Austin had his very first soccer game this morning at 10 am. All his games will be either at 9 or 10. There are 5 kids on each team, but only 4 play at a time. They play for 40 minutes total. The kids don't really have positions at this age. They mostly just play in a pack and try to defend their goal and kick goals for their team. Every now and then one runs ahead of the pack and scores! Or kicks the ball out of bounds. That happened frequently this morning too. But I have to say, it was the cutest thing ever to watch! Those little guys put their hearts into playing, that is for sure. Here is Austin defending the goal. He let the ball slip past once. But he wasn't the only one today. ;) His team scored 6 goals, and I am not sure how many the other team earned, it was close, though I think maybe 4-5? They don't officially keep score at this age either.
The kids agreed on names for their teams. Austin said his idea was the Blue Whales (which Brian said he did not bring up at team-naming time, he didn't suggest any name. I think he thought of it later). :D But I guess "Blue Sharks" got the most votes.
Here is our proud and happy #3 on the Blue Sharks! And eating his orange slices for snack at halftime with his buddy, Solomon. Solomon and Austin play soccer together at recess at school. They are not in the same class though. It is interesting to me how the boys play: does one of them start kicking around a soccer ball and the rest join in? And they suddenly are all friends? Yesterday when I picked him up to go to the dr., there was a whole group of boys playing soccer in the Kindy yard at recess.
Maybe I should call these two (below) Burden Bearers" also. Austin insisted on carrying the lawn chair across the field to the parking lot. He also insisted Lauren help him. When she had enough helping a short time later, he got quite upset. He still didn't want me to hang the chair on the stroller though! Finally the chair got too heavy for him, and he let me take it the rest of the way. Some other people walking said they thought it was a 1/4 mile walking from the parking lot all the way out to the soccer fields. It was a long way!
Caroline turned two months old Wednesday!
I did not plan their color-coordinated clothes. The girls often wear pink (like very often!), and Austin happened to be in navy. This was Caroline's third outfit of the day. The first two were pink. :D
Caroline with the bear she's going to be photographed with on her monthly birthdays. And the very next day she turned nine weeks (in the aqua pants), so had to photograph that too (in keeping with my weekly picture project with her).
Yesterday I took all the kids to the doctor. Caroline had her 2-month appointment. She weighed 11 lbs., 12 oz. (75th percentile) and was 23 1/2" long (95th percentile). The other kids had to get their last Hepatitis A vaccine. I think this is the third time we'd had it scheduled for them, but the other two dates (months ago) had to be cancelled b/c the vaccine was on back order. Austin went first and promptly burst into tears after his shot. Julia and Lauren returned from the bathroom just as he was getting a lollipop from the nurse, and neither of them even flinched! They got lollipops too. Caroline didn't make a peep after the first shot, but cried after the second.
Austin also had to be checked out b/c he's had a cold for the last 3 1/2 weeks, that he caught when we were in Colorado, and it still hasn't gotten better! The dr. said Austin's left ear was plugged, and it was starting to be a problem in his sinuses, and prescribed Amoxicillin for him. I am glad, as Austin coughs and coughs at night, and has had a very runny nose for all this time. There's snot on his pillowcase in the mornings, and it is just gross! Dr. also said Austin wasn't contagious at this point, which I'm sure is a good thing, as he's been in school for 3 weeks already!
Here is our little sweetheart after her shots:
And just a couple from this afternoon: We have our computer screen saver set to cycle through all the pictures saved on it, and the kids like to watch them. When Lauren sees a black-and-white picture, she says, disappointed, "Oh, there's a gray one. Those are bad pictures..." Almost like you'd describe a piece of rotten fruit or something that isn't as good as it should be!
Brian took Julia on a camping trip to Sequoia Nat'l Park this weekend. He picked her up early from school yesterday, and they are coming back Sunday evening. He was sad to be missing Austin's first soccer game, but really wanted to take Julia on a camping trip, before she doesn't care about going with Daddy, he said. He plans to take each of the kids on a trip with just him and them when they are old enough. The air mattress he bought didn't fit in the little tent we have, so he returned it. They are both going to be sleeping in sleeping bags on foam mats on the ground! I think I'll take my bed, thank you very much!! ;) I am sure they are having a great time. Julia was SO excited to go!
