emily's first day of first grade
10 years ago
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Airport Art
Here is a picture of Andrew's drawing today of an airport. I just love how he drew one of the luggage carts just like his LEGO one complete with stairs and the other luggage cart where he drew a few suitcases.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Happy 55th Month Birthday
Today, Andrew is the big 5-5!
We are still playing Junior Monopoly, but it's less frequent. I think Andrew is just tired of beating me all the time!! He truly wins most of the time and there is no letting up on my part and trying to let him win. He likes to tell me "maybe this time you win". We still like to play the longer version with more money to start out and the extra pot for Free Time. And he still tries to give me money if I am losing, which I am very proud of him for his empathy.
As for his favorite things to watch, Transformer Rescue Bots is by far his absolute favorite on TV. He still chooses to watch Curious George on Netflix when he is doing his nebulizer. He is asking to watch a lot more TV than we would like so we are trying to make a conscious effort to limit how much he is watching. One time when we were at Target, he was checking out the clearance DVDs and found one with Scooby Doo and Batman. Of course, he asked to buy it and I obliged. Well, it's his favorite DVD right now and asks if we can watch it for movie night all the time.
He still watches a little bit of Looney Tunes, but we are curbing it a bit. And rightfully so after he starting saying "Shoot me now!" We talked to him how that is not a nice thing to say. But he also started saying "What's up, Doc?" which is much better.
In terms of toys he plays with, he spends a lot of time playing with his Rescue Bots. He has Heat Wave and Bumble Bee. He wants all of them, but that will come in due time. When he is pretending, he even says "Rescue Bots, roll to the rescue!" and "Transform!"
Andrew also likes to pretend he is a pirate on the seven seas in search of treasure. He still likes to make the couches his ships and he almost always draws a treasure map. He also started pretending he is a puppy. I think this comes from school. He once told me that he was playing with Lorelei and Jillian and he was their puppy. He likes to do simple dog things such as fetch balls, roll over, and sleep.
James and Andrew are still playing Batman Brave and the Bold. They have beaten the game a few times over, but Andrew likes starting from the beginning and going through it all again. He is still improving on his gaming skills. And for some reason, he decided that he wanted to rebuild all his LEGOs that weren't put together. It's been a daunting project, but we are making headway.
His reading is coming along. He is able to read more of the BOB books and words in his other books. His choice books that he likes for us to read to him are still super hero books and the Berenstein Bears books. He also asking again for the longer Curious George stories.
As far as his drawings, Andrew draws much more super heroes nowadays. The one he draws the most is probably Batman complete with a bat symbol on his chest. He also adds in the Batsignal, Batcave, Batwing, and/or Batmobile. He also adds in Robin and puts an "R" in his cape or uniform. There have been a few times he draws the Batcave with an armoire type thing to house the uniforms for Batman and Robin as well as beds for them. Andrew also draws Superman with the "S" on his chest and cape and Green Lantern with his ring. But he still draws his fair share of trains, fire trucks, airplanes, and any other motor vehicle he can.
Andrew has been talking a lot about Halloween, Christmas, and his birthday. He started out wanting to be Superman then Batman then Heatwave. After the Heatwave costume fiasco, he says that he will go as Bumblebee. He likes to look at things and consider them for Christmas or his birthday. He remembers that he only gets to ask Santa for one gift. So, he will then ask for other presents for his birthday. The larger set of LEGOs is usually in consideration for Christmas.
Our avid traveler is stoked about our upcoming trip to Korea. He was so happy when we got his passport in and he talks about the "long flight" that I have been trying to mentally prepare him for. He does still talk about going to NYC, LEGOLand, and Cars Land. But I have told him those will have to wait! And now, he added Corpus Christi to the list because of how much fun he had while we were there. He still talks about the Lexington and says he wants to stay at the same hotel.
One time, he was on the iPad and I heard Skype dialing. Sure enough, he had opened up the app, saw that my dad was online, and initiated a video call. He told me that "I just want to call Papa because I miss him."
