Coach Pitch Baseball

Liam's favorite sport so far has got to be baseball.

He likes batting and playing first base. He likes first base because "everyone has to throw to first after they catch the ball" which means he gets to try to catch the ball every single time.

Liam had a great season with the same coach he has had for the past 3 years. Coach Sam is really great with all of the kids. He is very encouraging and great at giving instruction. He had practice every Monday and Wednesday and then for the last three weeks he also had games on Friday nights. 

We even scored some nice baseball cleats at a garage sale for $1. Liam loved wearing them for practices and even just playing in the yard.

Overall, Liam had a lot of fun and is very sad that the season is over.

Evan and I loved watching him play. Caroline loved that his practices were right next to the splash pad and playground. Lucy loved that mom was on the blanket right next to her so she could climb all over me. Liam loved hitting line drives right at the coach. Which he did on two separate occasions. 

His last game was moved to an indoor gym due to the heat index which we all appreciated, especially Lucy. Who discovered the stairs that we were sitting on and that she climbed for the last half of the game.

7 months and 8 months

Since I never got around to writing a post when Lucy turned 7 months I decided to combine these last two months together.

The biggest change for Lucy in the last couple of months is that she started crawling. At about 7 months and one week Lucy took off and hasn't stopped since. After about two weeks of crawling she began to pull herself up to a stand on anything she could. Furniture, people, the dog, toys; it really doesn't matter she is strong and nothing is going to get in her way.

We have been continuing to introduce solid foods and things that she wasn't interested in before she has now accepted. She really likes Puffs and has started grabbing the spoon as well while we feed her. Most recently we introduced oatmeal and she is not a fan. Screaming and crying hates it.

Sleep has been a challenge this past month. Lucy has been waking up every 3-4 hours for several weeks. I feel like her top two teeth have got to be playing a role in this new awakening. She used to be such a great sleeper. We even tried to start sleep training because I am so exhausted. That didn't really work and after 40 minutes of crying I gave up and just nursed her. Not ideal. Last night I walked in to feed her and she was standing up in her crib, crying for me. 

She still takes two naps during the day and goes to bed at about 7:30 pm. Lucy is very go with the flow so even if I have to wake her up in the middle of her nap or delay getting her down she doesn't get very fussy.

Since learning how to crawl she has decided that if she sees me in a room she needs to be next to me. This results in her crawling over to me and then trying to climb up my legs to get to me. If I try to run away from her she is not happy about it.

At Liam's last baseball game we had to be inside due to the heat. We decided to sit on these stairs that were  on one side of the gym. Lucy was very happy just playing on the floor in front of us and then decided, "This looks fun!" So, yeah now we can also add climbing stairs to her checked list of things she can do. 

She likes waving her arm up and down as well. I'm not sure if she is waving hello or if she's just having a good time but it's definitely something new.

We still don't have any words or even sounds that we can relate to anything. But she does love to "chat". Many times in the car she will talk to herself, very loudly.

Also something that is new within the last week is her ability to turn pages in her books. Her favorite book right now is her Peek-a-boo book and she loves opening and shutting the page to hide the toy.

Lucy makes the cutest little face sporadically. Here's proof:

I can't believe how in just the last month she has changed so much. Slow down Lucy!

My 3 year old

Happy Birthday Caroline! 

Caroline is 25 pounds and just shy of 36 inches tall. She is beginning to wear 3T shirts and still wears 2T pants.

She is smart, she is feisty, she is stubborn and man alive she loves her sweets. 

Caroline at 3 years old likes playing with her Calico Critters, likes to color and play with her baby dolls. She enjoys play doh and bubbles and will happily play with Liam if he allows her to. She currently likes to color on herself or any scrap piece of paper she can find. She can count confidently up to 12 and needs help after that to 20. She knows her ABC's but leaves out TUV. She knows her name starts with a C and can write the letters C and T.

Caroline is really getting into the princesses and likes to watch princess songs on YouTube. Her favorite princesses are Ariel, Elsa and Aurora. She likes it when I sing the princess songs to her as well. She loves to play dress up right now as well. Again, Elsa and Ariel are her favorite costumes.

Caroline loves having a baby sister and giving her lots of love. Sometimes her hugs are a bit too rough and often times she tries to lay on top of Lucy but her heart is in the right place. When she wakes up in the morning she always tries to find Lucy and gets so excited when she sees her. It's very cute. She loves to bring Lucy baby toys and help me when its time to change her diaper. She is a great big sister.

She is very good at entertaining herself. Often times if I am busy with the other kids or trying to do chores she will play by herself. She likes to follow me around the house and be close to me but doesn't get upset if I'm not playing with her. 

Her lack of sleep does not seem to bother her. She has mostly given up her naptime although we do try to still have her do quiet time. Most of the time that is not quiet though as she will continue to try to get out of bed the entire time. At bedtime even though she is in bed by 8 pm she will happily sing and talk to herself sometimes until 9:30 pm. She often hears, "GO TO SLEEP!"

If Caroline is misbehaving we have found the warning of taking away desserts is the most effective punishment. She LOVES her desserts!

