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!

Big Kid in a Big Carseat

I put Grayson's new carseat in yesterday.  He is usually not happy in the car so I was hoping if he was sitting up more and able to see more that he might be happier.  So far, no luck :(

We bought Grayson a new Britax Marathon.  The older boys also had Marathons but they were about to expire so we had to get a new one.  The new one is super fancy compared to what we had before.  Grayson might not love it but I'm a fan :)

Nashville Sounds Game

Brian's company had their annual summer family day at a Nashville Sounds game this year.  We got to sit on the berm in the outfield to watch the game and dinner was provided.

It was a hot evening - we've been in the mid-90s all week - but it got better once the sun went down.  We love the new stadium and enjoyed getting to hangout at the game.

Smith Park

My dad is staying with us this week.  This morning the boys and I took him for a hike at Marcella Vivrette Smith Park which is the new park just a couple of miles from our house.

We did the black trail this time which was just over 2 miles round trip.  The trail goes up to a ridge line next to a pair of water towers.

The trail was in better shape (drier) than the last time we hiked there.

Grayson took a nap the second half of the hike - he slept hard!

We are so glad we have such a large park so close to the house where we can get out and hike!

Cow Appreciation Day

We'll do anything for free Chick-fil-A chicken :)

Note: the boys are "moo-ing" in this picture - they were really excited, not mad like they look in the picture.