Shaun's 6th Birthday Party #2!

Yesterday, Saturday, we had Shaun's family birthday party. We had the whole family over for the party. It was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kind of party! 

 

 

We had pizza for dinner, cake for dessert and of course, presents to open for Shaun! He read all of his birthday cards and got a lot of good gifts. Thank you all!

 

 

 

And today, Sunday, they got the Hot Wheels track out. I think it was a hit with both of them.... It even hooks up to the Ipad, and you can see a shark eating a car..!

Today, also Shaun took in cupcakes to his Sunday school class, so I think that was the last of his birthday celebrations!

Boys growth Stats & Party #1!

Today, I took the day off work and we did the boys annual well child check ups and Shaun had Birthday party #1!

Here are the boys' stats:

Shaun @ 6 years old:
~He is 3 feet 11.75 inches (47.75 inches), which is the 88%. He grew 2.25 inches in the last year; down from the 91 %.
~He weighs 52 pounds 3 ounces, which is the 82%. He grew 3 pounds in the last year; down from the 90%.

Logan @ 3 years old:
~He is 3 feet 2.5 inches (38.5 inches), which is the 73%. He grew 3 inches in the last year; up from the 70%.
~He weighs 32 pounds 3 ounces, which is the 55%. He grew 3.5 pounds in the last year; up from the 51%.

How do Logan and Shaun compare at 3 years old? Shaun was 3/4 inches taller and 3 pounds heavier.

Next up was Shaun's birthday party with Spencer! We went to McDonald's for lunch, where they each got a Happy Meal and then had play time.

Then we each got a Sunday and opened presents!

Then it was off to the movies to see The Lego Movie. The boys enjoyed it!

Thanks for coming to Shaun's first kid party, Spencer!

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.