Preschool Graduation

Roo is now a preschool graduate! It was so much fun watching him have so much fun on stage with all of his friends. He had a fantastic school year and is ready for kindergarten. He has so much more confidence and is much more mature than a year ago. Daddy and I were discussing how happy we were with the preschool this year and how their focus on building strong confident kids has been so wonderful for Roo. Can't believe he'll be going to kindergarten this fall!

Swaddle Me

Recently Bug has been asking me to carry him like a baby. Not only that, he likes to lay his blankey out on the floor or bed and make it perfectly flat and then lay it in. He puts his legs straight out and arms on his tummy and then my job is to swaddle him in his blankey and carry him like a baby. To be honest, I love it! He's out little baby and they grow up so fast, so if he wants extra baby cuddle time, we'll take it while it lasts! Only problem we're running into is that tall Roo who is also much heavier than Bug also wants to be carried like a baby! Gotta love these kids!

Pumpkin Time at School

The kids preschool enjoys making pumpkining as I like to call it fun for the kids. Roo's class went on a field trip to Belvedere Plantation to go pumpkin picking and Bug's class did pumpkin picking in the field at the school. Both classes went on a tractor ride at the school as well.

Roo's field trip to Belvedere got cancelled when it was originally schedule be luckily there was enough time left in pumpkin season to go on the field trip the following week. We had a blast on the field trip and spent the rest of the day hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa.

Bug's class picked pumpkins together in the field at school and once I scan the picture, I'll post the picture of him picking his pumpkin. He was really proud and happy and seemed to have a great time with his friends.

The school has pictures of all the kids on the tractor, I'll have to see if I can scan those in as well. All in all though, they're having a great fall and loads of fun at school!

First Busy Fall

This fall will be a little different than our autumn's of the past. We have scheduled ourselves to be pretty busy. Roo started at his new preschool last week and has enjoyed it so far, they start their actual preschool portion of the day this week. I'm hoping he continues to build on what he learned last year and gets even more confident with his hand writing. Oh, and that he includes the number 13 when he counts.

We also have both boys in sports. Roo is in soccer for the first time in a couple of years and is on his friend Connor's soccer team. So far he really enjoys it. His practices are on Thursday's with games on Saturday mornings.

I took Bug to Roo's last practice and couldn't keep him off the field. The only soccer available to kids under 3 is the tots soccer at the field house. So I signed him up and he had his first session this past Saturday. He loved it! He absolutely loves kicking and dribbling the ball and had fun participating in each of the different activities. The kids were all worn out by the end and I thought for sure he wanted to go home but instead wanted to continue with our normal Saturday trip to Wegman's. He took a good nap that afternoon!

And today Roo had his first swim lesson. He was so funny in the car on the way there asking me to stay with him the entire time because he's shy. We got there and they were put into groups based on their swimming ability so he and one other little girl were with one instructor and life guard. I left and exercised a little and then came back his his instructor nodded to me that he was doing great. He was so happy, smile on his face the entire time he was in the pool. It was great and hopefully it'll continue to go well!

I'm excited for our busy fall, it's great to have the kids learning new things and participating in group activities. Stay tuned for pictures from these fun times!

Roo's 1st Soccer Practice

We signed Roo up for soccer this fall. We decided to put him on a 5-6 year old team rather than the 4-5 year old smart start program so he could be on his friend Connor's team. Roo's really shy so we figured having a friend on the team would help get him out on the field. Connor wasn't able to go to the first practice because of the earthquake. Roo went and was very reluctant to go out on the field. I finally convinced him to go out there and he did what I expected. He stood around a lot on the field during the scrimmage portions but did follow the coaches instructions when they were doing a few drills. We need to practice basic skills with Roo so he can better know what he's doing on the field. He's actually not very aggressive at all, which isn't a bad thing, and after a little coaching I was able to get him to chase and kick the ball on a few occassions during their scrimmage portion.

His favorite part of practice was probably running to and from the field for water breaks. If Roo lacks a sense of competition in a scrimmage environment, he for sure showed it running to and from the field to the bench. He was always trying to be the first to get his water and fastest back to the field.

He's enrolled in swimming too, and that starts later this month. We're curious how he's going to do once he learns to swim. Is he going to be an individual team sport sort of kid who wants to be his own score but still have a team of friends? Only time will tell.

And finally, the next day after practice Roo noted that he had bumped into another player and they both fell and was that ok. He had fallen a couple of times either from bumping into or being bumped and got up well on his own, no crying or that sort of thing. I told him that sometimes you bump into people in soccer and it's ok as long as you're not trying to hurt the and you say sorry and help them up. He seem relieved. Can't wait to see how the season progresses!

Little Superheros

A picture from earlier this summer!

Aunt Carol...Let's Go Fishing!

