End of September Tidbits

Where did September go?  We have to admit, it was one of our busiest months to date- Mom started teaching, I started Kindergarten, Cooper started preschool and a new daycare, Sunday School started for Coop and I (Mom teaches Cooper's preschool Sunday School class) and we are active in sports (I am playing soccer, hockey and taking swim lessons and Cooper is in swim lessons).  Routines feel refreshing and we have settled in nicely to our busy schedule.

Papa and Grandma Sharon came for their final visit before heading back to Grandma Sharon's home in Indiana next week.  They watched me play soccer and saw me begin skating for the GOAL Program  (instructional camp).  We had a great time visiting together and having lunch at a local cafe.  

 I only have 2 more soccer games left this fall!  It has been a quick season.  I have learned a lot, thanks to my spectacular soccer coach (OK, it is my Mom)..... my basic skills are improving and I am kicking the ball "a few" more times during the game!

 I didn't mind coming off the field to take a break during our last game- that way I could cuddle with Papa.  We will miss you guys and look forward to seeing you around Christmas!

Swim Lessons- Cooper and I are 2 crazy fish during swim lessons.  We love the water and are quite comfortable with jumping off the diving boards, submerging our heads and swimming on our fronts and backs.  Cooper loves to wave at our parents every chance he gets.  They love that he is excited to see them as they know the day will come where he will hide from them.

 He is waving so fast in the picture above that you can hardly see his hand.  He loves to show off :)

 He also flashes the #1 sign with his finger (although this picture looks more like a 0).  We are not sure where he came up with the #1 signal- we typically stick to thumbs up and fist pumps in our family.

We can't complain about this amazing fall weather the past few weeks.  We take advantage every chance possible.  Mommy and Cooper tell me they have "no fun" at all when I am busy in Kindergarten.  Again,  I find proof otherwise in these pictures.  They hit a local park with Lily and Lucy one beautiful fall day. Mommy tells Cooper not to tell me what they do during the day and Cooper makes sure the minute I arrive home, I hear all about their adventures.  That's OK though because I tell everyone how much I LOVE KINDERGARTEN!

Yes, we realize Cooper is too big for the baby swing, but he still insists from time to time.  Pick your battles, right?!?!

 Lucy and Lily had to double up without me that day- this picture is honestly......super cute!

With fall weather comes preparation- we released Squirt, Genevieve's (neighbor) beloved painted turtle. We released him in a creek on the golf course.  We now visit the creek almost daily to look for Squirt and although we haven't had another sighting, we hope he is loving his new home :)

 Once again, on one of those days where Mommy and Cooper "stayed home and just thought about me all day" they must have hit another park.  They spent time playing with the animals, not really, but these bears were quite social I hear.  Cooper kept saying, "Me SCARED!"  It was like a train wreck- he couldn't resist the danger while talking about the danger.  Mommy started to wonder how thick that plexi glass really was behind them.

Cooper is a paparazzi's dream- he asks constantly for Mom to take his pictures- like every little photo op.  He then scrolls through her camera and gives a play by play account of their events from the day- it is so annoying.

 "Me a scary bear!"

 Cooper's cute/homeboy pose.

 Yep, we get it Cooper... you love the bears at Irvine!

 And since Mommy hasn't had the camera around as much as she normally does (OOPS!) you can see that Cooper is the golden child around home.  He gets lots of camera time.  Above photo is his first "regular" day of preschool.  He absolutely loves preschool and his teachers adore him.  He is a good friend, an excellent cleaner-upper (according to the teachers) and he is a go-getter (loves to paint, count, read, play, learn, etc...)

And just to end it on another "poor me" note.... Cooper gets special lunch dates with Mommy when I am at school.  The good news is the next post you see will be of our lunch date at my school.  Rumor has it Mommy and Cooper are coming to Kindergarten to eat lunch in my cafeteria, woo-hoo!  We hope your September was a good one.  Now onto a favorite fall month full of fun, OCTOBER is here!

"Me Too's" Turn

It's "Me Too's" turn to head off to school.  Cooper had preschool conference last week with his teachers. His school is housed at the daycare he attends.  The teachers are wonderful and Cooper is SO excited to be a big boy and go to school too.  He attends preschool two to three times a week (rotating Fridays).  We know he will do awesome in school!

Many of you have asked how the past week has gone for Cooper.  As you probably heard, he had a very hard time transitioning from Jenny's house to a daycare center WITHOUT me.  He misses me so much and asks Mommy at least 3 times a day when I will be home.  Last week he said he LOVES his daycare center and especially one of his daycare teachers who he says is like a "grandma!"

