When I was pregnant with Nicholas, we had such a hard time picking out a name for him. I think we started with a list of 50 names and had to narrow it down from there. One night I had a dream that I stepped outside our back door on a sunny day and called to my little boy to come to me to get a snack or something like that. The little boy had blonde hair and he came running up to me with a big smile on his face. He was wearing a soccer uniform. What stuck with me most about the dream was that the name I called out was Nicholas. Although that name was on our list of potential names, there were others that were still highly considered. Yet for some reason, the name Nicholas stuck with me after that dream and I'm glad we finally chose it to name our little guy.
Amazingly, he did turn out to be blonde with a big beautiful smile. So it was only natural for me to want him to join a soccer team, right? Actually, Stuart had played soccer when he was little and so did my little brother. I had wanted to be on a soccer team too when I was young but dance, swimming, and piano lessons took up most of my free time. Nicholas loves to run and play with balls so soccer is a perfect match for him. We even had soccer goals up in our back yard for a while and Nicholas and I would try to kick the ball past each other into the goals.
We signed him up for a program called Upward Soccer. It is a great program that not only teaches soccer skills but also teaches sportsmanship and Christ-like behavior. They have practice for one hour each week. At each practice, the coach will deliver a short devotion to the players and the children can get rewarded for learning Scripture verses. The games are not like standard soccer but a 4v4 format with smaller fields and no goalkeeper which makes it easier for younger children. There is one game each week. The referee leads the two teams in a prayer midfield before the game. After the game, awards are given to players for Best Effort, Best Sportsmanship, Best Offense, Best Defense, and Christlikeness.
Today Nicholas was scheduled for his soccer evalution. The coaches time the children on various skills so they can know each player's skill levels and match up different skill levels on each team. They timed him on 4 skills - running, kicking a soccer ball into a goal from three different positions, dribbling a ball down the field for 20 yards and back again, and kicking a ball around a slalom course of cones. He did pretty well except for kicking the ball around all the cones. The coach ended up stoping the timer on that one and said to just bring him on back. He had fun out there though. I hope this will be a good experience for him that he enjoys and learns from.
Behind the Scenes at the Post Office
We were supposed to go on an awesome nature hike with some friends this morning but Nicholas is still coughing a lot and I'm doing all I can to try to keep him from over exertiing himself and making the coughing worse. So we missed out on the hike and instead went to a tour of the post office with some other friends in our Early Childhood PTA.
Mr. Vincent was a wonderful tour guide and really great with the kids. He had all of the children line up and he showed us around the back of the post office. He taught us all about how the mail is picked up, sorted at the post office, and how the carriers pickup their mail to take out on their routes. It was really interesting!
Nicholas had been fascinated with the P.O. boxes when we were first waiting in the lobby for Mr. Vincent so he especially loved being able to use a key to show everyone how to open a P.O. box.
Nicholas even got this cool coloring and activity book to bring home.
Mr. Vincent was a wonderful tour guide and really great with the kids. He had all of the children line up and he showed us around the back of the post office. He taught us all about how the mail is picked up, sorted at the post office, and how the carriers pickup their mail to take out on their routes. It was really interesting!
Nicholas had been fascinated with the P.O. boxes when we were first waiting in the lobby for Mr. Vincent so he especially loved being able to use a key to show everyone how to open a P.O. box.
Nicholas even got this cool coloring and activity book to bring home.
When You Thought I Wasn't Looking
By Mary Rita Schilke Korzan
When you thought I wasn't looking
You hung my first painting on the refrigerator
And I wanted to paint another.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You fed a stray cat
And I thought it was good to be kind to animals.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You baked a birthday cake just for me
And I knew that little things were special things.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You said a prayer
And I believed there was a God that I could always talk to.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You kissed me good-night
And I felt loved.
When you thought I wasn't looking
I saw tears come from your eyes
And I learned that sometimes things hurt - but that it is alright to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You smiled
And it made me want to be that pretty too.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You cared
And I wanted to be everything I could be.
When you thought I wasn't looking
I looked
And wanted to say thanks for all those things you did when you thought I wasn't looking.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You hung my first painting on the refrigerator
And I wanted to paint another.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You fed a stray cat
And I thought it was good to be kind to animals.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You baked a birthday cake just for me
And I knew that little things were special things.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You said a prayer
And I believed there was a God that I could always talk to.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You kissed me good-night
And I felt loved.
When you thought I wasn't looking
I saw tears come from your eyes
And I learned that sometimes things hurt - but that it is alright to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You smiled
And it made me want to be that pretty too.
When you thought I wasn't looking
You cared
And I wanted to be everything I could be.
When you thought I wasn't looking
I looked
And wanted to say thanks for all those things you did when you thought I wasn't looking.
