Yup, I’ve always been a tomboy, so I seem to introduce my kids to dirt, bugs and sports more than I may mention makeup, dresses or dancing (blek!). These days there seem to be many more opportunities for ‘tomboyish’ type things! The main road that leads to our subdivision is currently under some heavy construction. The road is closed and we have to drive ½ way around the world (ok, not really) to get anywhere. But still, there is some pretty cool bulldozing going on! Taytum, Regan and I make the short trek to the front of the subdivision quite often to see what is going on.
On the first trip there wasn’t much happening. It had rained so much the day before that maybe the ground was too soft. I dunno… does ANYONE ever know why construction is halted on days that seem perfect? Sheesh! Sorry for that soapbox… Because of the rain there was a huuuuuge puddle surrounded by tons of rocks and boulders that had previously been part of the street. So, what is one to do when there is no bulldozing going on? See how big of a splash you can make with the biggest rock you can lift! What else? Who knows how much time we spent filling up the water puddle with rocks, but it was awesome!
Today we made the trek with Maddy (dog) in tow. She seemed to enjoy the excitement as well. So while cars and all other populations seem to be venturing AWAY from the noise and dust, we head right for it! What good timing too! When we first got there, there was a bulldozer just sitting there… OK, I’m probably not using the right terminology… I think its called a LOADER, but just go with me… so the loader was sitting there with a load, just waiting. Not much else was happening. We saw a loader carry a couple of concrete ‘tubes’ by… but soon enough came the dump truck! Regan was pretty excited to see the loader lift and load the dump truck full of rocks and dirt. Each time he lifted his load, she put her arms in the air and made some sort of growling sound! Pretty funny!
So the excitement of our day was watching the loader load the dump truck. Oh, and this time Taytum decided to see how far she could hurl dirt clogs! Pretty impressive!
Alas, no pictures…computer still on the down lo!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
The Day Has Finally Come...
Today was Taytum’s first official day of soccer… Game Day! I will be completely honest and say that it was not met with much anticipation on my part. But maybe I should preface that a bit…
For about 4 ½ years I have been waiting for Taytum to experience the game that I love. But I do have some ‘reality’ in me… I know that many kids do not grow up loving the same game and that many are forced to love what their parents love. So all along I have had some hope that Taytum would enjoy playing. She has pretty much grown up on the field. Three weeks after she was born, the she was, all bundled up in her stroller out at the fields because I was having tryouts. So literally, grown up on the field.
She has done her share of little soccer programs. She did Kickaroos when she was 2 and 3. It was at an indoor facility where the kids didn’t do a whole lot of soccer but did kick the ball around. This past year she has done more real soccer… She has been to a few skill sessions with a local guy who is big in the soccer world and she also attended his soccer camps this summer. So she’s gotten into it a little more.
But now it was time for “I’m-on-a-real-team” soccer. We signed Taytum up for a local 3v3 league and asked some of her friends if they wanted to play. We got a team together with 7 kids total, Rob (who volunteered to coach) went to the meeting, got our uniforms, soccer balls and schedule, and we were all set!
The first practice did not go so smoothly. Taytum cried the entire time. I will give partial credit to the fact that she was pretty tired, but still. Apparently she cried when she couldn’t be first and she cried anytime someone took the ball away from her and also anytime in between. So I thought… what have I created? Have we ‘let her win’ too many times? But I know that’s not the case because I had seen that happen with other kids before. So where was all this coming from?
Taytum, Rob and I had a talk the next day about crying at soccer practice. Here is the gist of my conversation with her…
Mom: Tay, did you have fun at soccer practice?
Tay: YUP!
Mom: Did you cry?
Tay: Well, only just a little bit. (Tay practices at the same time I am coaching my team, on the
same field.)
Mom: Why were you crying? What was it that made you want to cry?
Tay: Well, the other team was scoring a lot of goals.
Mom: Isn’t that what they are supposed to do?
Tay: Yes, but I wanted to score goals.