For Roo's birthday, Aunt Carol and the Bloob's got Roo a great fishing vest that holds all sorts of goodies, a new fishing rod and a tackle box. Roo was super excited when he got to open his presents and figured out as soon as we told him what the vest was what the other two portions of the gift were. He loved having a multi-part gift!

He opened his gifts late enough in the evening that it was past fishing time, but we promised to take him over the weekend.

When the weekend came along, we took the boys in the late afternoon once it got a bit cooler out. We picked up worms at the gas station and then headed over to the lake in the neighborhood.

Bug was also really excited to fish so we brought one of Daddy's big fishing poles with us as well.

Roo was so excited that he asked us if we had caught him a fish yet. His attention span for fishing consisted of running in and out of the gazebo we were fishing from and onto the beach and into the water and back and forth and so on. Bug had a bit more patience but we still weren't catching anything. He did have a lot of fun feeding the ducks though!

As it was nearning time to go home and have dinner, we really didn't want to leave without catching a fish. So we decided to cheat and fish off the part of the gazebo that is close to the beach, there are always a ton of fish swimming around in there.

It only took a few minutes and Bug caught a tiny little Bluegill. A few minutes later Roo caught a larger Bluegill.

The boys had a ton of fun fishing and I'm sure we'll return many evenings for some nice relaxing fun!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 5th Birthday Roo, we love you!

Roo's 5th Birthday Party

Roo's 5th birthday party was just what he wanted. I was hoping to not have it at the house this year but he really wanted it at the house. After checking out Paragon Gymnastics to see if we could have it there, which I think he would have loved, they told me they weren't doing Sunday parties. Alas, Uncle Matt planned his entire summer around being at the party on Sunday the 7th. So we had the party at home!

I talked with Roo a bit about what kind of cake he wanted this year. After telling him I wasn't planning on making a Wall-E cake again like last year, we agreed that a caterpillar cake would be great. He wanted it with lots of worms. I looked up some pictures on the internet to get some ideas and decided against The Very Hungry Caterpillar as I thought it was a little young for him. I showed Daddy and one of his friends at work what I planned on making and they were unimpressed, asking me if I aspired to do it nicely at all.

With that vote of confidence, I made this caterpillar cake. Dairy and egg free and delicious too! I tried a new icing recipe that someone at work gave me and it worked really well. Hooray!

When Roo first saw the cake he thought it was amazing. Roo then asked where the worms were and I told him that the caterpillar ate them and that's why it's so big. He seemed satisfied with that answer.

As for the actual party, we filled up the baby pool and put out a double slip n slide. We also gave each of the kids a water gun. The kids all had a blast playing outside and getting really wet. It was super humid out so it was good that the storms held off and they were able to play outside.

I made a bunch of food and everyone had a good time with each other. We had a "smaller" party this year though it still seemed like a lot of people for the size of our kitchen. Roo was excited to have a few of his friends over and we enjoyed catching up with friends and family.

Before Roo opened his presents I asked him if he could nicely thank each person who gave him a gift after he opened it. Roo loved everything he received and was good about thanking everyone. It was hard to pull him away from his presents last night, this morning and as soon as he got home this afternoon!

We're really glad he enjoyed his party and had so much fun with his friends!

Nuts and Bolts

We got home yesterday and Roo greeted us while holding onto his wrench. We noticed that he also had 3 bolts. Daddy asked Roo where he got the bolts from and he replied that he got them from the their play place. Daddy looked over the play place with Roo and asked him how he got them. Roo proceeded to show daddy that he simply used the wrench to unbolt the bolts. Daddy reported to me that he needs to put the bolts back in and we instructed Roo that he's not to take anymore out or the structure may come apart. Looks like we've got a little structural engineer on our hands!

Roo's Quote of the Week

We're getting in the car and getting strapped in. Roo's really safety conscious and always makes sure he's strapped before we start driving (we make sure too of course). I ask if everyone is strapped in and ready to go. Roo replies, yes, we have to be safe, daddy's a bad driver. Gotta love it!

Roo Feels No Cold...Except When He Does

Roo loved playing in the water on vacation. And yes it was Maine and yes it was cold....but it wasn't so bad if you didn't put your whole body in. So Roo had a blast until Daddy came along and dumped him in the water. Daddy learned very quickly that though Roo feels no cold, Roo definitely felt frozen after a full body dip in the water. In fact, Roo was so cold that he took a warm shower and fell asleep for a few hours to warm up!

Eye Boo Boo #1

yes, that means there's an eye boo boo #2.

Bug was fighting back when Roo was antagonizing him and scratched him in the eye. The ped's office was able to get him into the eye doctor and the doc did a good eye exam and said it's just a scratch and that it would be better the next day. It was. The best part of the eye doctor was when the doctor showed Roo all the different pictures and then made them smaller and smaller. One picture was a hand, Roo called it a cow. The doc said, let's call it a hand. When we were leaving, the doc said, great job Roo, lets clap our cows....gotta love a doc with a sense of humor.

