Seth - 4 years 3 months old!

I really should write these on the closest Sunday or something because I keep getting further and further behind.

I feel like Seth has progressed a lot this month on separating from me a little bit more.  Since we moved, he basically doesn't want to leave the house.  After reading a book, I decided to try lots and lots of praise as well as a point system.  Basically, every time he went somewhere willingly and happy and came home happy he got 2 pts - more if it was something really hard for him.  At first, I wasn't really sure if it would work, but one day on the way to Play Date, I told him how exciting it was to get points, how he could use them for video game time - in fact, if he was in the big kid room he could play video games while he was earning points to get to play video games.  Somehow, this was like a turning point for Seth and now he has worked so hard to earn points.  He loves to tell how many he has - like "I have seven seven" - that means 14.  He doesn't actually want to use them for anything; he just likes knowing that he has them.  Now, he goes willingly to Sunbeams, PlayDate, soccer, etc.  We haven't tried preschool yet because due to illness and other things, he hasn't been in like a month.  Yay!

New things this month - soccer.  This has been an adventure.  We have been anticipating signing him up for soccer probably as soon as we knew we were moving to Greenville.  And he's been excited.  Until it was actually time to go.  He has a game or practice every Saturday - the first two Saturdays were practices and now he has had two games.  His coach, Luigi, is a little flightly.  We got a text and then when Katsu went to practice with the boys, he went to the field that the coach said.  After two weeks, it finally dawned on us that Seth has been practicing with the wrong team because that coach was a woman (and one of Katsu's colleagues, to boot) and probably not Luigi.  So, we text Luigi apologizing and trying to get info for the game.  We go to the field, and it is the wrong team again!  We finally find the right team, but so far Seth still has no shirt and the coach has been late every time.  I feel like we don't have a clue what is going on.  The second practice, Seth refused to play and Katsu brought the boys home with everyone grumpy.  But points to the rescue, and Seth has played both his first two games (even with a new team!) and done well and enjoyed himself.  And the first game was in the rain!  He plays well, works well with his teammates, and has even scored a couple goals, which he found very excited.  He is probably one of the better players on his team.  The league is really non-competitive (they don't even keep score and they randomly assign teams, though they do keep track of who makes goals to even things out) and I think it is a lot of  fun.

Otherwise, we have just been busy still trying to get settled into the new neighborhood.  We put a big climbing dome in the back and between that and the sand box and scooters and new bikes (slowly teaching the boys 2 wheelers without training wheels), they spend quite a bit of time outdoors, especially afternoons/evenings/weekends when other kids are out.  Seth loves his scooter.  He also LOVES gardening and has enjoyed digging holes for us to plant plants and trees.  He likes picking "sunflowers" on our walks and pointing out all the ECU flags and pirate things.  He desperately wants a playset in our backyard.  He also really wants an ECU flag for our house.

Otherwise, things are mostly normal with Seth.  He wants to spend LOTS of time with me and no matter how much he gets it is never enough.  He does not want to attend any sort of preschool and is always telling me why he doesn't need to go "I can already count to infinity, so I don't need to go", "I can watch the Meet the Sight Words DVD and I'll be ready for kindergarten and don't need to go to preschool", etc.  It's really funny.  Hopefully, he'll want to go to kindergarten next year.  We're mostly dealing with the 4 year old blues (whining, fits).  It always cracks me up because he is always like, "If you don't do this, I will melt down", or "throw a fit" or "explode".  Very calmly.  So funny.  And the middle child blues.  Poor kid.

Fun Things This Month
- Preschool, sort of.  Seth has gone twice, but with me both times and refused to leave or take off his shoes.  He was finally getting settled into the idea of it and said he would let me drop him off, and we have been sick every week since then.  It's a cute coop with other people from church.
- Several days at Play Date.  Seth is finally starting to enjoy it ... mostly.  He has always refused to let me bring a lunch for him, having several meltdowns over it, but he usually "shares" Seth's.  This week, he asked Lexi, the girl who is usually working there, "Hey, will there be any of that sandwich left for me to eat?"
- Trying out a new babysitter.  The boys really liked here, so hopefully we can have her watch them occasional afternoons for me and also for date night.
- Having friends over for dinner and going other places for dinner.
- Beach! Another trip to Atlantic Beach for Labor Day.  This time we went to Fort Macon State Park and saw the fort first.  The boys loved it and the beach afterwards was very nice as well.
- Soccer.
- Next door neighbor's water birthday party.  Boys loved it.
- Ward party.  Seth had lots of fun and made new friends.
- Two sicknesses.  A cold and a stomach bug.
- Talk like a Pirate Day at Krispy Kreme.  Seth talked about it for weeks - Krispy Kreme is right across from my school, so we saw it there when we went after getting a parking pass one day.  Seth wore his pirate apparel (hat, eye patch, and hook) and got a free dozen donuts.  What a great day!
- Dinner with the missionaries

Andrew is older.

