First Hit

Rylan had his first hit of the season (not off the tee) at his game last night.  It was a pretty good one too!

He's really been struggling on his timing at practice and games (he does better at home).  We'll keep practicing though!

1st Grade Orientation

Grayson and I went to 1st grade orientation last night while Brian took the older boys to Rylan's baseball game.  Orientation is just a chance for us to meet the teacher and for her to go over her goals and expectations for the kids this year.

Mrs. Hess seems really nice.  She's a little soft spoken but seems to have plenty of experience and enthusiasm.  She had each of the kids write a little note for their parents.

"Dear Mom and Dad,

I like 1st grade. My favorite thing so far is centers.  My favorite center is computers.

Love, Carter"

There are lots of goals for the year but there are three measurable goals they want each child to achieve:

1. Read 62 words in one minute.
2. Type 10 words in one minute.
3. Within 3 seconds, recall all addition and subtraction facts for 0 to 10.

I'm most skeptical of the typing goal but we'll see!

Rylan - The Bats

Rylan had his first baseball game of the season last night.  We moved him up to the 6 year old division this season (he actually misses the cutoff for this by a couple of months but I couldn't handle another season in the 4/5 year old division).  Brian is an assistant coach on his team (he considered head coaching but he already is the head coach for both boys' soccer teams and there would just be too much overlap on Saturdays).

This season all the teams are named after Minor League teams.  Rylan is on the Louisville Bats.  So he is purple again this season (he was on the Colorado Rockies last season).

Rylan's team played two innings last night.  Rylan played 2nd base the first inning and center field the second inning.  Unfortunately nothing was hit to him so Rylan didn't have any plays in the field.  He's also off with his timing for hitting right now and ended up having to hit off the tee both of his times at bat (his league still plays 5 pitches from a coach and then hit off the tee).

Rylan has another game tomorrow night.  Go, Bats!

Charlotte

Charlotte had her annual checkup last week.  She is doing great - especially for being over 10 years old.  The vet recommended that we have her teeth cleaned. Also she had a small growth on one of her eyelids that he was worried might get bigger and wanted to remove at the same time.

So, I dropped Charlotte off Monday morning for the procedures.  They had to knock her out so she was at the vet most of the day.  When I picked her up, she was VERY out of it.  And the poor girl has to wear a cone so she doesn't scratch at her stitches!

Charlotte does not tolerate us putting any sort of clothes or hats or anything other than a collar on her.  So she hated the cone at first.  She refused to do anything (plus it took her until the next morning to start acting somewhat normal again).  She's doing better now but she runs into everything still with that cone.  It's so bent out of shape!  Plus she's taken Grayson out a few times with it :)

Baby Playdate

While the big boys were at school today, I had a playdate for Grayson at our house.  Suzy, Missy, and Jen brought their younger ones over (the babies and the ones who are still in preschool).

In our little group of friends, five of us have had (or adopted) babies in the last 18 months.  Grayson is the only boy.

Today he hung with one of his girlfriends (Suzy's youngest, Jessie) at the water table :)

Jessie is about 2 1/2 months older than Gray.

Grayson LOVED the water table and spent probably an hour at it total today.

And somehow he even stayed almost completely dry!

Try Boro Kids Triathlon

Carter did another triathlon Saturday morning.  This one was the Try Boro Kids Triathlon in Murfreesboro.  Because Rylan had baseball practice Saturday morning, it was just Carter, Grayson, and me this time.

Carter with our neighbors Emory & Cade (they are twins and also in first grade):

  

This triathlon had a longer swim but the other parts were comparable to the one he did a week ago.  For Carter's age group, they had a 100 yard swim, 2.5 mile bike, and 0.5 mile run.  On our way to the race area from our car, Carter was riding his bike and his pedal fell off.  I knew I could screw it back on but I didn't have a wrench and this race didn't have a bike crew on site.  So I only hand-tightened the pedal and hoped that it would be fine for 2.5 miles.  I also sliced my thumb open on a sharp place on the bike welding while doing it and wasn't thinking straight as blood was pouring out of my thumb.

Well, the pedal apparently didn't make it.

Carter did a great job on the swim considering it was 4 lengths of the pool (he does just one length at swim team meets).  I watched Carter in the transition and he did fine except for a volunteer that was trying to help him who actually slowed  him down because she kept handing him things he didn't need and talking to him.  The bike seemed to take him a long time but I blamed it on the fact that he's still riding a 16" bike (he really needs a 20").  He zoomed through the transition the second time and was back from him run really quick.

And he's off!!!:

Getting out of the pool after a long 4 laps:

Here comes Carter finishing up the bike leg:

Running his bike into the transition area:

Heading out for the run ("I don't need any water!!!"):

Finishing the run:

Crossing the finish line:

When I found Carter after the race he immediately told me his pedal fell off during the bike leg - DOH!!!  I felt so bad.  He said that he took his bike and pedal to a volunteer who put it back on for him.  Carter said it didn't take long but it definitely added some time.  I regretted not finding someone with a wrench but there was nothing I could do about it.  Carter was still happy and not upset at all.

