Shaun is 6!

Today Shaun turns 6! It was a busy day!

First, we got up and had breakfast. I went in to work a little bit late, mainly so I could drop off Logan's preschool registration (sniff, sniff), but it worked out well to be on Shaun's birthday. I made his breakfast a little special by putting a candle in a muffin and singing to him. He thought that was pretty neat.

When Dad got home from the gym (yes, he goes in very early), we let him open up his present from us. Logan got an airplane that you "build" for his birthday, and Shaun saw that there were others like it and wanted one, so that is what we got him; a crane/truck.

Then it was off to school and work. Since I went in a little late, I walked with him to the bus stop (in the pouring rain). He thought that was special, because I have only got to do that one other time this year. He took in cupcakes for a birthday treat, and they sang to him at school too. The bus driver even gave him a birthday card!

Then when I got home, we went out to a birthday dinner. Shaun got to pick the place, and since he really likes burritos, we went to La Palmera! (Yes, he also got his hair cut today!)

Then it was off to AWANA, where we had more fun and more Happy Birthday singing to Shaun. I think he had a good birthday!  Next up, is Friday, where he and a friend (with me) are going to the movies, and then Saturday is the family party!

Happy Birthday Shaun! I was tearing up driving into work this morning, just feeling so blessed to have Shaun and Logan in our family. God's timing is perfect and I wouldn't change it for anything!

Logan's first Swim Lesson!

This evening Logan started his first preschool level swim lessons. Logan has had many swim lessons before, but they have all had a parent in the water up until now. He seemed pretty excited to be a "big boy" and start the preschool level all the way up until when class started.

Here he is all excited to start his class

 

Then it quickly went downhill when it was time to start:

He screamed (not super loud), but crying non the less: "I want you Mommy"; over and over and over again, while he waited for his turn:

He would stop crying/complaining when teacher Kathy took him for his turn, but I could tell he still wasn't all that comfortable.

The only thing he is not used to is Dad not being in the water with him, so hopefully he gets used to it soon. Everything else is the same as he has been used to because of doing the "Super Baby Swim" class I talked about in a previous blog.

I knew there would probably be something to overcome during this first class, I just hope he improves and is eventually comfortable and having fun!

Shaun struggled for a bit at the beginning of his first lesson and then he got over it, so we have hope! We have witnessed a lot of other kids struggle too (some way worse) and they eventually get used to it to and have fun!

Shaun's first report card, ever!

Today, Shaun brought home is first report card ever. The school district is on semesters, so it just ended last Friday, January 24. I couldn't be prouder of Shaun's accomplishments and the teacher's words. Here is what Mrs. Lee had to say about Shaun:

"Shaun is a very capable, enthusiastic learner. He is respectful and gets along well with his classmates. He has great study habits and applies himself to every assignment.
Shaun is an advanced reader and I enjoy listening to him read non-fiction books. He knows the letter names, letter sounds, and all of the kindergarten sight words. He has good phonemic awareness skills. He identifies and generates rhyming words. He can say the beginning and ending sounds of a word and can identify a word by blending sounds together. The next step is to learn to isolate and identify the individual sounds in a word.
Shaun also demonstrates solid math skills. He has a firm understanding of our number system and does well on all math activities. He enjoys figuring out the answers to every day math problems.
I enjoy working with Shaun. He is excited about learning."

The grading system is a 1-4, probably similar or the same to most elementary schools. These standards do not correlate to A-D.

4=Exceeds standard at term (consistently and independently exceeds grade level skills and expectations). A 4 indicates that a student can independently take their learning to a higher level of thinking and application. A 4 is not earned through extra credit assignments, or for getting all answers correct. It is an indicator that a child is showing proficiency beyond typical kindergarten skills and expectations. It is the exception, rather than the norm.

3=Meets standard at term; this is excellent! (needs little support to meet grade level expectations)

2=Working toward standard at term (needs more assistance and practice to meet expectations)
1=Minimal progress toward standard at term (considerable assistance and support is needed to perform a skill or expectation)
N=Non assessed at this time

I am so proud of Shaun!

