Dawson is 4 AND A HALF!

On November 14th, Dawson turned 4.5!  You know, when you're 4, the half is a big deal! :)  We talked about how it means he's halfway to 5, and he told me that it means he's halfway to his party! 
Dawson really seems like such a big kid all the sudden.  He's such a good big boy!!  He really is a wonderful help to me.  He knows the rules and generally obeys them.  Dawson loves to show Carter new things, and he gets excited when Carter actually learns them from him.  Dawson and Carter are starting to play together more and more, and they both love it!
I've blogged a lot about Dawson lately with his school and soccer updates, so I won't touch on those any more than just to say that he loves both.  He just can't get enough of preschool and talks about it constantly!
Some of Dawson's friends he plays with at 4.5 are Charlie and Colt.  Here are a few of his favorite things:
Favorite Shows:  Veggie Tales, Bananas in Pajamas
Favorite Toys:  John Deere Gator, anything art related, books
Favorites Outings: Loves going to the zoo, Dollywood, Nana and Grandad's house, Lolly and Pop's house, and walks or bike rides in the neighborhood down to a house on the corner to see the cat named "Keelie" or the other corner to see the dog named "Riley" (I'm sure that these neighbors don't know who were are much less that we remember their pets from one-time interactions, but these pets are regular parts of our conversations, haha!)
Favorite Topics of Conversation:  "What are we planning to do tomorrow," "Why does Carter (insert anything Carter has just done that a 1 year old would do that a 4 year old would not)," "When can I spend the night at (either Lolly and Pop or Nana and Grandad)'s house?," loves telling us ALL about school and all kinds of things his friends at school say.
Other things I want to remember about Dawson at 4.5:
-He makes his bed like a champ! Each day Dawson has 4 chores to do (because he's 4).  He has to make his bed each morning, take his water cup from his nightstand to the kitchen counter, and put his pajamas in the hamper.  His fourth chore is in the evenings, and we have to pick up EVERYTHING in the playroom.  He is such a wonderful boy about his chores.  Many mornings he does the morning chores without me reminding him.  We started working with him to make his bed last November, and over the past year he has gotten REALLY good at it!!! And he knows it looks good because he is always proud of how he's made it.  (A year ago, I really wondered how much improvement a preschooler would be able to make on making their bed, but I'm SO glad I kept making him do it on his own with no real help from me, because now he gets most all the bumps out and squares the blankets and comforter up to my satisfaction nearly every time!  I'm always impressed!)
-Dawson is an excellent helper!  He will help me or John with ANYTHING we ask him to and he's happy to do it!  He prefers to help John though because John's chores are more exciting to him...for example, he gets excited that more and more leaves keep falling because that means he gets to help John work in the yard getting to the curb numerous times! 
-Dawson loves his Daddy, Grandad, and Pop!  I'm not trying to say that he doesn't love the females in his life, but Dawson just especially loves being with the guys! :)  On John's days off work, Dawson is right with John nonstop!

Dawson is such a wonderful big boy! I cannot believe that our oldest is already 4.5!! He is such a kind-hearted boy, and we love him so very much!!

I love this sweet boy and his sweet smile so much!

Dawson at 4.5!

 

Dawson at 4.5 with his two younger siblings!

Dawson at 4.5 with his two younger siblings!

(Look at his smile...that kind of a smile is just for Daddy who was standing behind me!)

Dawson at 4.5 with his two younger siblings.  He is a wonderful big brother!

Nora Kate 3 Months

Nora Kate's third month has been a wonderful one!  I finally feel like we're starting to get in the swing of things with her (as much as you ever can with kids), and we have really, really been able to enjoy this month!  The biggest part of this has been that her reflux is GONE!  About a week after she hit the 2 month mark, she suddenly just stopped having reflux issues.  It was really odd, but we are most definitely not complaining!!  She hasn't had reflux meds in over three weeks!  She still spits up a lot, but she doesn't seem uncomfortable, have the hiccups ALL THE TIME, or just have long spells of crying.  It is SO wonderful! 

Nora Kate is now a wonderfully easy baby!  Every night she goes to bed around 10:30 (we call her our little owl), and she will sleep until sleep until around 3:30 or 4...yes, that's right!  5 or 6 hours of straight sleep!!  It is amazing!  After both non-sleeping boys, I do not take this for granted for a minute!  I guess if we have enough kids we were bound to get a better sleeper...and it looks like we did! hah!  After she wakes up then, gets changed, eats, she goes right back to sleep and sleeps until anywhere between 6:30 or 7:30.  She is not on a schedule during the day just yet, but she eats about every 3-3.5 maybe 4 hours during the day.  As it gets later in the afternoon/evening she does a few "cluster feedings" which I think is what helps her go such a long stretch at night.  She has what we've called her "hold me time" each night.  She gets clingy/a little fussy/just crying to be held around 8:30 and basically just wants to be held from 8:30-10:30.  This is the time period John leaves for work so I usually just hang out with Nora Kate until she finally starts acting sleep around 10:30.  Now I don't plan to get anything done after the boys go to bed (like I used to), instead I just plan to hold, play with, and talk to Nora Kate because when I do she's happy.