Mom: Well, you can score goals, but how do you do that?
Tay: Take the ball from them.
Mom: Right!
Tay: Well, I don’t like it when they take the ball from me.
Mom: Is that why you were crying, because they would take the ball away from you?
Tay: Yes.
Mom: Hey, now, you can’t cry when someone takes the ball away from you!
Tay: Well, can I get mad?
Mom: You betcha! You get mad and then go and take the ball back from them!
Tay: OK, Mom.
So the next practice was better. Still a little bit of mad tears, but better. And then today came the first game of the season… What was going to happen? I could only imagine the worst!!
Much to my dismay it was the exact opposite! Taytum was raring to go and even started the game by dribbling down the field and then shielding the ball from her opponents! Pretty sweet! It seemed like it took both teams a while to get things going. Must have been the first game for most of them. But we are unlike most teams in the league. While the league is co-ed, we have only one boy on our team… but that is by choice. We asked Taytum’s friends, who most happen to be girls. So most of the teams we face are the opposite…many more boys than girls. Maybe that was another reason for my apprehension?
Alright, so maybe that was it? Maybe I was worried that we would be playing teams with faster, stronger boys who would score, score, score and then score some more.
It started off great with our team battling just as hard, but after about 10 minutes, the other team scored two quick goals on us. I thought…Uh-oh, here it comes! I was never worried about how many goals would be scored, but with Taytum already being aware of the other team scoring so many goals at practice, I was afraid she’d come away hating the game if she never got a chance to be successful herself.
So two goals down and what’s the next thing that happens? MY Taytum scores two goals! I was utterly shocked! She did really well! She didn’t cry when the other team scored a goal or when they took the ball away from her! She ran hard and did awesome! I was so excited for her!! Not because she scored any goals, but because she was involved and having fun with what was going on!
Well, the game went on and the other team scored some…and scored some more… but we had our own bouts of greatness!! Taytum scored another goal, making it THREE on the day and some of her teammates scored as well! It was so cute to see them all score and look to the sideline with a grin a mile wide on their face! Hee hee hee!
Taytum did seem to peter out a bit in the second half. It was a bit hot… she just didn’t run as hard as she did in the first half, but she still worked hard and still encouraged her teammates. At one point she was running after the ball with her teammate, Will, next to her. She says to him, “C’mon, Will! Let’s go get that ball!” And there were times she did hold hands with a teammate and carry on conversations having nothing to do with soccer (total eye roll), but I guess that’s what 4 year old girls do!
One last ‘boast’ of my child (ha ha ha ha)… 4 yr old soccer is often called ‘magnet’ ball because they all chase the ball no matter where it goes. Very true. At one point the ball was in a big clump of players and Taytum ran up to the clump, pulled the ball back with the sole of her foot and took off towards the goal! I guess maybe she does have a little bit of greatness in her!! (ha ha ha ha ha!)
All in all it was a great day. I have no idea how many goals the other team scored, which is awesome! But the best part is that Taytum showed us all what she’s got in her. I’d say we walked away from the field a proud mom, dad and Taytum! I think she is still telling everyone about the game four days later!!
(I have pictures to post from today’s game, but our computer is on the fritz. So for now I am stuck posting only long-winded messages!!)
For about 4 ½ years I have been waiting for Taytum to experience the game that I love. But I do have some ‘reality’ in me… I know that many kids do not grow up loving the same game and that many are forced to love what their parents love. So all along I have had some hope that Taytum would enjoy playing. She has pretty much grown up on the field. Three weeks after she was born, the she was, all bundled up in her stroller out at the fields because I was having tryouts. So literally, grown up on the field.
She has done her share of little soccer programs. She did Kickaroos when she was 2 and 3. It was at an indoor facility where the kids didn’t do a whole lot of soccer but did kick the ball around. This past year she has done more real soccer… She has been to a few skill sessions with a local guy who is big in the soccer world and she also attended his soccer camps this summer. So she’s gotten into it a little more.