Logan's 3rd Birthday!

January 26, 2014 ~ Logan is 3! Wow, I can't believe it has already been 3 years. I can remember that day like it was yesterday; January 26, 2011. I got up at 6am and started feeling contractions. We headed to the hospital around 8 and Logan was born at 1:40pm.  I will always remember the surprise in the nurse's face in triage about how far along I was. I'm sure they see a lot of women in there with contractions, but no progress; I guess I was pretty far along. When she asked if I wanted an epidural; I said yes, and she said as soon as I got settled in a room I could get one; wow.

Logan knows what is going on and is really into his birthday this year; it is a lot of fun! We started out the morning having pancakes in the shape of our ages (the boys at least). They thought that was pretty cool. Then we headed off to church and Logan was so proud to bring (and carry in) a pack of cupcakes for his class. During the second hour, I was in the nursery across the hall, and I overheard him telling one of his teachers about having fun shaped pancakes this morning; love it!

We then had a relaxing afternoon and waited for Daddy to get home so we could go out for a birthday dinner. Daddy had to work this weekend, but luckily birthday is on the day he came home.

If you ask a 3 year old where he wants to go out to dinner; what do you think he will say? You probably guessed it: McDonald's.  So, that is where we went to dinner. We let the boys have some play time in the play structure, which we hardly ever do at any of the fast food places, so that was a treat for them too.

Then we came home and had Logan open up his gift from us: a stuffed Sully & Squishy; characters in Monsters U. It was a Monsters U kind of birthday; he is kind of into it if you haven't noticed already...! He got all his other presents last weekend, so we wanted him to have a present to open on his actual birthday; yay!

We will find out his stats on how big he has grown on February 14 at his doc appointment. No shots are scheduled, so that is a relief! I think he is tall because several people have commented on it and one teacher at Sunday school thought he was closer to 4 because he was tall; we'll see!

He is basically fully potty trained. He still wears a pull up at night, but 9 nights out of 10 it remains dry. When we get a solid month of dry we may try without. We haven't gotten there yet with Shaun, so this is new territory for us. Children are so different!

Logan is talking up a storm and can't wait to go to preschool in the fall. We'll see how that goes when it actually gets here. Yikes, I will be registering him for preschool in a couple weeks!

Logan,

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living my baby you'll be." Here's to a good 4th year! Happy Birthday, buddy!

First Basketball game & Birthday party!

Today was a busy day!  First up was Shaun's first basketball game. He had fun and did a lot of running. He is probably about in the middle of the pack in his abilities. Doesn't quite have the dribbling thing down yet, but did get a couple of baskets; good exercise because he was tired at the end! Go Black Eagles!

Game face!

 

 Here he has the ball and is about to take a shot

 

 Action shot

 

 

Next up was Logan's 3rd birthday party. We had the family over and had a good party with snacks and of course cake! Logan was so into his party this year and was so excited since we told him this morning that it was today! His actual birthday is on January 26, so he still has a week left to be 2.

 

 

 



Catch up! ~ 2013 in review

Ok, it has been over 10 months since I did a blog post; sorry people! It just sometimes is the last thing on my mind and easier to push off to “later”. Well, it is really LATER, so I’ll try and do an update since last March on each of us!!!! Sorry for the long post.

What is happening with everyone….?

Logan

Logan is about to turn 3 years old in less than 2 weeks!  During the summer we did a couple sessions of “Tiny Tot” swim “lessons”. He loves the water; however, we felt that this class was too “baby like” for him because it wasn’t doing much in the way of getting him prepared to be in the preschool level class without Mom or Dad.  He didn’t want anything to do with the teacher and at times would just cling to us even though he liked the water. Luckily, a couple years ago (since Shaun was this age), the pool where we go started a new class called “Super Baby Swim” for 2 year olds where the parent still gets in the water, but the format of the class is more like the preschool level, where the kids stand on the table and swim with the teacher, etc. Unfortunately, the class is only offered on M/W mornings, but Bill was willing to do it all. So, August-December Logan and Dad faithfully went to Super Baby Swim for 5 months! Logan kept improving and we think he is ready to move up next month to Preschool 1; ready or not he is registered to start on February 4! We’ll see how the first day of that goes when he realizes that Dad is not getting in too!  But, Cousin Antonio is in that class, so they will be together; hope that helps!