My exciting adventures this past week included my first day on the bus, except the bus never came by to pick me up :(  Daddy drove me to school and Mom was "that Mom" who had to call and set things straight with the bus company.  Needless to say, the bus was right on time the next morning.  I love riding the bus to school!

As we patiently waited for the bus to arrive, Cooper decided to put in his two cents, right on the weeds at the corner.  

It's FOOTBALL season, woo-hoo!  Let the rivalry begin at our house.  Cooper dressed himself for football the opening week.  Notice his jersey is on backwards!?!?!  After he realized Mommy's team was on, and he watched AP score the first touchdown, he wanted to change into outfit #2- smart boy :)

New beginnings and routines- we started Sunday School this past weekend.  Mommy has decided to continue to teach preschool, meaning her 3 year run with my class has ended.  She now teaches Cooper's Sunday School class.  He was so proud to receive his bible and a special Sunday School tote.

We started swimming lessons on Sundays at the Y.  We had such a busy summer that we didn't sign up for swim lessons.  We spent a ton of time in the water all summer long which was obvious- Cooper and I were flying off the edge of the pool, dunking ourselves completely underwater, and swimming fast!  Mommy hopes I will be swimming 100% independently by next summer- no floats!

Uncle Ben, Auntie Erin, Kyra and Bennett made an impromptu visit to Grammy's.  We headed up there too after soccer to spend the chilly day with them at the resort.  We took a final pontoon ride, all bundled up.

Visited our favorite pub on the lake for pizza, ice cream, rootbeer, pull tabs and pool.  Sounds like a typical day for a 5 year old, right?  Only in Wisconsin....

I chalk my own cue stick....

Cooper can shoot pool (kinda)....

And we know the band *Uncle Randy came to play.  We look forward to boating next summer already!

I also started soccer and Mommy is the head coach.  Not by choice- she wanted to assist, but no other parent wanted to head the team, so she became the coach.  At least she has played for 32 years, so she does know what she is doing out there.  And because of her coaching my team, you will see her in every picture thanks to Daddy's camera skills (YIKES!) I am #5 on the Black Birds team.

I do quite well during drills and practice.  I have improved my skills since last season!

But~ when it comes to game time, I am not a real "go-getter" on the field.  I like to socialize, run after the kids, but not really the ball.  Chances are good, this is "typical" for 5 year olds :)

That's our latest update from the week.  Fall sure seems to have hit us hard these past few days, but we are feeling ready for these changes.  Enjoy the week ahead!

Bittersweet... Long Post

My parents think the past week has been a major roller-coaster ride. I have to agree!  First, I started Kindergarten which I was so excited and ready for.  I have not shed a tear and have no worries at all about this big step.  My parents on the other hand, have shed a few tears and worry way too much about me!  One of our bittersweet moments came the last week in August.....

Daycare Mama Jenny has watched me since I was 1 years old and Cooper since he was a newborn.  She has loved us like her own children and has shown us a lot of love and affection (as you can tell above!)  We appreciate her for so many reasons.  Jenny offered to keep Cooper this year for daycare, but chose not to take any other kids.  Our parents ultimately decided to put him at a daycare center for social interactions and an excellent preschool program offered there.  This meant, we had to say "goodbye" to Jenny and her family. We still have plans to get together for playdates as she will always be a special part of our family.

Cooper would NOT smile for the last photo with Jenny.  He was being a stinker (no surprise).  When Mommy got in the car, she asked him why he was being so naughty.  He said, "Because I am going to miss Jenny!"  Ah, melt our heart Cooper.

On a much happier note, we spent part of our Labor Day in the cities.  We had our last pontoon outing with Papa and Grandma Sharon.  It was a beautiful day to spend together.  Soon, the pontoon will be pulled out of the river and they will be heading to Indiana, where Grandma Sharon has a home where they spend the fall season.

Pontoons always mean we get to break the rules- freezies, chips, rootbeer... spoiled kids!

A few last relaxing moments before a busy fall!

The next day, we had a pizza/b-day party at Auntie Stefanie and Uncle Bruce's house.  We celebrated Daddy's and Auntie Karri's birthdays since they are just one day apart.  We love their swimming pool!

Cooper and I love to swim underwater with our goggles on.  I still need a light float belt (down to just 2 small disks).  We start swim lessons next weekend!

Cooper insisted that Mommy take his picture doing these "neat" and dangerous tricks.

I enjoy being a kid.  Mommy thinks these photos are priceless- she keeps telling me to stop growing up so fast.

Have we ever mentioned how emotional Cooper is?!?!?!

We headed back home because Daddy's extended side of the family hosts an annual family reunion.  The reunion is at a neat park, not too far from our home.  We have fun at the playground and enjoy seeing distant cousins.

