Big Spencer

Spencer and I have been enjoying our time together while Alex is in school! We’ve started a Kindermusic class, run errands, play around the house, and then count down the hours until we “get A-ex”.

Spencer was so excited we were buying pillows!

Spencer loved this little park with all the abandoned ride-on toys. He lined them all up.

I even left Spencer with some child care volunteers at the consignment sale I worked. He played for two hours in the nursery and didn’t even miss me. What a big boy!!

Soccer!

Alex is in his second year of soccer! This year is quite different and much more organized. Though we are in the same league, he’s in the next age group. This means he meets for practice once a week and has games on Saturdays. There are only 7 kids on his team, which is much nicer than the 60 or so 3-year-olds at the soccer clinic last year. While he’s made it to all of the practices, he’s only played one game. He missed the second game due to a cold, and the third game was rained out. Hopefully we’ll make it to all the other games during the rest of the season.

Alex falls asleep on the way to practice every Wednesday!

Alex was always very concerned about the other team scoring. He’s definitely a defensive player.

Getting ready!

Victory dance during warm-ups.

Spencer has been enjoying soccer practice as well!

Exploring Charlotte’s Parks

Last Wednesday, the 3rd, was our last unplanned day of the summer (Thursday was orientation at school and the long weekend was spent in the mountains). When I asked Alex what he wanted to do, he said he wanted to see the big buildings. So, we drove into Charlotte to check out two parks nestled in the heart of uptown. Our first stop, 4th Ward Park, was pretty. It had several flower gardens and a few fountains. Unfortunately, the playground was super small and the boys quickly lost interest. So, after a quick walk-about and a few photos, we drove a few minutes down the road to Romare Bearden Park. We watched July 4th fireworks in this park, but it was dark and crowded. The boys were impressed by the skyline (office towers and condos line three sides, with the baseball stadium on the 4th) and all the construction surrounding us. Then, they noticed the fountain. They had a blast getting soaking wet. After a quick change, we shared a picnic while watching the cranes. We finished our adventure with fro-yo and headed back home in time for Spencer to nap. It was a fun day!

Butterfly garden in 4th Ward Park

Fountain in 4th Ward Park

Running in the fountain at Romare Bearden Park.

They loved it!

One of Alex’s photos of the construction site.

Another one of Alex’s photos of a dump truck.

We finished off our adventure with a cool treat.

Spencer’s 1st Week of no Alex

When Alex started preschool last fall, Spencer was almost 14 months old. He wasn’t doing a lot of playing with Alex yet, and really had no idea he wasn’t around on the 2 days he went to school. This year, he was a bit confused when he woke up and couldn’t find Alex. Then, I think he was excited to have the house to himself! We took it easy this week and mostly did chores around the house and played. He’ll be starting Kindermusik soon, and since it’s so hard to find playgroups around here, we may do The Little Gym as well. We also tried out storytime at the library today and he loved it, so I think that will be a regular thing as well. I’m looking forward to my special Spencer time!

Spencer brought me Alex’s robe and said, “brrrr”.

I think he was happy I didn’t have to wake him to bring Alex to school. Thanks, Daddy!

I guess Spencer thought Kovu was cold, because he covered him with blankets and towels while I folded clothes.

Surpisingly, Kovu cooperated for about 10 minutes!

Spencer’s breakfast and a movie while Mommy exercises.

Alex’s 1st Day of 4-K!

Tuesday was Alex’s first day of 4K! He is still at Playwise Preschool Academy, but he is now going 4 days a week from 8:45-12:45. This is a pretty big change from last year when he went 2 days a week for only 3 hours. The other big change is that Daddy is driving him to school this year! Alex was counting down the days for school to start … and I kind of was too until the night before, then I couldn’t stop crying! The first morning, I was counting down the hours til Spencer and I could pick him back up! Spencer asked about Alex a few times, but I think he enjoyed playing with all the toys without Alex around!

Alex enjoyed his time at school this week, and I know it’s going to be a great year!

Alex is excited to ride with Daddy to school!

Ms. Sarah, Alex, and Ms. Niki at dismissal. Alex loves them already!

Check out all of Alex’s hair! He also included a small (yellow) pond, grass, and leaves falling around him. I think someone is ready for fall!