Andrew is still loving school. He was saying he was in kindergarten, but now he correctly says he's in Pre K. His main buddy at school is Soumodip. Every day when I pick him up and asked about his day, he says they play super heroes when outside. For about a week, he told me that Soumodip was regular Batman, Nicholas was water Batman (meaning he had a Batboat), and he was Snow Batman (meaning he had a Bat snowmobile). There are some days where he changes which super hero he is and chooses something like Green Lantern or Superman. And when inside, he spends most of his time in the Blocks center.
We had had some discussions with his teachers about some misbehaving at school. Apparently, a lot of the boys like to dog pile and wrestle. We have been told that Andrew doesn't initiate either one, but will join in. Also, our little socialite gets sad when his friends don't want to play with him. And not just at school. So we have talked to him before and have to talked to him again in the context of school about what to do when his friends don't feel like playing with him. We talked to him about giving people their space and either finding someone else to play with or play by himself.
Also, he is really enjoying science with Ms. Ford. I think it might be his most favorite part of the school week. But he still also likes Cooking Wednesday, which is the equivalent to Super Tuesdays from last year.
He still isn't napping so much at school. Maybe once every two weeks will he end up falling asleep. So, he just goes to bed earlier now. But every blue moon, when he's tired, he will nap at school.
Andrew still chooses t-shirts over polo knits and I figure that this is how it is going to be from here on out. Also, he has been wearing his Lightning McQueen shoes because they light up versus his Spider-man or shark tennis shoes.
His favorite foods are still thit nuong, pizza, and CFA chicken sandwiches. But he asks for more Thai food and he now has added pad thai and tom yum gai soup to his repertoire besides the fried rice and sesame beef. Andrew is also eating a lot more grapes and apple slices.
For lunch at school, he likes to bring grilled cheese sandwiches. I got these sandwich cutters at Pottery Barn Kids with a transportation theme so he likes those a lot. He is also bringing pepperoni, cheese cubes, and crackers for lunch too. I still pack him PB&Js and pizza Lunchables.
He also likes to tell us "I like a little bit spicy" and asks for Ngoai's sauce, which is that mixture of soy sauce, water, and sugar. He also asks for Olive Garden and Texas Roadhouse.
Every time we go to League City, he asks if we are going to spend the night. He will offer up that we go on a date and he stay down there.
Some of the things he says lately include "Okay!!!", "Aww, man!", "That's my bad", and "I'm going to be good." When he burps or farts, he will tell us "Excuse me, I burped/farted". Andrew also says "I am so sorry", "Can I hug you?", and "I am hugging you so tight". My favorite is "I love you so much" or "I love you soooo muccchhh!" He loves to tell us that "we haven't been there in a while" to reiterate that we should go there.
Andrew's sentences are becoming even more complex and with more description. He will say things like "We are going to school right now" or "I got this morning when you told me" or like when he likes to give instructions to things.
Andrew still enjoys swimming. He told us one time "I love Rice because they have a pool and buses". But he really likes swimming there. He also asked me to buy him a life jacket so he can swim in the lap pool.
There have been a few times when he has told us that he misses the Olympics. We talked to him about the winter Olympics coming up in two years, but that's like forever in kid time. And most times when we are watching sports, he will ask who the Americans are.
Sometimes, I find him quiet and I ask what he is thinking. And sometimes, it is just whatever we are doing. But there have been a few times now that he has said "I'm just sad because I'm thinking about Matthew" and this is usually at night when he is in his bed.
I don't have any pictures of Andrew from today, but here are some back from Gavin's party and one of his drawings of construction vehicles.
We are still playing Junior Monopoly, but it's less frequent. I think Andrew is just tired of beating me all the time!! He truly wins most of the time and there is no letting up on my part and trying to let him win. He likes to tell me "maybe this time you win". We still like to play the longer version with more money to start out and the extra pot for Free Time. And he still tries to give me money if I am losing, which I am very proud of him for his empathy.