But now it was time for “I’m-on-a-real-team” soccer. We signed Taytum up for a local 3v3 league and asked some of her friends if they wanted to play. We got a team together with 7 kids total, Rob (who volunteered to coach) went to the meeting, got our uniforms, soccer balls and schedule, and we were all set!
The first practice did not go so smoothly. Taytum cried the entire time. I will give partial credit to the fact that she was pretty tired, but still. Apparently she cried when she couldn’t be first and she cried anytime someone took the ball away from her and also anytime in between. So I thought… what have I created? Have we ‘let her win’ too many times? But I know that’s not the case because I had seen that happen with other kids before. So where was all this coming from?
Taytum, Rob and I had a talk the next day about crying at soccer practice. Here is the gist of my conversation with her…
Mom: Tay, did you have fun at soccer practice?
Tay: YUP!
Mom: Did you cry?
Tay: Well, only just a little bit. (Tay practices at the same time I am coaching my team, on the
same field.)
Mom: Why were you crying? What was it that made you want to cry?
Tay: Well, the other team was scoring a lot of goals.
Mom: Isn’t that what they are supposed to do?
Tay: Yes, but I wanted to score goals.
Mom: Well, you can score goals, but how do you do that?
Tay: Take the ball from them.
Mom: Right!
Tay: Well, I don’t like it when they take the ball from me.
Mom: Is that why you were crying, because they would take the ball away from you?
Tay: Yes.
Mom: Hey, now, you can’t cry when someone takes the ball away from you!
Tay: Well, can I get mad?
Mom: You betcha! You get mad and then go and take the ball back from them!
Tay: OK, Mom.
So the next practice was better. Still a little bit of mad tears, but better. And then today came the first game of the season… What was going to happen? I could only imagine the worst!!
Much to my dismay it was the exact opposite! Taytum was raring to go and even started the game by dribbling down the field and then shielding the ball from her opponents! Pretty sweet! It seemed like it took both teams a while to get things going. Must have been the first game for most of them. But we are unlike most teams in the league. While the league is co-ed, we have only one boy on our team… but that is by choice. We asked Taytum’s friends, who most happen to be girls. So most of the teams we face are the opposite…many more boys than girls. Maybe that was another reason for my apprehension?
Alright, so maybe that was it? Maybe I was worried that we would be playing teams with faster, stronger boys who would score, score, score and then score some more.
It started off great with our team battling just as hard, but after about 10 minutes, the other team scored two quick goals on us. I thought…Uh-oh, here it comes! I was never worried about how many goals would be scored, but with Taytum already being aware of the other team scoring so many goals at practice, I was afraid she’d come away hating the game if she never got a chance to be successful herself.
So two goals down and what’s the next thing that happens? MY Taytum scores two goals! I was utterly shocked! She did really well! She didn’t cry when the other team scored a goal or when they took the ball away from her! She ran hard and did awesome! I was so excited for her!! Not because she scored any goals, but because she was involved and having fun with what was going on!
Well, the game went on and the other team scored some…and scored some more… but we had our own bouts of greatness!! Taytum scored another goal, making it THREE on the day and some of her teammates scored as well! It was so cute to see them all score and look to the sideline with a grin a mile wide on their face! Hee hee hee!
Taytum did seem to peter out a bit in the second half. It was a bit hot… she just didn’t run as hard as she did in the first half, but she still worked hard and still encouraged her teammates. At one point she was running after the ball with her teammate, Will, next to her. She says to him, “C’mon, Will! Let’s go get that ball!” And there were times she did hold hands with a teammate and carry on conversations having nothing to do with soccer (total eye roll), but I guess that’s what 4 year old girls do!
One last ‘boast’ of my child (ha ha ha ha)… 4 yr old soccer is often called ‘magnet’ ball because they all chase the ball no matter where it goes. Very true. At one point the ball was in a big clump of players and Taytum ran up to the clump, pulled the ball back with the sole of her foot and took off towards the goal! I guess maybe she does have a little bit of greatness in her!! (ha ha ha ha ha!)