Logan loves going to story time at the library once a week. It is just Logan and Dad since Shaun is in school. Even if he doesn’t participate in the singing that they do there in class, he is always singing around the house and occasionally sings a song from story time, so he is taking it all in. He loves to pick out books along with the books that we have reserved.

We went and saw Sesame Street Live in May and Thomas the Train in July for Logan. We went the same year that Shaun was 2 to both, so we knew that this was a good age, and they loved both. Thomas the Train was at the Snoqualmie rail station. This is an annual event that they put on for the kids with a big Thomas engine and even a 30 minute train ride and activities.

Logan’s first sports experience was with Kids Love Soccer in July-August. He seemed to be able to take it or leave it, but still had fun I think.... I took 2 weeks off in July and so was able to take him to his first one since we signed up for a morning time. This was the Mommy, Daddy & Me level, so the parent is out there with the child as they go about kicking the ball while doing an activity like pretending to be an animal or finding a certain color cone, etc.

Logan participated in his first program at church for Christmas. He stood up with all the other kids, but didn’t really do any singing. That’s ok; I was just glad he went up there, because in the dress rehearsal he screamed and would not even go up on stage.

Shaun

Shaun is in Kindergarten and almost turning 6!! I still can’t believe it and it is January.  He absolutely LOVES it. He is in half day which goes from 8:25-11:25 Monday through Thursday and every other Friday from 8:25-1:15. Fridays are the school’s shorter day, so there isn’t time to get in both the AM & PM Kindy classes, so they trade off and go all day. He gets to ride the bus to school each day and home on Fridays. He LOVES the bus. We are in the walk zone but right on the line and it is ok to go to a bus stop, so why deal with the zoo at school when we don’t have to? The walk zone kids are automatically assigned AM (which we wanted), so there isn’t a bus to take them home mid day (because they are in the walk zone), so Bill picks him up at the end of his day. On Fridays he gets out at the same time as the rest of the school and so there is a bus to ride home, yay for Shaun!

Mrs. Lee, Shaun’s teacher is great and she adores Shaun. From what we can tell, Shaun is a good student! At the fall parent/teacher conference Mrs. Lee said that Shaun gets very into everything that they are doing and is at the top of the class in most everything. What more does a parent want to hear? Shaun started reading last April, and I am pretty sure he is way above the average student in his class. He can’t get enough of books. Along with the reading we do together, he always wants to sit in his bed after he has been tucked in and read for a bit. I feel like such a bad parent when occasionally it is too late and I have to tell him to go to sleep and not read; there are usually tears…

Shaun continues to love his sports. He can’t wait for the practices and games. In March/April he did indoor soccer, June/July Tee Ball, September/October outdoor soccer, and just last week he started basketball. Outdoor soccer was the first time we went outside the Y and did it through the club. I figured now that he is elementary age, it is a good time to branch out and do the “normal” team clubs. There was no basketball for kindergarteners through the club, so we are back at the Y this year, but I just signed him up for little league Tee-ball/baseball that starts in April through South Snohomish Little League. The only thing I know about this yet is that it is April-mid June and consists of 2 games a week and we had to volunteer or pay more money so we will be working 2 shifts at the concessions! Sounds like it will be a bigger commitment; we’ll find out!

Shaun also continues to love his swim lessons. He has been in the Advanced Preschool level 4 since June, twice a week. They swim back and forth across the deep end building endurance and learning different strokes. This advanced level goes through the age of 6, so he will be able to stay in this level for another year, unlike P1-3 which only goes through the age of 5. Then it’s time to move on up to the Beginner series for 6-16 year olds…

He lost his first tooth in May, and has lost 4 others since and currently has another lose tooth. One of his top front teeth is about half way in and the other top front is just starting to come through. The bottom front two are both pretty much in.