Caroline likes the colors purple and pink, loves to wear dresses and is not a fan of bugs. In fact she really doesn't like bugs. She loves to paint her nails and put on chapstick. She also likes to carry a backpack or purse around the house. She is definitely a girly girl.

She enjoys playing with Liam and if he allows her to they play quite nicely together. If Liam decides he wants to be mean or wants to try to get her in trouble then he likes to get in her face or push her against the sofa or sit on top of her. He's a true big brother. But I also don't want to make it sounds like she is the innocent one. She knows that if she is doing something that annoys him if she keeps doing it and he gets mad enough he will get in trouble. She's sneaky that one.

Caroline will watch some TV and movies but is not drawn to the screen as much as Liam is. Movies she is really into are Frozen, Strawberry Shortcake, Sarah and Duck, My Little Pony and Spirit.

She had a great birthday party that was once again at McGraw Park's splash pad. The kids got to play in the water, ate cupcakes and we even got to break open a piñata. She got some very fun presents but mostly just loved running around with her cousins.

We are so excited to see what this 3 year old has in store for us over the next year. We love you Sweet Caroline!

These kids say the darndest things

Tonight Caroline wanted to pray before bedtime, enjoy.

C: Dear God, pray that I have swimming lessons tomorrow. I pray that Briggs doesn't drink all the water.

L: What!?!

E: Liam! Caroline can pray for whatever she wants. Don't judge her prayer.

L: But that was a really weird prayer.


The other day I registered Liam for school online.

M: Hey Liam, just so you know I registered you for school! I don't know who your teacher will be and I don't know which of your friends will be in your class but I'm just letting you know.

L: Ok.
(a few minutes go by)
Hey Mom, I hope I'm not in the Spanish class.

M: Uh, yeah dude. I don't think that's going to happen considering you have to speak Spanish in order to be in the Spanish class. (there was one kindergarten English to Second Language class last year)

A week ago.

M: Caroline, come back up on the sidewalk! You're too close to the street!

C: Yeah, there's no doctors in this town. I better not go in the street. Those cars will run me right over.

This had Evan and I dying of laughter but she got that statement from me while we were in Michigan. She was running away from me and I kept telling her to stop and wait. At the last inch of the sidewalk she finally stopped and I had to warn her that there are no doctors in the town and that cars don't see little kids and she will get hurt. At least she remembered what I said.

Interview with a 3 year old

What is your favorite color? Purple
What is your favorite food? Cookies
What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Blocks
What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Play with Blocks
What is your favorite thing to do with Liam? Play fighting running game
What is your favorite thing to do with Lucy? Play with doctor kit
What is your favorite movie/TV show? Frozen
Who is your favorite princess? Ariel. Nope Elsa. She's a princess.
Where is your favorite place to go? McDonald's. That's a place.
What is your favorite animal? Giraffe
What is your favorite toy to play with? Baby Dolls
What is the best thing about being a big sister? I like to lay on her

Butters

Good ol' Butters. At 8 1/2 years old Butters is very content sleeping on the couch, eating lots of food (whether that is her own food or the kids food) and being left alone. She is approaching senior citizen status but yet continues to be the best family dog; always letting the kids climb all over her and being a good sport if they try to play with her.

Once upon a time, when she was just a puppy and Evan and I had all the time in the world (before children) I took Butters to obedience training at a kennel club here in town. We started in the puppy class and worked our way up to the advanced level. Butters was a very good student as long as I had a treat in my hand or pocket. Classes were always slightly stressful as there were usually 8-10 other dogs there and since she was a goofy puppy she assumed that class time was playtime. Most of the time she would try to meet or play with the other dogs which really wasn't encouraged and most of the time she would then get mad that I wouldn't let her run around and be free. She was a challenge to this new dog owner in every way.

I recently ran into one of her teachers of the puppy class and reintroduced myself. I told her it had been six or seven years since we were in her class but that we had a yellow lab, well more white in color and....that was it. That's all I had to say because she said, "Butter??? I remember Butter! I always wondered what happened to Butter." I was sure it was due to her bad behavior with me that she remembered our crazy lab but I was wrong.  I reminded her that she always used to pick Butters for her demonstrations of the new trick and I was sure that it was because they were hoping that she would be a goofy puppy so they could show the class how to correct their dog when they misbehaved. She immediately corrected me by saying, "We always picked Butters because she was the smartest one in the class! She always did what we said and made us look really good."

I was shocked. After all of these years I never knew.  I really need to give her more credit for being such a smart, good dog.

The mind of an almost 3 year old

Caroline is now getting to that stage of saying really funny things.

The other day after numerous potty accidents I, out of frustration, told her how disappointed I was in her for not keeping her undies dry. She looked at me and said, "I like peeing in my underwear."

In Sunday School at church during their lesson she interrupted the teacher to tell her that "we are out of cottage cheese at my house. Cottage cheese is white like little clouds."

She currently tries to tattle on Liam as much as possible but has not figured out that Liam actually has to do the thing she is trying to get him in trouble for.

Many times I will call her "baby girl" to which she always replies, "I'm not your baby girl! I'm Daddy's baby girl!"

The other day she asked us if she could punch Lucy. Carefully. We said no.

It was nice of her to ask though.