As for his favorite things to watch, Transformer Rescue Bots is by far his absolute favorite on TV. He still chooses to watch Curious George on Netflix when he is doing his nebulizer. He is asking to watch a lot more TV than we would like so we are trying to make a conscious effort to limit how much he is watching. One time when we were at Target, he was checking out the clearance DVDs and found one with Scooby Doo and Batman. Of course, he asked to buy it and I obliged. Well, it's his favorite DVD right now and asks if we can watch it for movie night all the time.
He still watches a little bit of Looney Tunes, but we are curbing it a bit. And rightfully so after he starting saying "Shoot me now!" We talked to him how that is not a nice thing to say. But he also started saying "What's up, Doc?" which is much better.
In terms of toys he plays with, he spends a lot of time playing with his Rescue Bots. He has Heat Wave and Bumble Bee. He wants all of them, but that will come in due time. When he is pretending, he even says "Rescue Bots, roll to the rescue!" and "Transform!"
Andrew also likes to pretend he is a pirate on the seven seas in search of treasure. He still likes to make the couches his ships and he almost always draws a treasure map. He also started pretending he is a puppy. I think this comes from school. He once told me that he was playing with Lorelei and Jillian and he was their puppy. He likes to do simple dog things such as fetch balls, roll over, and sleep.
James and Andrew are still playing Batman Brave and the Bold. They have beaten the game a few times over, but Andrew likes starting from the beginning and going through it all again. He is still improving on his gaming skills. And for some reason, he decided that he wanted to rebuild all his LEGOs that weren't put together. It's been a daunting project, but we are making headway.
His reading is coming along. He is able to read more of the BOB books and words in his other books. His choice books that he likes for us to read to him are still super hero books and the Berenstein Bears books. He also asking again for the longer Curious George stories.
As far as his drawings, Andrew draws much more super heroes nowadays. The one he draws the most is probably Batman complete with a bat symbol on his chest. He also adds in the Batsignal, Batcave, Batwing, and/or Batmobile. He also adds in Robin and puts an "R" in his cape or uniform. There have been a few times he draws the Batcave with an armoire type thing to house the uniforms for Batman and Robin as well as beds for them. Andrew also draws Superman with the "S" on his chest and cape and Green Lantern with his ring. But he still draws his fair share of trains, fire trucks, airplanes, and any other motor vehicle he can.
Andrew has been talking a lot about Halloween, Christmas, and his birthday. He started out wanting to be Superman then Batman then Heatwave. After the Heatwave costume fiasco, he says that he will go as Bumblebee. He likes to look at things and consider them for Christmas or his birthday. He remembers that he only gets to ask Santa for one gift. So, he will then ask for other presents for his birthday. The larger set of LEGOs is usually in consideration for Christmas.
Our avid traveler is stoked about our upcoming trip to Korea. He was so happy when we got his passport in and he talks about the "long flight" that I have been trying to mentally prepare him for. He does still talk about going to NYC, LEGOLand, and Cars Land. But I have told him those will have to wait! And now, he added Corpus Christi to the list because of how much fun he had while we were there. He still talks about the Lexington and says he wants to stay at the same hotel.
One time, he was on the iPad and I heard Skype dialing. Sure enough, he had opened up the app, saw that my dad was online, and initiated a video call. He told me that "I just want to call Papa because I miss him."
Andrew is still loving school. He was saying he was in kindergarten, but now he correctly says he's in Pre K. His main buddy at school is Soumodip. Every day when I pick him up and asked about his day, he says they play super heroes when outside. For about a week, he told me that Soumodip was regular Batman, Nicholas was water Batman (meaning he had a Batboat), and he was Snow Batman (meaning he had a Bat snowmobile). There are some days where he changes which super hero he is and chooses something like Green Lantern or Superman. And when inside, he spends most of his time in the Blocks center.