For the awards, this race separated out the kids that had done only one or zero triathlons before into a beginner category.  Carter fell into this group and placed 6th out of 10 in the 7 year old boys.  Here are his splits (in minutes:seconds):

Swim - 3:49
Transition 1 - 2:14
Bike - 14:25
Transition 2 - 0:40
Run - 4:17

Total Time - 25:22

Next year Carter will have a better bike and I'll bring a bike tool (I did have a pump in the car though!).

Entertainment

Rylan is back at Crockett Elementary for speech therapy this year.  He is going twice a week from 2:30 to 3pm (he is done with his kindergarten program at 2pm each day).  Ms. Rholanda was so over-worked last year that the program finally hired a second therapist.  Now Ms. Rholanda is only doing evaluations and Mary Katherine is doing therapy.

Rylan had his first sessions of the school year today.  He is with another little boy named Seth who is doing 45 minute sessions on the same days.  Rylan said he really likes Mary Katherine.  He said she looks like a teenager (she is very petite and very young looking)!  I think he especially liked her because he got to choose something from the treasure box at the end of his session (this is something new this year).

Grayson and I are looking forward to lots of time in the school lobby (not really)!  Today Grayson was entertaining himself with a plastic orange for a few minutes (you could probably hear him all over the school!).

I think we may start going for a short run during Rylan's sessions while the weather is still warm!

Secret Project

Brian and the boys have been working on a project in our backyard this summer.  We can't wait until it's done!

Brentwood Library

We spend a lot of time at this awesome library.

On Monday, Carter participated in the READing Paws program and read to Lily (the dog) for 15 minutes.

It was great practice to read out loud to someone other than me.

Yesterday both Carter and Rylan did the After School Explorers program, which is like a storytime program for K-2.  It's a dropoff program so I was able to take Grayson for a run on the greenway during it.  This was my first time using the single BOB with Grayson (I had been using the double because it's the only one we have the carseat adaptor on).  He passed out pretty quick :)

Nolensville Kids Triathlon

Carter completed his first triathlon this morning - the Nolensville Kids Triathlon.  Carter's age group, 5-7 year olds (Carter was considered a 7 year old because age groups are based on your age on 12/31), did a 50 yard swim, 2.5 mile bike, and 0.7 mile run.

Carter all ready with his number written on his arms and leg and his timing chip around his ankle ...

Hanging with Grayson while he waited for his age to go ...

The race was at the Nolensville Rec Center (which is where we would go swimming most of the time this summer).

Carter waiting to jump in the pool for the swim (he's fourth in line here) ...

Go, Carter!!!

Since the swim was 50 yards, the kids had to swim the length of the pool, go under the lane line, and swim back in the next lane.

Carter running from the pool deck to the transition area ...

Carter did AMAZING in the transition.  We've never practiced transitioning and he was one of the fastest kids in his age group.

Getting on his shoes ...

And helmet ...

Carter ran his bike out of the transition area and hopped on quickly.

 

We felt like Carter was gone forever on the bike section.  But then we remembered his itty bitty 16" bike was probably a big disadvantage compared to the mostly 20" bikes all the other kids in his age group were riding.  We've wanted to go up a size but I just don't know what we want for him (especially if we want gears or not).

Returning from the bike portion ...

 

Carter was quick through the transition again.  He had to take off his helmet and put his number on (he borrowed my belt).

I wasn't able to see much of Carter's run but here he is coming into the finish line ...

We are super proud of how amazing Carter did in his first triathlon.  He placed 7th out of 17 boys in the 7 year old age group.  Which is great considering the competition - there were a ridiculous number of kids with parents wearing ironman gear.  And a lot of them had expensive gear as well.

Here are Carter's splits (in min:seconds) ...

Swim - 1:42
Transition 1 - 1:16
Bike - 13:49
Transition 2 - 0:37
Run - 5:55

Total Time - 23:20

Carter also got a really cool finishers medal to add to his growing collection.  Way to go, Carter!!!

Beach Trip - Baby Pool

This was the best thing I packed on our beach trip ...

I'd blow up the pool when we got to the beach each day and then put several buckets of ocean water in it.

We were able to keep Grayson out of the sand (like most babies, he'd play in it, get it all over his hands, wipe it in his eyes and in his mouth, and eventually get mad).  And we could keep him cool.  It also meant we didn't have to be holding him for a bit.  Rylan liked to get in the little pool with him too so we'd also get a break from sitting right next to him in case he did a face plant into the water.

Williamson County Fair

Brian gave the boys $5 to play the fish bowl game at the fair on Wednesday night.

