the bus stop in the morning can be chilly.  The first time I tried to put a sweatshirt on him, he screamed and pulled at it like it was burning his skin right off.  So now I'm waiting for him to realize he's cold.  It may be January before he willingly puts on a coat.

A good day!

We made it through the first day of school.  Whew.

We all learned things today.  What did I learn?  Well, just because your child is the last stop on the way to school, that doesn't mean he will be the first stop on the way home.

I learned this the hard way, as I sat, stood, and paced around waiting for the bus to arrive after school ended.  If he gets picked up 20 minutes before school starts, it's a reasonable assumption he'll be home approximately 20 minutes after it ends, right?  Even on the first day of school??  Especially since the transportation dept emphatically tells you the bus departs 5-6 minutes after school ends, and your stop is about a 4 minute drive away, even if you hit the one stoplight wrong?

Zach's bus pulled up, coming from the opposite direction I was facing, 37 minutes after school ended.  Because no, he isn't the first stop on the way home - he's the very last kid off the bus!!!  I hadn't really considered that while the school-bound bus picks up all the elementary school kids, the home-bound bus is only bringing home the AM kindergarteners, which is a maximum of 20 kids.  So if Zach was right, all of the kids in his class who ride the bus home got on the same bus!  And they drove right past the turn-off to our neighborhood after they left the school!

Zach wasn't particularly perturbed by being the last one on the bus, although I think the long ride wore him out a little.  He was literally trudging up the street next to me, more exhausted-looking than I've seen him in a while.  This is a boy who can barely sit still, who can run around outside all day long and never appear and certainly never say he's tired.  But I think the new adventures of kindergarten sapped his energy a bit.

Don't get me wrong - 15 minutes later he was full of spunk again!

I don't have a lot of first-day stories to share, as I'm doing my best not to grill Zach, and let him tell me whatever he finds interesting.  My favorite gem so far is that he thought the sinks in the bathroom were cool; they're big round circles with water spraying all around them so everyone can wash their hands at the same time.  How cool is that?  :)

I do know that he had a good day, and is looking forward to going back tomorrow.  Yes.

Oh, and I forgot to mention one other thing that made me smile.  We have been telling Zach for a while that he'd have to get up at 7 for school, and that he wouldn't have as much time as he usually has to just chill and eat his breakfast leisurely in front of the tv.  He was fascinated with the idea that he had to get up at a certain time, and wanted me to set his alarm.  I had planned on gently waking him every day, since in my experience he doesn't exactly wake up a ray of sunshine when it's not on his terms, but I figured we'd give it a try.  So we set the alarm to a radio station, at a volume he thought would wake him.  I was up a few minutes before 7, so I waited outside his door to see what would happen.  At 7:00 the music started, Zach's arm twitched a little, and... nothing.  Gonna take more than a little music to wake this boy every morning!

And then there was Charlie.  He was out of sorts this morning as we walked down to the bus stop, oddly clinging to Scott, just kinda whiny.  He perked up again when he and I went back in the house, and he settled down happily playing with his cars.  But whenever I mentioned going somewhere or school, he'd say "No. I want Zach."  Ahhhh... poor dude, wanted to go to school with his brother.

So off we went to Charlie's first day of "school" - a one-morning a week "Terrific Two's" program at Zach's old preschool.  He did not want to be there at first, clinging to me, and then when he got brave enough to go check out some toys, He'd run back whenever one of the teachers would dare to approach him.  This is not typical Charlie behavior, he's generally quite comfortable in new situations, happy to check out new toys, especially when there are cars.  And he's only shown separation anxiety on rare occasions.  But I guess this morning was just too full of change.

Anyway, I stayed for a while until he seemed comfortable, and then told him what I always tell him - that I was leaving, he was going to stay and play, and that mommy always comes back.  He said "no" - but didn't cry and seemed ok with it, so I left without making a big commotion.  I hesitated in the hall, but didn't hear the sound of crying.  Yay!

In the rush of the morning, I forgot to take my camera when I took Charlie to "school."  So I took several horrible pictures with my phone - this is the best one!  But it's proof he went, and played with cars while he was there!

