Andrew is 6 and a half

Boy, am I late again.  Andrew is 6 and a half now.  He has been telling everyone when his half birthday was, when Logan's birthday was, when his real birthday is, and when Logan's half birthday is.  It is pretty cute.

Andrew is doing well in school.  He got his first report card and everything is on target for his grade.  I went to his parent teacher conference (seems very few people actually go here) and there wasn't much to say.  We mostly talked about how he likes to bring home his teacher's trash.  He always sit next to her at lunch and then brings home her trash so he can recycle it.  He is really into recycling and is always going around telling me what we can recycle (like the flyswatter - I keep saying we still need that one).  Otherwise, he is doing great.

I have seen a lot of improvement in Andrew's handwriting.  His d's and a' still look too angular to me and he isn't always super consistent with his n and h's.  But last week, he missed a spelling word because it looked like he wrote shack instead of snack.  So, I think he is learning his lesson.  Before and after that, he always got 100% on his spelling test, so it was a bit of a shock.  He also has started to really write long and elaborate responses to questions in his reading log each night.  He takes a lot of initiative for his homework and always makes sure it gets done.

Andrew gets "dojo" points at school for each 9 weeks - they get points for good behavior, turning in homework, and doing well on spelling tests.  He always keeps careful track of how many he has in comparison to other kids in his class.  At the end of the 9 weeks, you can turn them in for prizes.  Last 9 weeks, he was just one short of the highest number of dojo points, he had like 120 or something.  I hear more about dojo points than probably anything else at school.

Andrew seems to be making friends - he will occasionally talk about his "friend", but honestly, he doesn't share much about that part of his life.  He is always excited to be home and play with Seth and especially play on our new play set.  He also loves playing with Logan and likes to read him books, too.  He also is always hammering for time on the computer.  He wants to play the game they play at school, so he can have as many points as everyone else.  He also is always wanting to send email - I guess they have accounts at school - but I think he is too young.  He must be learning some typing because he keeps telling me about it, but I tell him to improve his handwriting first and then we can think about learning to type.  Andrew also loves playing Lego Star Wars video game with Dad - I do not love it.  He gets annoying and yells at Seth whenever Seth is doing exactly what Andrew thinks he should be doing, but Andrew really really loves it.  He has been getting into Legos some, too.  Most of all, though, he loves to build machines out of Trio blocks and then come and attack me.

Andrew finished up soccer.  He only missed one game, and that was because of his school carnival.  He played hard and made a goal his last game.  He got a trophy  and was super excited about that.  He always told us he only wanted to play for a trophy.  But I think he had a really good experience and I think he wants to play again in the spring.

FUN THINGS THIS MONTH
- Visiting New Bern for Columbus day.  We went to the fire museum and walked around town.  Andrew liked to look for all the bears.  We ate at a cute cow restaurant and had ice cream and then walked around the garden of Tryon Palace.  Andrew had fun and wants to go back, but thought the drive was too long (about an hour).
- Lots of soccer games (weeknights and on weekends)
- Playing too many video games while Katsu and I paint the fence
- Trunk or treat at church.  It went pretty fast, but the boys got loads of candy and had lots of fun.  Andrew dressed up as a dragon again.
- Another day off of school.  We pretty much just played at home.
- Party at school.  "Fall Festival" instead of Halloween - they got snacks and did crafts.  He was sad I wasn't there, but the parties for his class are assigned and I am not until Valentine's Day.
- Playset installed!!!!!  The boys were so excited!  They have loved playing on it so much.
- Watching videos at Dad's work while I had an afternoon meeting.  Andrew thinks it so cool that Katsu has 2 screens and they can watch a movie on one.
- Halloween!  We had chili with friends and then went trick or treating with them.  They have two boys around Andrew's age, so all the boys ran fast from door to door.  It was all Logan and I could do to catch up.  The neighborhood was packed, but the boys all had so much fun.  The weather had really warmed up and Andrew was sweating so much in his fleece costume by the end.  THey got tired, but insisted on doing houses on the way home, too, even though it was winding down.  At one house, apparently they were out of candy, so they gave the kids a handful of candy corn.  And Andrew ate it immediately without asking me!  I guess we will have to go over the rules of trick or treating again.  It was a fun night.
- Last soccer game, eating at Bojangles (Andrew's new favorite place to eat, apparently) and finally getting a trophy.
- Early day off for Parent Teacher Conferences.
- Veteran's Day off - just played with friends
- Dinner with friends for a birthday.
- Getting hand, foot, and mouth disease.  We didn't realize Andrew had until today for sure.  He had a slight fever and got sent home from school, though by the time he got home he didn't have a fever (Katsu had to pick him up because I was teaching).  But it went away and he was being really hyper the two days he was home from school, so i thought he was better.  He started getting a rash on his mouth, but only today with blisters on his lips and spots on his hands and feet did we realize what he had.  Oh, well.
- Football game.  The boys all went to the ECU game and had fun cheering on the pirates for a big win.  A fun day with Dad.

