Soccer

Nolan's first soccer season is now complete.  The season started off a little rocky with canceled games due to rain and then a forfeit but finally they got to play.  The last game of the season almost got canceled too due to a forfeit but luckily another MDUMC team that was going to be playing at the same time let our team join up with them.  Nolan did pretty well.  He scored one goal and had several others that missed the goal by mere inches.  There were times that he was very into the game and played really well and then there were other times that he was being too silly to really pay attention.  Unfortunately he got a little bit of a reputation from the coaches for getting hurt and crying.  There were a few times that he had to be carted off the field due to injury (never truly hurt though).  Luckily, for the most part, he would dust himself off and get back in the game though.

His team was named the Sharp Shooters.  There were 9 boys and 2 girls.  Three of the boys were in his Pre-k class at Nottingham and a few others will be in kindergarten with him next year.  Coach David is a high school soccer coach so he knew what he was doing!  At the end of the season we had a little party at the soccer field and everyone got trophy's!  Coach David said he would love to try and have the same team next year if people were interested.

Team pictures were taken at one point during the season.  Nolan was being silly/stinker and stuck his tongue out during individual pictures.  We did get one where he was smiling but they also gave us the tongue picture...it is a real keeper!

Nolan's "professional" picture. 

5 Months

Two weeks ago Grant turned 5 months old!  Hard to believe he is almost 1/2 a year old!  He is such a happy guy.  He is pretty chill in general.  He loves watching his brothers.  The other day Nolan told him the story of the 3 pigs and his face just lit up!

He is still chewing on everything in site but so far I do not feel a tooth.  I looked in both Nolan and Henry's baby books and they both got their first tooth in the 5 month period.  I guess it is just a matter of time!

We decided to try some food on his 5-month birthday.  He hated it!  I know the other two were a little skeptical of their first food but they did not react the way Grant did.  He was full on crying and making faces.  I have been so torn as to whether we should wait a few weeks or just keep trying.  So far we have decided to just keep trying but we take several days off between each try.  I finally Googled it and from what I could find that was the same advice.  I tried making some sweet potatoes but he made the same stinky face then we tried some banana and the same face.  Finally last night I made some butternut squash and he had minor success!  He did not eat a ton and probably most of it ended up on his clothes but he did not scream and cry.  Maybe it was the fact that he sat in the high chair at the table with the rest of us.  He just wanted to be a big boy!

Sleep is not the greatest right now.  He goes to sleep like a dream but doesn't like to stay asleep!  For about a week you could set your clock by him.  He was waking at 1 and 4.  Now the past few nights it has been about 3 wakings!  Seems like he is following in Henry's sleep footsteps!  This too shall pass!

He is an expert roller.  He pushes up so high when he is on his stomach.  He tries to pull his legs in too so he might begin scooting before too long.  He is getting a little stronger in his core too.  Just a few weeks ago he would go flat as a pancake if you tried to sit him up but this morning he semi sat on the couch by himself.  He is really enjoying the jumperoo too.  His feet don't quite reach the floor but he still uses his toes to push off the floor.  If I try to put a pillow or something under his feet he kicks it away.

Not sure how big he is but I have stepped on the scale with him and it appears that he is probably about 15 1/2 lbs.  He will have his 6 month appointment in about 2-1/2 weeks.

A Post about Henry

Yesterday I was thinking to myself that I should jot down some things about Henry.  Lately he has been so good and funny.  Then I had to pick up the boys from daycare last night and he was a total stinker!  It took me about 10 minutes to get him buckled in because he kept flopping out of his seat.  After being on the road for a few minutes he saw  "2 woo woo's with their lights on" and he was back to happy Henry.

Henry is our early riser.  He was always waking up somewhere in the 6:00 hour but since the time change he is now waking up sometime in the 5:00 hour.  Even on the weekends!  It seems to be getting slightly later each day so hopefully we will make it later than 6 sometime soon.  He is very cheery when he wakes up though and he wants nothing else but to go downstairs and watch tv.

A lot of what has us cracking up lately are just his mannerisms which is hard to get down into writing.  He will do his hands in the "I don't know" position or he will put his finger to his cute dimple in a "hmmm" type of way.  He constantly asks "why?" or he will say "cuz"  for because.