Another month.  Andrew is 6 years 4 months old.  The big news this month is starting school.  Andrew is attending Ridgewood Elementary and is in Mrs. Brinson's class.  She seems pretty nice and I've heard she is pretty strict - she seems that way.  But I think it is a good combination at this age, anyways.  A couple girls from the neighborhood are in his class, including our neighbor, so I think that has helped.  Andrew seems to like his class and school.  He isn't the kind of kid to tell every detail as soon as he gets home.  He always comes home itching to play, but if you listen carefully, you can get quite a few details from the day.

I went in and met with his teacher.  I think mostly so she can show me the testing they do for reading.  Andrew is on or above grade level for everything except for identifying sounds - like lake is l - A - k.  I think maybe he just wasn't familiar with what they were asking because he does it fine at home.  I think how they test their reading level is a bit much.  They read a story and they are given a piece of paper with the question on it and the kids reads the question and writes the answer done.  The teacher can say nothing.  It seems a bit intense for 1st grade, but what do I know.  Andrew couldn't move up a reading level because he didn't answer part of the question (he didn't explain why).  I find that kind of hilarious for 1st grade.

Andrew has also started homework this week.  He is taking it pretty seriously, which is great.  Spelling homework takes forever as does his reading log (which has to answer big questions in complete sentences!) because he is still taking quite a bit of time to write all his letters.  Hopefully, it will speed up through the year.  He just blows through his math homework and reads through his books super fast, too.  He had his first spelling test and he got a 100 today.

Andrew takes the walking school bus to and from school.  School starts so early, like 7:55, so he needs to be out waiting for the "bus" by 7:20 or so.  The "bus" consists of 2 or 3 parents in yellow vests leading a group of children through the neighborhood and then to school.  And the same on the way home.  It seemed a bit much to me at first, but I actually think it's a great idea.  It's safer than the kids just walking by themselves (there are a lot of cars on the street), but I don't have to go every day, which can be a pain because Seth never wants to go and Logan is sometimes still napping.  Andrew gets out of school at 2:15.  So, we just have to go one afternoon a week.  In the mornings, Katsu walks him across the street to the "bus" stop and me and Logan sit on the porch and wave and watch the kids go and then Katsu goes to work.  Seth is still sleeping, usually.  It is a pain to get Andrew ready in time, but it has always been a pain to get Andrew ready in time to go anywhere - even with hours notice.  Andrew just takes his time.  Invariably, we are all waiting outside for Andrew, and I'll go inside to find him and he will be standing at the top of the stairs mooning me and saying "Is it okay, Mom?".  Like seriously, you've been wiping fine for years.  I don't want to see your bare behind.  Oh, well.

Andrew has a snack and a recess each morning, but no recess with lunch.  They have reading time and writing and spelling and math every day and also science and social studies.  Reading is in two parts with a part with the whole class and then also meeting with a smaller group with special reading teachers as well for everyone divided into groups based on levels.  He has PE twice a week and then music, art, and library/computer (I think it alternates weeks) once a week.  He hasn't talked much about them yet.

Andrew hasn't told many details about school.  I know he gets dojo points whenever he does something well.  He has 20 points now.  A few girls have more than him, but apparently you can also get negative points when you misbehave and some kids are like -11 already!  Wow.

Andrew wears a uniform to school.  He was hesitant in the beginning, but I actually think it is really nice and easy.  He can wear a white, blue, black, or purple collared shirt on top and black, khaki, or blue shorts / pants on bottom.  The only thing that is tricky is no cargo pants, so that took out several we already had.  Andrew really wants some purple shirts, but try finding those for boys.  Tricky, even in a town where the color is purple (ECU).

Andrew's school is about 50% black, 40% white, and 10% other, so the demographics are very different than in St. Louis, where the suburbs are white white white.  Though his school "imported" some black kids from the center of the city in St. Louis.  Some of the kids have really crazy names.  It's pretty funny.  There is like one other Asian family we saw and they came up and talked to us at open house.  I thought that was kind of funny, but then I realized it was because the man knew Katsu from work.

Andrew got a new bike this week (well, new to us), an Iron Man two wheeler, so I am trying to convince him to learn to ride without training wheels.  We'll see - he is still not convinced.  I thought because the walking school bus has Thursdays as scooter/bike day he would be interested, but not yet.  I bet when Seth is riding his well, Andrew will suddenly be very interested, though.