Have I Lost My Voice Forever?
Yesterday when I picked Nicholas up from school, his teacher mentioned to me that he seemed to be losing his voice. He's been coughing a little so I wasn't too surprised. Nicholas was very concerned about this though. He seemed really sad and worried and even had his little lip rolled out a bit. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "I'm sad because I've lost my voice. Have I lost my voice forever?" Poor little guy! It's kind of funny to think about how some things that we say in passing might sound to a four year old. They are so literal in their thinking that surely Nicholas thought he would never speak again. It happened again today when I told him that I was going to give him some medicine to help his cough. He asked, "Why do you want to help my cough? Don't you want to get rid of it instead?"
Nicholas had trouble sleeping last night because of his coughing so he's really tired and I've been giving him breathing treatments so he has stayed home with Rachel and me today. He tries to run around and play with spaceships but then he gets tired and just plops down on the couch to rest. That's not like Nicholas at all! Hope the little guy gets better soon.
I had a chance to go through some things that were sent home from school recently. He goes to art class once a week and usually does some nice work. But you know Nicholas. He's the first to admit that he'd rather run and jump than sit still at a table doing art work so often times he brings home some scribbly work. So when I saw some of the drawings that he's done recently I actually had to ask him about them just to be sure they were really his. He drew these by looking at a picture that the teacher had drawn on the board. I'm impressed - mostly because I can actually tell what the things are supposed to be! You'll note that his painting work is still rushed just to get it done but I really like the drawings. They are actually kind of cute.
"Fish swimming in bubbles"
"Spring - Sun, cloud, bird, flowers"
"My Funny Face"
"Mama Frog and Baby Frog"
Nicholas had trouble sleeping last night because of his coughing so he's really tired and I've been giving him breathing treatments so he has stayed home with Rachel and me today. He tries to run around and play with spaceships but then he gets tired and just plops down on the couch to rest. That's not like Nicholas at all! Hope the little guy gets better soon.
I had a chance to go through some things that were sent home from school recently. He goes to art class once a week and usually does some nice work. But you know Nicholas. He's the first to admit that he'd rather run and jump than sit still at a table doing art work so often times he brings home some scribbly work. So when I saw some of the drawings that he's done recently I actually had to ask him about them just to be sure they were really his. He drew these by looking at a picture that the teacher had drawn on the board. I'm impressed - mostly because I can actually tell what the things are supposed to be! You'll note that his painting work is still rushed just to get it done but I really like the drawings. They are actually kind of cute.
"Fish swimming in bubbles"
"Spring - Sun, cloud, bird, flowers"
"My Funny Face"
"Mama Frog and Baby Frog"
Rachel's 4 Month Well-Baby Exam
This morning Stuart and I took Rachel to her 4 month well-baby exam. Can you believe she is 4 months old?? The visit went fine and she is doing well. She is 26 inches long (95th percentile). She's got Stuart's tall genes! She weighs 15 lbs. 14.5 oz (90th percentile) so her weight is well proportioned to her height. She is meeting all of her developmental milestones.
Stuart and I talked to the pediatrician again about the shape of her head. I had discussed this briefly with the pediatrician at her 2 month exam because at the time I was concerned about two areas on her head that just seemed to protrude out ever so slightly more than I thought they should. The pediatrician wasn't very concerned and said that he just wanted to monitor it for now. So the doctor checked her head again at her 4 month visit. The two areas that I was concerned about at the 2 month visit have practically fixed themselves. She looks fine but as I rub on her head now I notice that she seems to have a slight ridge on the top of her head starting at the hairline and going back to the soft spot, about in the middle of her head as if two of the plates in her skull aren't lining up correctly. It's been a little worrisome for me but the pediatrician says that the shape of her head is remarkably improved over the 2 month visit and he does not feel that she needs any treatment at this time. He expects that it will resolve itself by the 6 month visit. If not then we will see a specialist and possibly look into one of those fashionable baby helmets to help get things lined up properly. Please keep her in your prayers...and you could throw in a prayer for me too since all of this is worrying me more than her right now!
Before we left, the nurse came back in and gave her two shots. I don't know how those nurses do it. I would feel so bad giving shots to little babies. They are smiling and looking up at you all excitedly and you know you are what you are about to do to them. Rachel's eyes got big for a moment then the screaming started. Nicholas used to always settle down as soon as I picked him up. Rachel calmed down a lot but continued to fuss some. The nurse felt bad and went to find some bubbles for her. The bubbles were fascinating to Rachel but as soon as they stopped the crying started again. She's been sleeping a lot this afternoon and a little fussier than usual but overall doing just fine.
(I love this laughing naked baby picture!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)