He was once our great eater but lately seems to be on a little bit of a hunger strike.  Much like Nolan around this age he requests a cup of milk and a cup of water so he is toting around 2 cups.  He still loves to pour things from one container to another.  You can't give him a bottle of bubbles or they will be poured out in no time.

He loves firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances.  It is even more exciting when we get to see them with their lights on.  When he sees the lights on he says that they get an ollypop (lollipop) he will also say that motorcycle drivers with helmets on get an ollypop...you know because they are being safe!

His current favorite shows are Mighty Machines (the garbage one or the fire hall one), Bubble Guppies, Chuggington, and every once in a while he will ask for princess which is Sophia The First.  Nolan protests that one because of it being about a princess but I can tell he enjoys it too!

He is still quite the climber and likes to carry around his step stool or little chair to climb.  He will sometimes take his ladder into the pantry and help himself to some food.  One day I found him sneaking some candy.  Even after I told him "no" and threw it away he even went into the garbage can for it!  He is determinded!

 

Whirlwind Weekend

*This was actually a few weeks ago...finally posting*
This past weekend was quite the whirlwind.  It was fun though and all of the boys were very good.  It all started fairly early on Saturday morning when we decided last minute to go watch daddy run his 5k for Child Advocates.  It was at City Center, so close to home, and was a super hero theme.  It was a little chilly that morning but it was nice to get the boys out of the house.  Nolan went down the big slide several times and colored a super hero mask.  Henry took a while to warm up but eventually painted a little pumpkin.  Kevin hoped to finish in 33 minutes and blew that out of the water finishing in roughly 30 minutes.  His co-workers that he ran with all did very well too.  Nic came in 3rd place overall!







After the race we had only about an hour at home before we headed out for Nolan's soccer game.  This was week 5 of the season but would only be his second game.  We got a fair amount of rain on Friday night so we were afraid it might be cancelled but luckily it wasn't.  The sharp shooters did much better this time around and won!  Not sure what the final score was because technically no score is kept.  Nolan almost scored a goal but went just a little wide.  He got hurt 2 times but dusted himself off and got back in the game.  He gets right in the mix of things so that is why he got hurt.



After the game we grabbed a quick lunch with Uncle AB, who had come to watch the game.  After lunch we hit the road for Halletsville.  Kevin's co-worker was having a party out at their farm.  We went 2 years ago and had a great time so we had been looking forward to this. All 3 boys napped on the drive out there.  The weather was beautiful and the boys were able to fish, ride on the tractor, jump on the trampoline and paint masks. We hit the road back home right after dark.  We got home after 9 so the sleepy boys went right to sleep.





Sunday was slightly more relaxed, but still busy.  We hit up the pumpkin patch at MDUMC for our annual pictures. I thought it would be hard to get pictures of the three of them but Henry and Nolan were quite smiley.  Not too much later was Grant's baptism!  After that was over we had all the family back to our house for a little post baptism party.  With the nice weather the kids stayed outside for the most part.  After everyone was gone we put the boys to bed and collapsed on the couch!

4 Months

The G-man is four months old now!  He is a super smiley guy and is really starting to recognize his crazy brothers.  He is laughing a little bit but it still takes a bit of work to get a giggle out of him.  Kevin is better at it than I am.  Chewing on his hands or our thumb is probably one of his favorite activities!  He can roll from back to belly but hasn't learned how to go the other way just yet.  This was causing many wake ups each night to "flip the turtle" but he has now learned to embrace sleeping on his stomach.  He is on his second cold since starting daycare.  Luckily they don't seem to bother him too much.

He still doesn't care for being in the car all that much.  The vacuum cleaner sound on our white noise app still calms him down though. He will take a pacifier a little bit but definitely doesn't have the same love for it that his brothers had.

He had his 4-month check up on Monday.  He is doing well.  His rate of growth has slowed down but he is in the same range as his brothers at the same age.





Grant @4 months
Weight:  14lb 9oz 30%
Height:  25" 42%
Head:  42.5cm 76%

Henry @ 4 months
Weight:  14lb 15oz 50%
Height:  26-1/4" 90%
Head:  43.5cm 85%

Nolan @ 4 months
Weight:  13lb 14oz 25%
Height:  25-1/2" 75%
Head:  42cm 75%

Busy Few Weeks

The past few weeks have been busy.  Nolan started Pre-K on August 26.  He goes there from 8-3 and is then picked up by day care where he spends the last 2 hours of his day.  He is doing really well with everything and seems to be making friends and enjoying his day. He also just started playing soccer and has his first game this weekend.  He finally gets to wear his shin guards that we bought a while back. He is doing well with practice and listens to what the coach says.  There are a few on his team that are in la la land!  He even scored a few goals in practice.