Fun Things This Month

• A few play dates. 
• Lots of ECU picnics.  One at a lake beach while they loved playing in the sand.  And hot dogs and chips - what could be better?  
• Birthday party for a neighbor at the mall bouncy house.  Wow - it was a little crazy, but the boys had so much fun.  Logan would go on the big ones and go down the slides with his older brothers.
• A couple times at Play Date - a drop in child center.  Andrew loved the video games and bounce house, but was not so interested in having to look out for Logan, but he did, because he is a good brother.
• Going to Chic-fil-A several times and out for ice cream thanks to our realtor.
• Winterville Watermelon Festival - we watched the parade -  And then we rode rides.  We had to go get our new car, so we didn't have time to watch any of the concerts, but next year.
• Our first dinner party.  And a cookout the next night with friends.  Andrew convinced us we had to invite his friend over from church, so we did - even though they have 7 kids!  It was actually great fun and we'll have to have him over for play dates.  He doesn't live too far; he is homeschooled, but I think otherwise, they would go to our school.
• Back to school night - Andrew was a little nervous at first, but we met everyone.
• Another trip to Atlantic Beach for Labor Day.  This time we went to the Fort Macon State Park and we saw the fort first.  The boys loved it.  Andrew is so enthralled with forts, so it was fun.  And the beach is always lots of fun.
• Andrew started soccer.  He seems to really enjoy it so far, at least when he is there, and he plays the whole time and doesn't whine and take two million water breaks like some of the other boys.  He doesn't run as hard or kick as hard as the other boys - I don't think he really gives it as much intensity - but he is doing pretty well.  He has Saturday practices (the first few weeks) and then games, plus a weekday practice and a couple weekday games at the end.  We'll see how the season goes.

Logan is 22 months old!

I can't believe he is almost two - although if you look at his size, almost everyone thinks he is well beyond that.

Logan has been kind of sick the last day or two and has been really emotional.  He wants me ALL the time.  I mean, normally he wants me all the time, but now he REALLY wants me all the time.  And then, he cried for several minutes when Katsu came home from work yesterday.  That was ... unusual.  I think he might have picked up a bug from our dinner guests on Sunday.  Hopefully it passes quickly.

Logan is talking more.  He still says "car" for many things, but he is copying the words I say, especially sounds.  He is also is saying many words more clearly.  And this morning he said "I love mama" which was very sweet.  I can see a lot of progress from last month, so I am not as worried.  I should probably find him a pediatrician this month and then we can see what they say.

Logan still loves swimming and the beach.  He has gotten the hang of a life jacket pretty well, so he doesn't have to cling to me the whole time we are at the pool.  He likes the sandbox and playing with chalk and walking around with his trike - still hasn't quite figured out pedals.  He loves to go outside and is always asking.  In the morning, he likes to go out and say good-bye to Andrew as Andrew takes the walking school bus to school.  The first few days, especially when I tagged along, were very emotional for Logan, but he has gotten over that.  He also likes to be out there when Andrew comes home, too.

Logan has started to get into play more.  He especially loves train tracks and racing cars down the race track.  The first thing he wants to do when he wakes up is go to the play room now and play with cars.  He is always carrying cars around and taking them downstairs and dropping them everywhere.  We are totally going to have to refinish the wood when the boys are grown - oh, well.

Logan loves to be read to, especially books about trucks or Thomas books, which he finds and brings to me at the library - even when we already own a copy at home.

Logan is getting a little more picky about eating.  He LOVES cheese and cans of oranges and is always bringing them to me from the pantry and fridge.  He also picks all the berries out of the fridge and wants to eat whole pints of blueberries in one sitting.  He likes crackers and cereal and bread some.  He LOVES edamame - that is all he would eat for dinner today.  He usually eats pretty well.

He is having some tantrums.  He still screams quite a bit, but I feel like that is getting a bit better.

Fun Things This Month

Atlantic Beach - Logan had so much fun playing with Katsu, making sand castles, hunting for sea animals and shells, collecting sea weed, and just loving the waves and the water.  He is mostly happy to sit on shore and play in the sand.  We went a second time for Memorial Day.  First, we explored the Fort Macon state park.  Logan got bored and kept wanting to climb up to the top to look out at the ocean.  He loved the beach.  He finally got pooped out around 2:30 and feel asleep in my lap sitting as the waves were coming in.  I had to keep scooching back so he wouldn't get drowned in the incoming tide.

• A few play dates.  Logan is always game for playing with other friends.
• Lots of ECU picnics.  One at a lake beach while they loved playing in the sand.  And hot dogs and chips - what could be better?  
• Birthday party for a neighbor at the mall bouncy house.  Wow - it was a little crazy, but the boys had so much fun.  Logan would go on the big ones and go down the slides with his older brothers.
• Many days at Play date - this is a drop in child care center.  Logan is getting better and better every time - a little teary when I leave and when I get back, but we talk about it inbetween and he says that he has fun.  He gets excited about going - but the separation from me is hard.  He goes on Wed. morning when I teach and maybe an occasional other time.
• Going to Chic-fil-A several times and out for ice cream thanks to our realtor.
• Winterville Watermelon Festival - we watched the parade - Logan loved the trucks and running to get candy.  He was very cautious about not getting in the way - it was so cute.  And then we rode rides - Logan got to ride on the train and seemed to really enjoy it.  He was too small for everything else and was a little jealous the boys got to go on the bigger rides.  We had to go get our new car, so we didn't have time to watch any of the concerts, but next year.
• Preschool - Logan has been tagging along to Seth's coop preschool and joins in a few things.  I think after this, Seth will be okay being by himself and we can have some one on one time.
• Our first dinner party.  And a cookout the next night with friends.  Logan had a blast playing in their water table.