I didn't know what to expect when Zach and I returned to pick Charlie up.  For those of you who don't know Charlie well, he isn't the type of kid who loves to do what others want him to do.  Sometimes he goes along, and sometimes he doesn't.  You just never know.  When our ECFE classes ended last spring, he was still the kid who would rarely sit during "circle time" and sing along with the others.  He was off exploring, playing with whatever toy captured his interest.  He generally is MUCH more interested in playing by himself than with others (which drives his older brother crazy), especially when it comes to kids his size.  A bigger kid?  Yeah, he's more likely to play with him or her, but there's still no guarantee.  A kid his age?  Practically a zero chance.

So, I peered around the doorframe not sure what I'd see.  And there he was - smiling as he followed the teacher and other kids around the circle... participating!  Willingly!  Hurray!  He didn't see us for quite a while, so it was fun to stand there and watch as he happily followed the directions in the song.  And, of course, it was a delight when he finally noticed us and greeted us with a hug at a run.

The report from the teacher was that he did great.  He made it through the class without hitting anyone (more on that in an upcoming Charlie post), enjoyed his snack, played outside, and really enjoyed the cars.  The teacher commented on how good he is at playing by himself (I'm telling you, it's amazing), and that he's an excellent cleaner-upper.  All good news!

It's going to be interesting to see how things go as we begin to settle into our new routine... Charlie and I start a new ECFE class on Tuesday, Wednesday mornings will be his speech therapy, and Thursdays his Two's program.  And, of course, Zach will have to get used to going to school EVERY DAY of the week!  We'll keep you posted!

First Day of Kindergarten!!!

Look at this big guy, ready for school!

Still working on that smile, but check out the big smile when he got to wait for the bus with his friend Ellie (3rd grade):

 ^ Check out that line of kids!  And one was even missing this morning, I guess there will normally be 13 at our stop.

 Zach showed zero hesitation when it came to be time to climb those steps.

And I know you can't really see him in this picture, but that's him sitting down with our neighbor Tommy, who will be in his class.  We've had a few afternoons of playing with Tommy this summer, and I think it'll help both of them navigate their way to their classroom today!  I also learned yesterday, when Zach had his assessment with his teacher (he did "great"!) that Zach knows two other boys in the class, from his t-ball team this summer.  Yay - lots of friendly faces for our boy!

It's been an interesting couple of weeks, getting ready for this day.  The Minneapolis schools started last week, and many kindergarteners in the area started with the rest of the school on Tuesday (our district uses the first two days of school to individually assess the incoming kindergarteners).  So I got to see and hear about others' experiences as their five-year-olds began their school careers.  Many friends were sad and nostalgic about this big rite of passage.  Some were anxious.  All were excited.

How am I feeling?  Strange.  That's the best word I can think of!  It truly has not sunk in that every day Zach will get on that bus for school.  It helps, in a way, that he'll get off the bus a little after 11 AM - he'll be home before I know it!  I'm not sad or anxious; more amazed, that my oldest is already big and mature enough to get on a big yellow bus, find a seat, get off the bus and find his classroom (with help at first, of course!), and at the end of the morning get back on that bus to reverse the process!  And he is - he really is mature enough, very ready.  He's going to love it!  And I'm excited for him.

Now I need to turn my mind to the next first day of school... Charlie's!  Shortly we're off to his first day of "school" - one morning a week at the "Terrific Two's" program at Zach's old preschool.  It's funny and crazy they're both having their first days of school on the same day!

Our August vacation - a short rewind

Ha - I fooled you!  But I promise, this is the last post about our adventures with Scott's family in August.  As I mentioned, there were several outings that Charlie didn't participate in, which often meant I didn't either.  Fortunately, Mandy got lots of good shots of those outings, plus some of the ones when I was there!

At a neighborhood park one afternoon... you'll see Maryn petting Koskie in one of the pictures.  She was absolutely adorable with him - she very badly wants a dog.  So much that she was willing to pick up his dog poop for us!  :)

There are lots and lots (and lots) of pictures of everyone at the Mall - two full days of riding the rides results in a lot of funny pictures.  I tried to include just a few...

^ These two are from a little kids ride, as you can probably tell from the fact that Charlie is in one of the cars.  But it's very fun - it whips you around the corners; quite a surprise for those (like Bryn) who aren't expecting it!

And I just included one here, but there are at least 5 pictures of Zach and Maryn walking through the mall holding hands.  Awww.

Alan trusted a stranger with Mandy's camera - so a group shot with almost all of us!  (Poor Scott was at work.)

The night before we all loaded up our cars and headed for MT, Grandpa treated the group to a Twin's game!  Thanks Grandpa!

Whew.  I think that's it for this year's adventures with the MT Willards!!!