On September 3 I went back to work and Grant started day care.  Things are going pretty well with that.  Our mornings are pretty crazy but we seem to have a decent routine going.  After only 4 days in "school" Grant came down with a cold.  He is handling it pretty well and we are trying to everything we can to keep him comfortable and make sure it doesn't get any worse.  Now Kevin and I also seem to have a cold too.

Grant turned 3 months old last week.  He is really starting to smile a lot more.  He loves chewing on his hands and seems like he is trying to reach his feet at times too.  He now enjoys playing on his play mat and kicking in the bouncy chair. He goes to bed between 8 and 8:30 and will usually sleep until about 6:30.  The congestion had him waking up a little earlier for a few days but that seems to have passed.  Not sure what he weighs right now, but I think it is around 14 pounds.



Mr. Henry is just as cute as ever.  He is generally very happy and when he sees someone he knows he likes to give hugs.  He is saying a lot of things right now that really crack us up.  He also puts his finger against his cheek saying "hmmm?"  For the most part he will not nap on the weekends anymore.  If he does fall asleep he is usually so grumpy when he wakes up! He is a climber and is always dragging a step ladder or stool around with him.  While cute, he is also very hard headed.  He is tough and will fight to get what he wants.  He also bites Nolan and tries to bite us if he doesn't get what he wants.



We took the boys bowling for the first time a few weeks ago.  Both Nolan and Henry enjoyed it.  Nolan's attention lasted a little longer than Henry though.  They had the bumpers up and also a ramp that you can roll the ball down.  It was pretty cute to see them in tiny bowling shoes!



At the end of August we celebrated Poppie's 70th birthday with dinner at La Ha.  This was the perfect place for 9 kids.  Friday nights are full of kids and the "music man" is there so that they can dance.  Nolan had a good time being silly with Kyle and Wade.

All I want for Christmas...

...Is my two front teeth! Back on the 4th of July weekend Nolan had a little fall.  He was playing baseball with Kevin while we were over at Pappa Dushi's house swimming.  Nolan was being silly and was "hiking" the baseball to Kevin.  He had done it a few times but somehow he lost his footing and fell.  He hit his mouth on the paver around a tree.  He came up screaming with a bloody mouth.  Immediately we could tell that one of the front teeth was a little loose.  We tried to get him to calm down and to clean it up but he was pretty shaken up about it.  We called his dentist who happened to be out of town for the week but left the number of another dentist to call.  We left a message for her and started to head home.  We thought about going to urgent care but heard from the dentist before we got there.  She said there really wasn't anything that could be done over the weekend.  Through the miracle of technology she even face timed with Kevin and was able to look at Nolan's teeth.  She said to just try to keep ice on it, give him motrin, and avoid eating with those teeth.  She wanted to do x-rays on Monday to see if they were broken or not.

On Monday Kevin took him in to see her.  She said she thought they might need to come out but to follow up with his dentist who would be back the next day.  I took Nolan on Tuesday morning and before I knew it they were prepping to pull his teeth.  This came as a shock because we thought we were just going in to see what the next step would be.  Both teeth were cracked above the gum line (I could see the crack on the x-ray).  We were told if we didn't pull them they would most likely come out on their own but could cause more harm than good.  They came out very easily but Nolan started to flip out once they were done.  It was really just from the Novocaine wearing off.  The feeling in his lips was weird to him.    Once the numbness was gone he was back to normal.  We told him that he looked like a hockey player...he loves hockey so this was pretty cool to him.  That night he put his teeth out for the tooth fairy.  He got $2!  A co-worker of Kevin's loaned us the Tooth Fairy movie which he enjoyed watching a lot.

Nothing will be done to the space in his teeth.  We will just have to wait until he is 6 or so for the permanent teeth to grow in.  The dentist doesn't believe any damage was done to the permanent ones.  While we were worried about him not having teeth for so long everyone is adjusted to his toothless smile, and he is just as cute as ever!

Day of the fall...all cleaned up



Toothless smile