All in all it was a great day. I have no idea how many goals the other team scored, which is awesome! But the best part is that Taytum showed us all what she’s got in her. I’d say we walked away from the field a proud mom, dad and Taytum! I think she is still telling everyone about the game four days later!!
(I have pictures to post from today’s game, but our computer is on the fritz. So for now I am stuck posting only long-winded messages!!)
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Make You Cringe?
I guess there are certain things in life that make people cringe... nails on a chalkboard, smacking gum, slurping soup... blah, blah, blah. Sure, there are those things. But some things I think make a mother cringe. I'm not talking about the heart-stopping moments like when you hear tires screech or the head-hitting-the-floor thud that comes from the other room. Those are an entirely different story altogether. I think as mothers we reach a certain point when our babies start to grow and sleep through the night... we reach the point where a full night of sleep is one of the things we cherish. So, while we may still keep that monitor on until our kid reaches the age of 18 (ha ha ha ha), we secretly hope to never hear a peep from them until the sun comes up. So, I think we (at least me) cringe when we do hear the cry or whine that creeps from the monitor at 3am.
Last night I was visited by that creeping cry/whine at 1130pm and 430am. How lucky I could be to get that visit two times in one night... one from each child!! Sure, I'm being sarcastic, but on normal days I would be cringing at the mere thought of having to wake from a deep, much needed slumber to attend to something that could most likely wait until morning.
As I said, I would cringe on any normal day. I guess yesterday was only partly normal. I DID cringe at 1130 and then again at 430. So what made it not-so-normal? I'm not sure. All I do know is that when I went to check on Regan at 1130pm she was very hot. She had run a fever all day and didn't nap well. As soon as I walked in the room she stood up for me to pick her up. This is not normal. So I held her and I got her some more medicine. I sat down with her in the rocking chair. I just sat. She squirmed a bit and then gave me her version of 'rock,' which sounded more like 'wha,' but I knew what she meant. Too sweet. We rocked and rocked and rocked and rocked. Regan never sits still long enough for anything, so I soaked in the moment for as long as I could. It didn't take Regan long to settle down and to fall asleep in my arms...something that I'm not sure she has EVER done!!!...so it would have been easy to lie her down and go back to bed. Nope. I sat and relished for as long as I could. There is something about being able to hold a sleeping baby...even when they're not really a baby anymore.
I finally put Regan down...she likes to move a lot when she sleeps and she was not able to do so with me holding her. I could have gone back to bed and gotten more of my much needed sleep, but as I closed Regan's door as quietly as I could, the thought of a baby who WOULD sleep in my arms no matter what crept into my mind...Taytum. Instead of going back to bed I crept into Taytum's room to peek at her sleeping. She was as peaceful as ever. A train wreck would not wake this child, so I knew that me crawling clumsily into the bed tent (the current fascination of the month...a tent that goes over her bed) would not even cause a stir. I climbed under the covers and relished another moment that never seems to come often enough. I have no idea how long I stayed. Did I fall asleep? I don't know. All I know is that I soaked up the deep breathing, the smell of her not-dirty-but-kid-smelling hair and the softness of her skin just as I did when she would let me hold her 24/7.
At 430 the call came again. This time around it was Taytum. She was awake and could not go to sleep. Interesting. What to do? Once again I decided it was time to cherish what I had...time with my child that was uninterrupted. I climbed into her bed with a couple of books. She looked at pictures and quietly turned the pages while I rubbed her back. Again, something about holding a sleeping baby, even if they are no longer a baby.
Was it that it just felt good to be needed? Was it the uninterrupted time... no thinking about dinner or emails or laundry or dishes in the sink? Was it the thought of being a child again myself? Or was it someone, somewhere telling me that even though there are moments in life that make me cringe, there are also bright lights in those moments?