We had had some discussions with his teachers about some misbehaving at school. Apparently, a lot of the boys like to dog pile and wrestle. We have been told that Andrew doesn't initiate either one, but will join in. Also, our little socialite gets sad when his friends don't want to play with him. And not just at school. So we have talked to him before and have to talked to him again in the context of school about what to do when his friends don't feel like playing with him. We talked to him about giving people their space and either finding someone else to play with or play by himself.
Also, he is really enjoying science with Ms. Ford. I think it might be his most favorite part of the school week. But he still also likes Cooking Wednesday, which is the equivalent to Super Tuesdays from last year.
He still isn't napping so much at school. Maybe once every two weeks will he end up falling asleep. So, he just goes to bed earlier now. But every blue moon, when he's tired, he will nap at school.
Andrew still chooses t-shirts over polo knits and I figure that this is how it is going to be from here on out. Also, he has been wearing his Lightning McQueen shoes because they light up versus his Spider-man or shark tennis shoes.
His favorite foods are still thit nuong, pizza, and CFA chicken sandwiches. But he asks for more Thai food and he now has added pad thai and tom yum gai soup to his repertoire besides the fried rice and sesame beef. Andrew is also eating a lot more grapes and apple slices.
For lunch at school, he likes to bring grilled cheese sandwiches. I got these sandwich cutters at Pottery Barn Kids with a transportation theme so he likes those a lot. He is also bringing pepperoni, cheese cubes, and crackers for lunch too. I still pack him PB&Js and pizza Lunchables.
He also likes to tell us "I like a little bit spicy" and asks for Ngoai's sauce, which is that mixture of soy sauce, water, and sugar. He also asks for Olive Garden and Texas Roadhouse.
Every time we go to League City, he asks if we are going to spend the night. He will offer up that we go on a date and he stay down there.
Some of the things he says lately include "Okay!!!", "Aww, man!", "That's my bad", and "I'm going to be good." When he burps or farts, he will tell us "Excuse me, I burped/farted". Andrew also says "I am so sorry", "Can I hug you?", and "I am hugging you so tight". My favorite is "I love you so much" or "I love you soooo muccchhh!" He loves to tell us that "we haven't been there in a while" to reiterate that we should go there.
Andrew's sentences are becoming even more complex and with more description. He will say things like "We are going to school right now" or "I got this morning when you told me" or like when he likes to give instructions to things.
Andrew still enjoys swimming. He told us one time "I love Rice because they have a pool and buses". But he really likes swimming there. He also asked me to buy him a life jacket so he can swim in the lap pool.
There have been a few times when he has told us that he misses the Olympics. We talked to him about the winter Olympics coming up in two years, but that's like forever in kid time. And most times when we are watching sports, he will ask who the Americans are.
Sometimes, I find him quiet and I ask what he is thinking. And sometimes, it is just whatever we are doing. But there have been a few times now that he has said "I'm just sad because I'm thinking about Matthew" and this is usually at night when he is in his bed.
I don't have any pictures of Andrew from today, but here are some back from Gavin's party and one of his drawings of construction vehicles.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Heatwave
After first considering Batman and Superman, Andrew decided he wanted to be Heatwave (Transformer Rescue Bots) for Halloween. So, I purchased the costume this morning, which was a 3T-4T. Sadly, when we tried it on this after school, it was too small for him.
Even worse, I did some research online; and so far it seems that they don't make it in a bigger size. Totally bunk. Poor Andrew. He was really disappointed. But I told him we can find something else that he'll be happy with.
Even worse, I did some research online; and so far it seems that they don't make it in a bigger size. Totally bunk. Poor Andrew. He was really disappointed. But I told him we can find something else that he'll be happy with.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Papa's Back
Papa was originally scheduled to come back to Houston the afternoon of Friday, September 21st. But due to some rearranging and good fortune, he was able to fly back directly from his business trip in Germany last night around midnight. We had been telling Andrew the whole week that Papa was coming home this weekend. But when we found out about the change in flight, I thought we would surprise Andrew this time (last time we told my dad that Andrew wasn't going to come to the airport because it was so late at night, but he was surprised to see Andrew in the car when we picked up).