Shaun finished his second year of AWANA Cubbies in May and started his first year of AWANA Sparks in September. He is so good at memorizing!  He gets it from Dad. He already completed his first year book. That entailed memorizing 20+ verses and the 27 New Testament books. He is now on the extra credit book, which he has already completed the review of all verses in the year 1 book and is now working on new verses. Bill and I are both helping out in Sparks this year by being a leader in the small groups who the kids say their verses too. It can be challenging at times dealing with wild K-2nd graders!

Bill and I

I don’t think much has gone on with the 2 of us that is really note worthy. I just took 2 weeks vacation over the holidays; the same time period that Shaun had off from school. I am excited to be able to take time off when Shaun is off school as well. In a few years I will also be able to take off their spring break while still taking off 2 weeks in the summer and 2 weeks at Christmas; one of the small benefits at being at my job now for 12.5 years!

Bill is counting down his time left in the Navy before he can retire. The clock currently sits at 3 years 8.5 months; 9/30/17! He will have his 20 years in then, and wants out! Back on 9/21/97 he started his Navy adventure; happily that is what brought him to me! J

Oh, and I can’t forget, we took an overnight trip to Great Wolf Lodge in November. For those that don’t know, it is a gigantic indoor water park/resort just south of Olympia. Logan had fun and Shaun really had a blast. Kids at least 42 inches tall can go on all but one slide; you have to be 48 inches tall to go on the “Tornado”. Shaun was 47.5 inches, so just missed going on the Tornado, but that was fine. There are a bunch of other slides that he loved! He has no fear! Dad & Shaun checked out a couple of the slides first while Logan and I went to his area. Then when it was my turn, Shaun showed me the ropes and told me it would be fine and to not be scared… Logan had fun too in the kiddy area and pool areas. We definitely want to go back when Logan is tall enough to go on the slides too! We got a room with a bunk area for the boys, which they loved also! Let’s just say that we were ALL tired by the time those 2 days were over!

For pictures of all of the above mentioned activities, please click on over to Facebook on the appropriate monthly picture. I will try and be better at blogging, but no guarantees!

Happy New Year 2014!

Visits to the dentist & doctor!

It has been a week of medical appointments for the boys! 

Yesterday, the boys went for their 6 month dental cleaning/check up.  Shaun did great! The hygienist even said that his lower 2 front teeth are getting loose! I can't believe he is starting to loose them. It just seems like he got them all; ok it has been a bit, but still... Logan didn't have such a good time.  As soon we left the waiting room he knew he didn't like what was going on and started to cry.  His check was short and sweet, basically just the dentist looking and counting his teeth and painting on the fluoride. He did much better 6 months ago; awareness can change things...

Today the boys had their annual check up at their doctor's. They both did great and are growing well.  Shaun also got 2 shots (Dtap & Polio) and Logan got one shot (Hep A). The good news for Shaun is that he is all done with shots for a while and ready for Kindergarten!!!!

Here are their stats and comparisons:

Logan:

He is 2' 11.5"; 70%. He grew 1.75 inches in 7 months; down from the 89%.
He is 28 pounds 6 ounces; 51%.  He gained a little over 4 pounds in 7 months; up from the 27%.
His head is 51.5cm; 97%.  It grew 1.3cm in 7 months; same percentile!

Shaun:

He is 3' 9.5"; 91%. He grew 3.5 inches in a year; up from the 85%.
He is 49 pounds; 90%. He gained a little over 6 pounds in a year; down from the 92%.

How does Logan compare to Shaun at 2 years old?

Shaun was .25 inches taller.
Shaun was 13 ounces heavier.
Shaun's head was .4cm bigger! All pretty close though!

The old wives tale for boys says to double their height at 2 to get their adult height. This predicts that Logan will be 5' 11" and Shaun will be 5' 11.5"...