Logan is 2 years old!

Yesterday was Logan's second birthday.  I think he had a really great day.  In the morning, we told him happy birthday a lot.  He helped me pick out some things for the party at the grocery store and helped me cook (and sample) the cupcakes.  We were trying to clean up for the party and I left a door open and he found his birthday present.  I told him we had to wait and there was a lot of tears, but we finally gathered everyone together and he opened family presents.  From us, he got a plane and a Thomas book.  From Grandma and Grandpa, he got a Thomas T-shirt and some Thomas books.  From Great Grandma and Great Grandpa, he got a train.  He wanted to take everything with him, but I let him bring the plane and wear his Thomas shirt.  In fact, he would like to wear the Thomas shirt continuously, but I did manage to get him into Sunday clothes today.  We had soccer games - ate at Bojangles in between since it was the last soccer game (Logan already recognizes this place, even though it was only our second time).  We also bought some Halloween decorations for next year and on the way to the second soccer game, Logan feel asleep, so he slept through almost the whole game.  Yay!  We got home about 5 minutes before his party.

The party was fun.  I think Logan loved it.  Our playset was just installed and thankfully the weather was great, so a whole passel of kids just played on the playset, our climbing dome, and in the sandbox, and soccer and just running around.  We cooked up too many hot dogs and brats and had chips and water and fruit.  Then, we sang and had cupcakes.  Logan was a little mystified / mesmerized by the candles and a friend helped blow them out.  He got three presents - a big ball & a little plane, some ABC puzzles, and a Chugginton DVD (which we watched this morning so I could take a shower).  We had a lot of friends there - our neighbors, the Jones and their two kids, the Harris' and their three kids, the McCarlies and their three kids, the Arriagadas and their three kids, and the Howards and their two kids.  Logan seemed to have a ball.

He seems to understand that he is two now.  If you ask how old he is, he will tell you two and hold us his two pointer fingers.  And whenever we asked whose birthday it is, he would say "Me".  I said no more nursing when he turned two and he was a little sad, but got over it and accepted it (yay!).  I also told him two year olds start using the potty - we'll see about that one.

Otherwise, Logan is just adorable and trouble - basically the definition of a 2 year old.  He LOVES cars and trains and is always carrying at least one.  Usually multiple.  He sleeps with them now, too.  He leaves them at Play Date each week, though Seth has been culling through the collection and bringing home ours.  Logan loves books with cars and trains and planes and anything that moves and wants to hear them over and over.  He loves to play trains and can start to build some tracks himself.  He loves for me to build a Trio race track and loves to play with our big track.  He is even starting to kind of like to watch cars or trucks on TV, though honestly he is still not really interested in TV at all.  He also loves ball and enjoys throwing things.  Everything.  He loves our new swing set.  He likes the swings - the first time I put him on and pushed him, he fell right off, but he has done great since then and I have remembered to push more gently.  He can even go up the rock wall with a little help with placement.

This last month, Logan has been all about me.  He won't go to nursery anymore.  He had one bad day at Play date when I was teaching.  Some child was inconsolable, and I guess Logan got upset and started crying till he threw up (gotta love my kids), so Katsu picked him up.  He ended up having loads of fun at Katsu's work, but now he doesn't want to go to Nursery anymore.  He cries when we bring it up or when Sacrament meeting ends.  I would just go with him, but Seth won't go to Sunbeams, either, so I end up going to Primary and then Logan ends up falling asleep or whatever ...  And we are good friends with the nursery leader and he likes her and will talk to her, but as soon as you  mention Nursery, he will just say "No."  He is basically attached to my hip.  However, yesterday at soccer, he seemed to want Katsu and I think he is sad when Katsu is not with us for bishopric things, so I am hoping that Logan will be going through a Katsu phase shortly.