My mom drove up Wednesday evening and we didn't say anything about her and I going to pick up my dad last night. They slept over; and when Andrew woke up the next morning, I sent him down to go see Ngoai.
After making his way downstairs, he jumped on the bed and started talking to Ngoai. He then finally notices a lump on the other side of the bed and says "What's this?" and starts moving the blanket. My dad pops out from under the blanket and yells "Surprise!!" Andrew was beyond shocked. He was so happy he was kicking his feet...literally.
Can I just say again that I love how much they love each other and how close they are.
Silly me, I didn't take any pictures or videos this morning (I just ran down after Andrew and didn't think to grab the camera), but here is one of Andrew and Papa back from our Christmas photo shoot.
My mom drove up Wednesday evening and we didn't say anything about her and I going to pick up my dad last night. They slept over; and when Andrew woke up the next morning, I sent him down to go see Ngoai.
After making his way downstairs, he jumped on the bed and started talking to Ngoai. He then finally notices a lump on the other side of the bed and says "What's this?" and starts moving the blanket. My dad pops out from under the blanket and yells "Surprise!!" Andrew was beyond shocked. He was so happy he was kicking his feet...literally.
Can I just say again that I love how much they love each other and how close they are.
Silly me, I didn't take any pictures or videos this morning (I just ran down after Andrew and didn't think to grab the camera), but here is one of Andrew and Papa back from our Christmas photo shoot.
Monday, September 17, 2012
YMCA Fall 2012 Soccer Team Houston: Practice #2
I hadn't planned on doing a post for today's soccer practice, but we had a pretty memorable practice. First off, the fields were pretty wet and muddy from the rain, but practices were still held because our first game is this Saturday. The kids were taken aback that they were allowed to "play" in the mud. And boy, did they get dirty!?!?
But another reason I want to remember today's practice is because Andrew scored during scrimmage. I am disappointed with myself because I wasn't taking any videos during practice, but only pictures. However, I fortunately was lucky enough to get a few shots of the goal in motion.
But another reason I want to remember today's practice is because Andrew scored during scrimmage. I am disappointed with myself because I wasn't taking any videos during practice, but only pictures. However, I fortunately was lucky enough to get a few shots of the goal in motion.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
In the Homestretch
We are in the homestretch! Papa is set to come at the end of the week!! He is in Germany right now on business and sent us these pictures today. It just makes it all the more real that he's finally coming home soon. It has been way too long (but his coming home means that we are that much closer to going to Korea!! Eeekkk!)
Papa, we can't wait to see you in five days!!
Here are some photos that Papa sent us from his time in Heidelberg.
Papa, we can't wait to see you in five days!!
Here are some photos that Papa sent us from his time in Heidelberg.
Frank's 5th Birthday Party
We had our second birthday party of the weekend this morning. Doesn't it always seem that parties come in droves!? But this party was in honor of Frank turning five and was held at Pump It Up.
When we were signing in, Chiarra arrived with Jorja and Mac in tow so we walked into the party room with them. They immediately ran up the first slide without a moment's waste. The party host also put out these mats out for the kids to use to make them go faster. Andrew wasn't sure what to make of it, but after seeing Jorja go down on one, he tried it and loved it. We finally saw Frank and wished him a happy birthday. Soon, Palmer arrived and he and Andrew played a lot together.
Later, when we went into the second party room, the kids must have asked Brian to let them do this enclosed thing that blows a lot of wind around. The kids all loved that.
After we had lunch and birthday cake, it was time to wrap things up and head home. We had a great time and we were happy we could be there to celebrate with Frank.
