Take Your Kid to Work Day and Carson Likes to Feed Himself

Since Miles is out of school and his summer program hasn't started yet, that means 2.5 days at work with dad. Thankfully, Miles can occupy himself and Darrin isn't very busy right now. Darrin didn't let him take any electronics to work today. It's amazing how much better his behavior is without them and he even enjoys things like reading when the tablet and Kindle aren't options. My mom bought him a Hardy Boys book and he's on chapter six.

He found some time to email me a few times at work. 

One of his emails said, "I love my mom so much she feeds me she helps me she is amazing I love my mom so much!!"

Carson's summer program started this week. Summer program means they provide food. He loves table food. His teacher sent me this picture the first day and said that he made a happy plate.

We've been feeding him a combination of baby food and table food at home for a while. He likes it, but he most definitely does not enjoy the small bites. Taking a cue from daycare, we decided to let him feed himself.

It is much messier that way, but he doesn't scream and cry the whole time, so the mess is totally worth it.

Last Day of School

The first day of 1st grade...

The last day of 1st grade...

It's been a great year with this class. Lots of friends and very involved parents.

Mrs. April was the best teacher imaginable. I sent the principal an email to brag on her. Here's an excerpt to remember why we loved her so much..."She is strict without being mean, she is an excellent communicator, she balances learning with fun, she involves parents at a good level, and she gives very little homework. I appreciate that she requires order in her classroom, but still allows them to be kids."

Miles has made several very good friends since we've moved to Medina, but few that he's connected with like this one, Mason. I am so glad that they met in Mrs. April's class. They aren't always the best for each other's behavior, but they are both good kids and they love hanging out in class and after school. They tell everyone that they are brothers, but that their mom got confused at the hospital and messed up their last names. I text his mom to tell her the story and said, "so basically one of us is stupid." :)

Miles seems to find one girl each year and crush hard all year. This year it was this one, Annalise Friend. Regardless of the crush, they seem like genuinely good friends. Her mom said that she isn't as girly as other girls and I say that Miles isn't as rough as other boys, so it seems like a perfect match. They always picked the other one to partner with during classwork and to sit beside whenever possible. Miles will miss her.

 Will and Zach were also good friends from his class. They play baseball together too.

Owen, Miles, and Gaige were in class together last year and this year.

After the half day today, Miles went home with these boys to play. Nate and Tyler weren't in the same class with Miles this year, but they were all friends last year and play baseball together now. They were a rowdy bunch after sugar highs from class parties combined with the excitement of the last day of school. I felt so sorry for Tyler's mom as they were walking to her car.

This year has flown by. Miles has learned so much. He reads so well, but loves math even more. He can add double digit numbers in his head and can easily spout off answers to any multiplication question. We are amazed at what he has learned in math. He has been able to work ahead of the class by spending his computer time playing a program called Moby Max, which is another thing that is amazing about his teacher. School is breeze to him, which I don't take for granted. His favorite thing about school is P.E. He also loves math and music. He's going to spend his summer at the summer program offered by the after school program. He's not excited about it, but I have high hopes. They have a lot of fun activities planned, and Mason will be there, so it's destined to be fun!

Last Minute Trip to the Zoo

We decided very spur of the moment to go to the zoo on Sunday. It seemed like a great day to show Carson one of our favorite places. It also seemed like a perfect day for their Big Bro, Lil Bro shirts.

 

We love the Memphis zoo. So clean and so many animals. It's nice that it's just a little over an hour from our house now.

 

As we were walking in Miles said, "It's so fun having Carson here with us." He enjoys every moment with Carson. It's amazing to watch.

 

It was a perfect day at the zoo. The weather was beautiful and the animals were all active. Sometimes zoos are hit or miss. It seemed like everywhere we went the animals were doing something fun.

 

The meerkats are always one of our favorite stops. 

 

Carson and I decided to sit out of the bats and snakes. I wouldn't want him to be scared or anything...

About an hour into our day, the front wheel fell off the stroller. I bought this gem from Bargain Hunt and it's been a real 'bargain' since we got it. I really like it when it works correctly. Unfortunately that isn't often. Darrin kept his cool and used his handy dandy pocket knife to fix it. I don't what I would have done if I was by myself. We probably would have come home stroller-less.

We let Miles have a Mt Dew all to himself and it might have been the highlight of his day. I think Pepsi needs to pay us for this product placement :)

Carson was such a trooper. He was a little bit of a challenge on the way home but only b/c he was overly tired. Since this experience, we have booked a hotel midway to the beach. Know your limits!

A grizzly bear took off running and belly flopped into the water in front of us. Then, we got to watch him play in it for at least 15 minutes.

This chimp put on a show for us too. He was so close that even Carson could see him.

They were feeding the penguins right as we walked up. I know Darrin would never let anything happen to our boys, but letting Carson sit on the rail made me a nervous wreck. It felt like Michael Jackson dangling his baby over the balcony.

On our way out, the boys played in the water. We learned on our first zoo trip with Miles to just let him wear swimming trunks. It's the perfect ending to a day at the zoo. They have redone all the wadding areas and it is really nice. Carson was apprehensive at first, but then splashed his little heart out. 

His humor cracks me up.

This is what it finally took for Carson to fall asleep on the way home. I didn't have a blanket, so those are all the extra clothes that were in his diaper bag. 

You know it's bad if I'm sitting in the back seat.

We couldn't have asked for a better day at the zoo!

Tough Loss

Miles' city league season came to an abrupt end tonight. They finished 3rd during the season and got put out in the first game of the tournament. It just wasn't their night and the other team did a good job of hanging in there.

Miles threw two kids out from third to first and also tagged a kid out at third. But, he also had some rough throws that cost several runs. As Darrin says, that's how they learn.

He made some great, new friends from this team and this is one of them. He and Lucas really hit it off. I think their temperaments were similar. We enjoyed getting to know him and his parents.

We are fortunate that we still get to play travel ball every weekend in June. I felt so badly for the kids whose season ended short tonight.

Granny & Pa came to support and encourage after a sad loss. Miles still has some learning and growing to do regarding competition. I think it's normal, but for now he is still more concerned about his individual performance. If he has it in him, I think maturity and experience will develop his competitive spirit. After the game, he walked up to me and said, "That sucks." I said, "Yes it does. Don't say that again."

It's funny, b/c I haven't enjoyed city league very much. The competition has been very uneven. We either win big or lose big. Obviously finishing as the 3rd seed means that we won big more often than not. It's ironic that we got put out by a 6th seed tonight. I hope it is a good lesson to our boys that any team can beat you on any night, and when you are the underdog that you can never give up.

Less Words Wednesday

It's official. Our kids look nothing alike.

After seeing these pictures, and realizing that Miles has a heart shaped face, we've started calling Carson Baby Round Face or BRF.

Happy Mother's Day

It's been a great Mother's Day weekend. It's been a busy and full weekend as they always are. My mom spent the weekend with us. Today, we had baby dedication and then went to Darrin's sister's house to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom and my mother-in-law. We had a great meal and then relaxed by her pool. It was such a nice afternoon. I'm going to drop in all the pics from our weekend. Mother's Day is always special, but today was extra special b/c I got to celebrate being the mom of two boys, something I thought would never happen.