Last night I was visited by that creeping cry/whine at 1130pm and 430am. How lucky I could be to get that visit two times in one night... one from each child!! Sure, I'm being sarcastic, but on normal days I would be cringing at the mere thought of having to wake from a deep, much needed slumber to attend to something that could most likely wait until morning.
As I said, I would cringe on any normal day. I guess yesterday was only partly normal. I DID cringe at 1130 and then again at 430. So what made it not-so-normal? I'm not sure. All I do know is that when I went to check on Regan at 1130pm she was very hot. She had run a fever all day and didn't nap well. As soon as I walked in the room she stood up for me to pick her up. This is not normal. So I held her and I got her some more medicine. I sat down with her in the rocking chair. I just sat. She squirmed a bit and then gave me her version of 'rock,' which sounded more like 'wha,' but I knew what she meant. Too sweet. We rocked and rocked and rocked and rocked. Regan never sits still long enough for anything, so I soaked in the moment for as long as I could. It didn't take Regan long to settle down and to fall asleep in my arms...something that I'm not sure she has EVER done!!!...so it would have been easy to lie her down and go back to bed. Nope. I sat and relished for as long as I could. There is something about being able to hold a sleeping baby...even when they're not really a baby anymore.
I finally put Regan down...she likes to move a lot when she sleeps and she was not able to do so with me holding her. I could have gone back to bed and gotten more of my much needed sleep, but as I closed Regan's door as quietly as I could, the thought of a baby who WOULD sleep in my arms no matter what crept into my mind...Taytum. Instead of going back to bed I crept into Taytum's room to peek at her sleeping. She was as peaceful as ever. A train wreck would not wake this child, so I knew that me crawling clumsily into the bed tent (the current fascination of the month...a tent that goes over her bed) would not even cause a stir. I climbed under the covers and relished another moment that never seems to come often enough. I have no idea how long I stayed. Did I fall asleep? I don't know. All I know is that I soaked up the deep breathing, the smell of her not-dirty-but-kid-smelling hair and the softness of her skin just as I did when she would let me hold her 24/7.
At 430 the call came again. This time around it was Taytum. She was awake and could not go to sleep. Interesting. What to do? Once again I decided it was time to cherish what I had...time with my child that was uninterrupted. I climbed into her bed with a couple of books. She looked at pictures and quietly turned the pages while I rubbed her back. Again, something about holding a sleeping baby, even if they are no longer a baby.
Was it that it just felt good to be needed? Was it the uninterrupted time... no thinking about dinner or emails or laundry or dishes in the sink? Was it the thought of being a child again myself? Or was it someone, somewhere telling me that even though there are moments in life that make me cringe, there are also bright lights in those moments?
Friday, August 01, 2008
Regan Eats!
Ok, so it seems like FOREVER that we have been trying to get Regan to really eat! First it was the bottle. We were so used to Taytum sucking her bottles dry that when Regan would leave milk in the bottle, we weren't sure what to do. Next came the baby food. Same thing...Taytum couldn't get enough. With Regan we had our 'bag of tricks' with us each time we sat down to feed her... distract her with a small toy... let her watch her sister run around in the other room... put cheerios on her tray and shove the baby food in when she opened her mouth... act as if the food were a train, truck or bug... It was something different each time we sat down, but we did what we could to get this little girl to eat. It still didn't seem like much. Then the next thing we knew it seemed as if she was done with baby food. But she wouldn't eat table food. Boy, that was fun. What a difference a day makes!!! Now the little twerp eats like a horse! She wants to eat and she eats a good variety of things! What she wouldn't touch last week (hamburger, hotdog, pancakes), she gobbles up this week! She eats her fill and sometimes finishes up for Taytum (this morning she ate Taytum's grapenuts!). So we are on a whole nother page with Regan! Good for her! And while we are trying to keep her healthy...she loves green beans, peas, chicken and all types of fruit...she still has some of her dad in her and loves to go for cookies and chips (like with chips and salsa)!! Oh well, everyone has their weaknesses, right?
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