When we were signing in, Chiarra arrived with Jorja and Mac in tow so we walked into the party room with them. They immediately ran up the first slide without a moment's waste. The party host also put out these mats out for the kids to use to make them go faster. Andrew wasn't sure what to make of it, but after seeing Jorja go down on one, he tried it and loved it. We finally saw Frank and wished him a happy birthday. Soon, Palmer arrived and he and Andrew played a lot together.
Later, when we went into the second party room, the kids must have asked Brian to let them do this enclosed thing that blows a lot of wind around. The kids all loved that.
After we had lunch and birthday cake, it was time to wrap things up and head home. We had a great time and we were happy we could be there to celebrate with Frank.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Gavin's 5th Birthday Party
We celebrated Gavin's 5th birthday this morning at the Greene residence. Andrew spent most of the time playing with Gavin, Shane, and some of Gavin's friends from school in the playroom. Eventually, Andrew did go outside to play in the bouncey house, but would come back in after he had enough of the heat.
He played fairly well with the other kids. There was some rough housing in the bouncy house, which is to be expected when you have so many boys around this age. But he was good about stopping when we asked him to quit.
Lunch for Andrew consisted of hot dogs, strawberries, and chips. But after lunch, we had snow cones, which the kids loved!! And later during the party, we did birthday cake, but there was also "dirt" too. So many yummy treats!!
There was lots more playing before we headed home. It was a fun party and of course, we loved spending time with the Greenes. And we were glad to be able to celebrate Gavin's birthday with him!
He played fairly well with the other kids. There was some rough housing in the bouncy house, which is to be expected when you have so many boys around this age. But he was good about stopping when we asked him to quit.
Lunch for Andrew consisted of hot dogs, strawberries, and chips. But after lunch, we had snow cones, which the kids loved!! And later during the party, we did birthday cake, but there was also "dirt" too. So many yummy treats!!
There was lots more playing before we headed home. It was a fun party and of course, we loved spending time with the Greenes. And we were glad to be able to celebrate Gavin's birthday with him!
Friday, September 14, 2012
First Day of Pre K
Jeannie, my co-room mom this year, thought of the idea to do the "first day" signs for the class. I took mine of Andrew, but here is the one she took that morning while the kids were on the playground. My poor sweaty preschooler!!
Monday, September 10, 2012
Rice Intramural Flag Football
After soccer, we drove through and got some Chick Fil A for dinner and headed to Rice. Daddy was asked by the Jones School to play on their IM flag football team and they had a game at 7pm tonight.
Andrew was very inquisitive about how flag football worked and watched the game very intently for a while while finishing up his dinner. He cheered for James "Go Daddy!". It was so cute.
Sadly, the team lost, but they played a good game. Hopefully, they can win some more down the road. Though, we aren't sure how much James will be able to play as most of the games look to be the same time as our soccer practice. But we'll try.
Andrew was very inquisitive about how flag football worked and watched the game very intently for a while while finishing up his dinner. He cheered for James "Go Daddy!". It was so cute.
Sadly, the team lost, but they played a good game. Hopefully, they can win some more down the road. Though, we aren't sure how much James will be able to play as most of the games look to be the same time as our soccer practice. But we'll try.
YMCA Fall 2012 Soccer Team Houston: Practice #1
We had our first practice of our fall soccer season. We were able to get so many of our old teammates back and were joined by a new friend who is one of Mac's friends, Joshua. It was wonderful seeing everyone--it was like a big reunion!!
The kids were cute together and played together wonderfully. After practice, Andrew even came up to me and asked "I'm playing great?!"
But Coach Daddy and Coach Gray were pleased with the first practice; and hopefully it is just the start of another great season.
Go Team Houston!!
The kids were cute together and played together wonderfully. After practice, Andrew even came up to me and asked "I'm playing great?!"
But Coach Daddy and Coach Gray were pleased with the first practice; and hopefully it is just the start of another great season.
Go Team Houston!!
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