Another $30 and we now have a home for five goldfish!

Beach Trip - Charlie's Donuts

Two mornings we drove the mile down the road to Alys Beach to get donuts from Charlie's Donuts (a permanent food truck set up near the amphitheater).  The first time we were there we ran into one of the boys' on Rylan's soccer team.  Also, one of Rylan's preschool friends was renting a house in the same little neighborhood as us.  Small world!

The donuts were yummy!!!

We also walked down to the playground one morning to burn off some of the donuts.  Unfortunately the old playground had been torn down to make a larger parking lot for the coffee shop but there were some new swings that Grayson enjoyed.

Beach Trip - Naps

I really need to start posting pictures from our beach trip!  So I'm going to just do short posts to start getting them up!

Grayson took most of his naps on the beach.  Generally we went down to the beach twice a day right before Grayson would need a nap.  I'd hold him in the cool water and get him to doze off and then lay him down in the tent where he'd sleep for 30 to 60 minutes.

This worked so much better than one of us having to stay at the house while Grayson napped.  Child number three rarely gets a good nap in a crib :)

Brothers

First Day of 1st Grade

We officially have a first grader!!!

I couldn't pull many details out of Carter after school today (it was half day), but he says he likes his teacher.  Hopefully I'll get more out of him next week :)

Snoopy Day

This year Rylan will be attending Otter Creek Kindergarten.  This was our solution to not knowing if Rylan was ready or not for regular kindergarten.  It is very normal to hold back summer birthdays in our area.  More kids are held back than go on to kindergarten.  I know several kids with March birthdays that have been held back even though there is no reason other than the parent just wants school to be easier for them.  And that is why I am hesitant on sending Rylan.  Rylan could easily be the youngest child in his class if he went on to public kindergarten.  And since Rylan still has speech issues and can be immature, stubborn, and easily frustrated when he's not perfect at something, I felt like he might struggle.

Otter Creek is a church that has a preschool as well as a kindergarten.  The kindergarten program is 5 days a week from 9 am to 2 pm.  It is private but meets all of Williamson County's requirements for kindergarten.  According to the director, about half the kids will continue on to first grade and half will do kindergarten in a regular program.

Today the kindergarteners had Snoopy Day.  They got to visit their classroom and teacher while we met with the director.  Then they went outside while we met with their teacher.  There are two kindergarten classes and Rylan has Mrs. Melissa.  I LOVE HER!!!  She is so nice, has a ton of energy, has been teaching kindergarten for around 25 years (she seems so young though!), and seemed very on top of everything.

Rylan loves her too.  He doesn't know anyone in his class but is already making friends.  I know one boy because he is the son of Rylan's speech teacher from the last 2 years.  Rylan is excited to go back on Monday which is great because I know he was a little nervous earlier in the week.

I'm looking forward to a GREAT year!!!

End of Summer

Already ...

Carter starts 1st grade tomorrow.  Tonight he got to meet his teacher.  We only spoke to her briefly, but she seems very nice.

Carter has 4 kids in his class from last year - 3 girls and 1 boy.  He's pretty good friends with Ian (who is a really, really good kid) so I'm glad they got put together.  He's sitting next to Laney from last year's class. She was the one involved in the kissing incident in the cafeteria with Carter last year - could be an interesting year :)

Grayon's 9 Month Checkup

Grayson had his 9 month checkup today.  It was an uneventful appointment which is always good.  Grayson still runs a higher temperature than normal.  I don't take his temperature often anymore, but when I do, it's usually 100.4 F.  Grayson's bloodwork still looks normal so we are continuing to assume he just runs high.

Here are Grayson's current measurements and others for comparison ...

Grayson's 9 month stats: 

• Weight: 22 lbs, 5 oz (88th percentile) 
• Length: 28.25 inches (45th percentile) 
• Head Circumference: 48.5 cm (99.7th percentile) 

Grayson's 6 month stats: 

• Weight: 20 lbs, 13 oz (95th percentile) 
• Length: 26.75 inches (56th percentile) 
• Head Circumference: 46.3 cm (99th percentile) 

Rylan's 9 month stats:

• Weight: 23 lbs, 14.5 oz (90-95th percentile)
• Length: 28.25 inches (50-75th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 19 inches (>95th percentile)

Carter's 9 month stats:

• Weight: 17 lbs, 6 oz (7th percentile)
• Height: 27.5 inches (23rd percentile)
• Head Circumference: 46.8 cm (87th percentile)

It's crazy to see how tiny Carter was compared to the other two boys!!!

Grayson Vidoes

Grayson's unique crawl (all of our kids have crawled completely differently) ...

Grayson's new trick that is requiring me to move him across the house every 30 seconds so he can do this again ...

We're Home

We got back this afternoon from a week at Seacrest.  This little man enjoyed his first trip to the beach!

More to come soon!