Logan is starting to talk a lot more.  He has a lot of words now, but still doesn't use a whole bunch of sentences.  He is pretty funny to listen to.  Whenever we are stopped at a red light, he just yells out "Go.  Go. Go."  I wish buddy.  He said couscous a week or so ago which was SO cute.

Logan is a super eater.  He can eat SO much!  I am curious to see what they say at his doctor appt tomorrow, because that kid had an appetite and will eat almost anything.  He even steals broccoli off other people's plates.

Logan mainly follows me around all day with cars or planes or trains or trucks and watches what I am doing.  He is pretty helpful.  He usually puts his shoes away and brings his plate to the sink and tries to put things away.

Logan loved trick or treating.  He loved Halloween.  He would say "treat" all the time and LOVED the trunk or treat and trick or treating.  On Halloween, I had to work in the afternoon, so I took the boys over to katsu's work.  Logan through we were going trick or treating

Fun Things This Month

• Lots and lots of soccer games and practices.  Logan is a good sport and likes to kick around a ball, too.
• Friends over to play several times.
• Logan went over to a friend's house one day so I could substitute teach a lecture.  He got sad when he went outside because he recognized our neighborhood and wanted me. He just kept saying Mommy.
• Trunk or treating at ECU.  There was a kid dressed up as the Hulk, complete with a mask, and Logan was TERRIFIED.  Generally, masks really scared him on Halloween.
• Trunk or treat at church.  Logan loved it.

• Day trip to New Bern -- we went to the Firefighters museum (the kids favorite thing of the day), the birthplace of Pepsi (kids not interested at all), the Cow Cafe for lunch (everything decorated in cows and a kids play room, plus pop corn and ice cream - i.e., kid paradise), and then walked around the city and went and walked through the grounds of Tryon Palace.  The kids did a lot of walking, but were excited to try to find all the bears that were painted differently around town.
• Fall Festival at Andrew's school.  Logan got to do a few of the free games and really had fun, even though he was exhausted.
• Our new playset.  Logan loved watching them install it and then starting crying as soon as they were done because he wanted to run out and play on it.
• Birthday!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Seth is 4 years 4 months old

Or was ... like a week ago.  I am getting so behind on these.  Seth is still having a bumpy transition to life here.  One big change was Katsu getting called into the bishopric.  Seth has not been happy about that.  He wants Katsu to sit with us.  And we are back to him not going to Primary again.  I tried to take him a couple weeks ago and he ended up teary eyed and I had to get him.  Last week, he refused to go because he said I wouldn't stay with the whole time and so he stayed about half way through RS when he finally decided it was too boring and he would go to his class.  It was interesting ... I was trying to conduct RS with Logan starting to doze off on my shoulder (won't go to nursery) and Seth sitting next to me.

I just hope we're doing right by Seth and not forcing him into anything.  I hope he's not too bored at home.  He likes to do things quietly by himself.  He loves to look at Japanese comic books, seriously for hours at a time.  He also loves to do workbooks.  He worked through the BrainQuest kindergarten one in probably 1-2 months and that is one long book.  Then, he was sad without it so I got him another 300 pg kindergarten one, a different brand.  I though 1st grade would be a bit hard.  Seth really wants to do really well because he thinks if he does, he can be in the same grade as Andrew.  Poor kid - sometimes, I feel like he is just counting time until Andrew comes home from school.

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but Seth is very afraid of blood.  He is a tough kid - like seriously tough.  But at the first sight of blood - wow, he freaks out.  Like today, he fell off his scooter on our daily walk and got some little cuts on his knee and elbow.  I thought he was going to hyperventilate for at least the next 30 minutes, probably more like hour.  It's like he just can't handle the thought that he is bleeding, poor kid.

Seth is such a nervous thing.  He chews on everything, whatever is around.  It is his nervous habit, I guess.

Seth keeps doing better in school things.  He still does his reading lessons, now and then.  He is about 60 lessons through.  He can read some things and is getting much better at writing his letters and his numbers.  He can do some simple math, too.

Seth loves playing on the computer.  He loves to look at books and do crafts and to play army.  He likes to play outside, but mostly if Andrew is around.

And soccer - Seth is obsessed.  Every day he asks if it is a soccer day.  He practices every day and cries if Katsu doesn't play enough with him or pay enough attention.  He goads the players on Andrew's team and gives them pretty good advice.  He LOVES soccer like it's no one's business.  It is SO cute.