Bug woke up from his nap yesterday and his right eye is really red in the white portion of his eyeball near his nose. It looks like it's spreading a bit but it doesn't seem to be bothering him. I talked to the pharmacist and the nurses line today and will either take him to a local ped where we are or if we can't get in we'll go to the "doc in a box." Either way, we'd be happier with it being looked at. Our top two guesses of what may have happened are that he's allergic to Miss Sassy the cat at Grammie's or possibly the Maine state bird, aka the black fly. Hopefully it's allergy and not any sort of infection. I'm trying not to think that this is karma for him scratching Roo.

Preschool Graduation

Wow! Roo is a preschool graduate! But he's not going to K next year, he'll go back to preschool for another year, we're just not sure where yet.

His graduation was great, he was adorable and looked so handsome all dressed up. I won't mention how mad he was at me for making him get dressed up, but it was totally worth it.

Grandma and Grandpa came to graduation and Roo put on his best show yet. Still no singing or hand motions; well, there was that one during one song, but he was hilarious. He had plenty of sleep the night before, but he just kept yawning and yawing. So much so that he had Grandpa in tears, which put me in tears. It was just too funny. At one point he even rested his head on his hand, yeah, standing up; that's our boy!

In one of the songs, the kids sang each letter and then made the sound of the letter and said something that goes with the letter, he was right on cue for the letter "Y" when his yawn couldn't have been timed any better.

The best song of all was when each child was given an instrument and one of the kids from the class conducted. What a riot, just a bunch of kids banging on instruments for a minute until the child conductor stopped them, all the parents loved it.

Once the singing was over each of the kids went and got their diploma. After the ceremony Roo took pictures with us and his friend Kristina whose parents we carpooled with all year. Roo also got to spend the rest of the day with his Grandma and Grandpa and he had a blast. They got him a cool watch for his graduation and he hasn't taken it off since!

Roo was really sad the next day when he couldn't go to school. I don't think he realized that graduation meant that the school year is over. He really loved school all year long and learned a ton. And though he never sang in any of the shows, he sings constantly at home and likes to remind us that he knows all the words. What a great first school experience!

One of my Favorite Rooism's

I love how Roo will say "oh my cow" it's such a great combination of two different phrases. I caught myself saying it today when a huge storm was rolling in. It's definitely a keeper!

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

Frog and snails and puppy-dog tails!

Now that the warmer weather is here the boys have been playing outside everyday when we get home and almost all day on the weekends. Last weekend Roo found where all the worms live. He was digging around by the shed and found at least a handful of worms. I gave him a tupperware so he could store them, with holes in the lid. He really wanted to sit at the kitchen table and count all of them but that didn't seem like a good idea to me!

And if it's not worms it bugs. Caterpillars are his favorite but he also likes most any other bug that is nice. He loves the ladybugs at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Did you know that caterpillars breathe through holes on the sides of their body and that some have fake eyes that make them look like snakes to scare away predators?! And, did you know that ladybugs use the same weapon as skunks to scare away predators, just on a much much smaller scale. We are learning all of this and more in Roo's insect book that Uncle Matt got him for his birthday.

This would all make Grandma squirm with eewie's!

We Love our Mama!

Quote of the Day

This morning we asked Roo what he wants to do this weekend. His response: I want to go up in the sky, and tell the man to make it warm, and then come home. Touche!

Yee-Haw

So really, what is more hilarious that saying yee-haw and then diving head first off the couch. I'm sure if I look back through the blog I'll find a similar post about Roo diving off the couch, but Bug is too funny to preface it with the "yee-haw." I think he got the yee-haw from one of the Toy Story movies. Regardless, it's hilarious....and no worries, we don't let him actually jump off head first. And seriously, who would think to jump head first off their couch anyway...both our boys at age 2 I guess!

Preschool Christmas Pageant

Roo's preschool Christmas pageant was this past week. We've been working with him to let him know that it's ok to sing and participate and not to worry about all of the people there. He had his line memorized and he let us each know that he wanted us to be there. We decided to get there a little early so we could have front row seats; we thought that having us nearby may help him feel a little less scared.

The kids all filed into the chapel and were ringing bells. They each took their seat and the program began. Roo did a lot better this time in terms of getting up and down and singing a little bit. When it was his turn to speak into the microphone though, he got really nervous and ended up not saying anything, but that was ok, we were still really proud of him.

After the show we told Roo how proud we were of him and we went with him, the other kids and parents and enjoyed some cake. We thanked his teachers for the time they spend teaching him and making his first school experience so wonderful!