We had relay races and when Mommy saw there would be an egg race, she said, "Wait and see Caden... I bet he will problem solve and find a way to carry that egg."  Moms know best... I covered the egg on the spoon and made a fast break to the other side.

"Me Too" followed suit, no surprise there

We also had a squeeze the sponge relay race.  This one was easy and fun!

The park has a wooden train climbing apparatus.  It was our favorite toy at the park.  

Speaking of trains, on Labor Day, we planned to take the miniature steam engine and diesel locomotive around a local park.  It was their final day of train rides so we made it just in time.  Of course, we wanted to ride both trains and had the best spots... the caboose!

Happy 38th Birthday Daddy!  Poor Daddy got ripped off with his birthday landing on a very important and busy day- the 1st day of Kindergarten for me and Mom's 1st day back to teaching!  We still celebrated with a special breakfast that morning, a dinner out with Grammy, Uncle Matt and Emmett (Auntie Jill was working), and of course, ice cream cake!  

We gave Daddy a gift card for i-tunes, a CD that he wanted, a new coffee maker, Keurig cups/stand, and tickets to a Wild hockey game.

Time for Kindergarten!  I have asked for years when I would start school and the countdown has ended!  I received a neat Kindergarten scrapbook from Grandma Carla and we already started to fill out the pages.

My first day of school was an orientation day.  Daddy took me to orientation since Mommy had her orientation day with her Kindergartners (and yes, she felt horrible about this).  I had my school pictures taken, put supplies away, and visited with my teacher that morning.  Before I left for school, we took pictures (of course!)

Off to Kindergarten we go!  Hopefully I won't stay in Kindergarten as long as Mommy has- 14 years!

I humored Mommy with her Pinterest ideas.  I typically write my name much neater and nicer than this, but she shoved a marker at me at 6:00 a.m. and clearly, I was not in the mood for this.

Here is my super cool backpack.  We ordered it from Pottery Barn Kids in July.  It has my name on it, a skeleton with cross-bones (of course I chose that), and I have a Monster's Inc. water bottle in the holder. Attached to my backpack is a dismissal tag that Mommy made me (the Kindergarten teacher/Mom couldn't help herself).

Here is my locker at my school!  Mommy isn't sure on how many kids are in the class.  This is a question Daddy did not ask the teacher (but Mom would've).

It was a foggy start to Kindergarten!  

After orientation, Daddy took me golfing, since I kept asking when I could golf 9 holes (instead of sneaking onto the course at night) AND it was his birthday afterall.

 The next day, Mommy couldn't wait to bring me to Kindergarten for my first FULL day!  It was her day off (she is happily job-sharing for her 5th year) and was so excited to take some more pictures and formally meet my teacher.

 Here is my teacher, she is young (maybe has taught 8ish years).  When Mommy asked me what I thought of her, I said, "She is cool, she is really funny AND she is cute!"  Have I mentioned that I like blondes?

Cooper- Where to start.... our little man misses me terribly when I am at school.  The transition for me to Kindergarten has been easy, awesome, perfect,...Cooper's transition to not having me around AND a daycare center (with a great reputation) has been ROUGH!  He cries, clings to my parents and begs them to take him home.  He also begs to go to Kindergarten with me.  Thankfully, we know this is just a tough transition period and hopefully he will adjust soon.  We are also thankful that he only attends daycare part-time and has "Mommy" days to enjoy during the week too.  His daycare teachers reassure Mommy and Daddy that he does settle in and has many happy moments there.  The above photo is what Cooper set out for me on my first day of school.  He picked out this snack (he wanted Mike and gave me Sulley).  Cooper refused to eat snack until we got home.  How sweet is that?!?!?

My first report from school.... my teacher does the stop-light behavior system~ red light means it was a bad day (my parents told me that I do NOT ever want to come home with that on my sheet), yellow light (so-so day) and a green light (great day!)  I have had all green lights so far, yay for me!

I love Kindergarten so far!  I am resilient and just "go with the flow" while at school.  I am tired at night and sometimes need a lot of convincing to get out of bed in the mornings.  We start school at 7:40, so I have to rise early (funny how I pop right up on weekends but on school days, I like to sleep in!)  I mostly get dropped off and picked up but had my first bus ride home last Friday.  We will be sure to post some bus photos this week as I am excited and have requested to take the bus more often.  Mommy and Daddy can't help but tear up watching me head to Kindergarten.  They are so proud of the big boy that I have become and know that part of me will never be the same.  They celebrate these changes but also feel sad with a childhood that has changed.  So all I can say is, "STOP CRYING MOM AND DAD!" I am off to great things!