Fun Things This Month:
- Soccer games galore.
- Lots of inside rainy days.
- A couple visits to Dad's work.  He puts a video on the screen for them to watch while he works, plus there is candy so they LOVE it.
- Hanging out at the walking school bus day and getting treats.
- Visit to the eye doctor.  Seth was nervous, but we watched a you tube video about what would happen, and he did really well.  They said his vision is pretty good ... he probably will need glasses, but not for another year or two.  Seth got to get some sunglasses to take home and for several days he was very serious about how his doctor told him that he had to wear sunglasses or he would hurt his eyes.
- We got "booed" and go to "boo" some other people in the neighborhood.  Seth was really excited about it and had to come and deliver one with us (he feel asleep early the other night and missed it).  He ran and put it on their porch, but hid it.  I had to come out and show him to put it on the door mat or they might never find it.  Then, the next day, he told them we had "booed" them.  Ha ha ha.
- Trunk or treat at ECU - pretty small ... I think Seth was a bit disappointed.
- Trunk or treat at church.  Seth dressed as a tiger - nice and warm for a cold evening.  He got lots of candy and had lots of fun.
- Watching some of the world series with Dad.  Seth is a big Cardinals fan.
- Day trip to New Bern -- we went to the Firefighters museum (the kids favorite thing of the day), the birthplace of Pepsi (kids not interested at all), the Cow Cafe for lunch (everything decorated in cows and a kids play room, plus pop corn and ice cream - i.e., kid paradise), and then walked around the city and went and walked through the grounds of Tryon Palace.  The kids did a lot of walking, but were excited to try to find all the bears that were painted differently around town.
- Fall Festival at Andrew's school.  Seth got to do a haunted house on a scooter thing that you laid on, and played lots of games - ring toss, bowling, sack race, etc. etc. and got some candy.  They all had a lot of fun.
- Our playset was installed which was super exciting for Seth!
- Halloween!!!  Our friends came over and we had Chili and then we went around the neighborhood.  I was slow with Logan, but the rest of the boys (Andrew, Seth, plus their two boys) were running around from house to house.  I couldn't keep up!  We ran into lots of people we knew and it was just pretty busy and fun.

Andrew is 6 years 5 months old!

Andrew finally "lost" two teeth.  He has been very anxious for the last year about when he would lose a tooth.  Basically, every single kid has lost more teeth than him, even children much younger than him and he would often complain about it.  And he still did not even have a wiggly tooth.  Well, last month, Andrew says to me, "Guess what?  My adult teeth are coming in."  I asked where and he showed me, right behind his front bottom teeth.  And sure enough, when I looked, there they were.  Kind of crazy!  We told Andrew to wiggle the baby teeth every day, but honestly, they were in tight.  More proactively, we found a pediatric dentist and made an appointment, even though they boys just went a few months ago.  We went in and the dentist took some xrays and said the baby teeth needed to come out.  Some laughing gas and numbing later, the dentist very gently took them out.  Andrew was a really great sport and did great.  I was sitting right next to him, but of course, with the little boys, it was a little crazy.  I LOVED the dentist - he even did it for free (well, they charged our insurance, but didn't charge us beyond that, even though we should have paid 50%).   I had been planning on taking him back to school, but since they extracted the teeth, he didn't really feel up for it, so we picked up lots of yogurt and ice cream and went home and watched movies.  The tooth fairy came and left a note and $2.50 since it was so traumatic.  The extracted teeth only had half of each root dissolved, so the teeth looked pretty crazy.  They definitely were not coming out on their own - at least not for a long time.  So, now, we have a cute little half toothless smile (the adult teeth are already coming in, so it's not quite toothless on the bottom).  And hopefully all the rest of the teeth come out on their own or this will be one expensive child!

The other big event around here is soccer.  Andrew is really loving it.  He has practice once a week on a weeknight and then has a game each Saturday.  Starting this week, he will have a game during the weeknight instead of the practice.  Last week, the game and practice were cancelled because it poured rain all week long.  Andrew was so disappointed.  The boys love to practice on our backyard soccer field every day with Dad and with me and with friends.  Andrew is not the fastest or the most skilled, but he puts a lot into it and plays pretty well.  He mostly needs to kick harder and run a little faster - he is good at passing and being a teammate.  He also enjoys playing goalie.

Andrew is starting to get faster and more proficient at writing, so homework time is going faster.  He/me/we is somewhat sporadic on piano, but he is gradually learning how to play.  It's hard to get piano practice and homework time in there and chores and play every night.  Wow.  Andrew is very diligent about his homework, though, and always makes sure it is done.  He is doing well, I think.  He has gotten a 100 on each spelling test and is pretty proud.  His teacher gives them "Dojo points" when they behave or turn in homework or do well on spelling tests.  They also get negative points if they misbehave.  Andrew has like 70 or 80 points.  Some of the kids in his class have negative cumulative points which kind of cracks me up.  How does that happen?  Anyways, he seems to be doing well.

At the beginning of the year, Andrew was really having trouble getting ready for school on time.  It doesn't matter what time he wakes up, he is just pretty slow, so he is always running late and the walking school bus is just getting to the bus stop or waiting for him when he gets there.  But, we have been doing some point systems with him (somewhat sporadically - I am just so bad at being consistent at some things) and he has been getting better.  He really seems to enjoy the walking school bus.  And I've been realizing how nice it really is - the school bus was cancelled almost every day this week because of the rain, so we have been having to go to school each day to pick him up and waking up Logan and boy is it nice when we can just stay home.

Andrew is really starting to feel more like an elementary school kid and less like a little kid.  He is getting more independent and is thinking more logically.  It's an exciting time.

Fun Things This Month

• Soccer, soccer, soccer
• Lots of people over for dinner - playing with friends at our house.
• School pictures ... wish I had a digital copy.  They turned out cute.
• Teeth extraction
• General Conference - the boys really really look forward to this

Honestly, we haven't been doing as many "fun" things lately, because it is so fun to just be at our house!

Logan is 23 months old!

Almost 2.  And wow - so exhausting.  Logan is in an intense Mommy Mommy Mommy phase.  I am slowly losing my mind ... just kidding ... almost.  He only wants me to put him to bed, wakes up screaming for me at night, comes and find me first thing in the morning (if I'm not already sleeping with him) and basically wants to be held or climb on me or play with me or cook with me or clean with me or otherwise be with me ... all day long!  I am seriously the apple of his eye.  It's like intense love.

Otherwise, Logan is doing well.  He loves sports.  He really enjoys going to the boys soccer games and playing soccer with them.  He loves to play basketball and baseball.  He loves throwing balls.  Alright, let's be honest - he loves to throw anything.  He loves the sandbox.  He loves to dig.  He loves to garden and help with gardening things.

Logan likes to build trains.  He likes to take "guns" the boys made and shoot me with them.  He's got that sounds down pat.  He likes to play monsters.  He likes to play with the toy kitchen.  He loves to look at books, most especially anything Thomas and I think he is starting to love Dora.  He LOVES Pete the Cat intensely and now that he knows they are on the computer, he likes to listen to the songs or watch the little videos on the publisher's website.

Logan loves to help.  He likes to put things back where they go.  He is the most consistent child at taking his dishes to the sink (or more likely, to me) when he is done eating.  He likes to spray things, to clean, to vacuum, to dust.  He likes to help with laundry, especially when it means taking away the laundry balls and throwing them behind the laundry machine or hiding them from me.

He likes to hide in the pantry.  He loves to pick out all the food he likes to eat and rearrange the cans.  He loves to eat canned oranges and macaroni and cheese and can eat massive quantities of both.  He loves blueberries, strawberries, apples, grapes, bananas, cheese.  Cheese.  Cookies.  Chips.

He is talking more.  He is learning all kinds of interesting words.  Like skull.  Or acorn.  He loves Halloween.  He gets excited about each new decoration he sees and loves to point them all out and play with them.  He is excited about trick or treating and can say treat.  He still probably is not on track for speaking for his age, but we'll see what they say at his well visit next month.

Logan loves to play outside.  He loves to pick Andrew up from the walking school bus.  He loves to go to bed at night and often tells us when he's ready to go to bed, although he's often restless and hard to put down at night.

Logan is going happily to Play Date and to nursery.  Last couple weeks, he has walked in holding Seth's hand and is pretty happy.  He has a lot of fun at both.  I'm happy to see that he is starting to willingly separate from me ... if only for an hour or two.

Fun Things This Month

• Lots of soccer practices and games.
• Being sick ... stomach flu which lasted FOREVER.
• Getting donuts at Krispy Kreme for talk like a pirate day.
• Dinner parties.
• New climbing structure and trees for the back yard.

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.