This month Nora Kate has changed SO much!  She doesn't hate tummy time, and she will actually do it for long periods of time.  She also enjoys laying on her back time gym and has started swatting at the toys hanging down.  A couple of times she's even managed to grab the toys!!  The day before her 3 month birthday I sat her in the Bumbo Seat for the first time expecting her to be REALLY wobbly, but to my surprise she sat there really well for about 12-15 minutes before starting to lean.  The boys thought it was HILARIOUS to see her sitting up!  You should have heard the laughter! So sweet.  Carter kept trying to sit beside her, but he just couldn't get close enough.  Finally I got worried he might actually be trying to sit on her he was so close! :)

Also in developments this month, Nora Kate has started talking EVEN more!  I love to hear her sweet voice.  Precious!  On the day she turned 3 months, we had spread a huge quilt in the living room and were all lounging on it with the tv on.  Nora Kate was on her tummy, and she just rolled right over like it was no big deal!  So her first official roll was on November 14 from her tummy to back. 

The boys are SO sweet with their little sister.  They love to check on her, pat her, and hug and kiss her...but seriously, who wouldn't love to do that?!

She has changed a lot in her appearance this month too.  Everything about our sweet girl is round right now!  I love this baby stage.  Little leg rolls, double chin, love it!  Clearly she's getting plenty to eat and is healthy!

She has still been sleeping in the bassinet in our bedroom, but we moved both boys to their rooms when they were 3 months so we are (unfortunately) about to begin this with Nora Kate too.  I say unfortunately because I just cannot believe these first three months have gone so fast that it could already be time to move her to the crib at night. 

My other "goal" for Nora Kate (any myself) for this next month, is to get her on some sort of a (flexible) schedule.  By this age, Carter had fallen into a schedule on his own and it was wonderful!  I'm not talking about a feeding schedule, but a sleeping schedule.  I will feed her whenever she's hungry, but I would like to be able to rely on the fact that she will sleep at three set times each day.  Also, I would LOVE it if we could get her to start going to sleep for the night even just an hour early...but I'm not going to set my goals too high! :)

We love our sweet baby Nora Kate so very much, and John and I both have discussed how we cannot really remember what it was like before we had a baby girl in our lives...isn't that crazy?!

Now for some pictures...

 

 

Nora Kate wearing out at tummy time, but willing to lift her head just a little longer for her sweet brother Carter!

I NEVER pose these pictures.  Both brothers just love to take part in tummy time!

Seriously, I have a TON of pictures of the boys laying on the floor with Nora Kate!  They just can't get enough of her!

Nothing startles Nora Kate. Wonder why? Probably because she's used to having loud tractors, trucks, and in this case a Weebles camper driven by her at all times by her rowdy brothers.

Nora Kate's first successful grab of a toy!!

(Check out our little night owl's owl pajamas from her Nana and Grandad...sweet and warm pajamas for these cold temps!)

This was during naptime, so she's dressed (not in pajamas), but she really is outgrowing her bassinet.  One foot is touching at the bottom and her head is almost touching at the top in this picture.  Makes me remember how tiny she looked in this bassinet just 3 months ago. 

Nora Kate is 3 months.

Monthly sibling photo

Monthly sibling photo

Both of Nora Kate's big brothers love her...Carter just had to sneak his sister a kiss while I was taking the pictures!  Totally unprompted...sweetest!  Love these sweet kids!

Monthly sibling photo

Nora Kate 3 months.

Nora Kate 3 months

Nora Kate 3 months

Carter at 19 Months

Carter, Carter, Carter!  I cannot even begin to include all the things I want to remember about Carter in his 19 month update!  Carter is HILARIOUS!  He keeps us laughing all.the.time!  And he loves to laugh.  If there's a silly thing to do, Carter finds it!  It is impossible to have a bad day with Carter around, he is just a happy little guy!
Carter is a dancer! He dances to anything and everything and has recently expanded his previously limited dance moves (the sway and the bouncing with bent knees) to numerous moves that include arms!  Recently we were at a restaurant that had music playing, Carter had EVERYONE laughing and watching in our HALF of the restaurant.  When the song would change, he would change dance moves!  Every night after we clean up the playroom while the boys' bathwater is running, we turn on a song (we did this once and it became a must do every night) for the boys to dance and be wild to.  Popular choices are Rocky Top, Call Me Maybe, and Harlem Shake.  Both boys love this time.  Of course, we have music playing a lot of the other times for Carter to dance to also, but this is somehow special for them.
Carter is also a little singer! (Maybe he's going to be a comedian/singer/dancer..haha! One man entertainment...he is for us!)  Anyway, he picks up on songs SO very quickly.  His newest favorite is Wheels on the Bus.  He knows the tune, motions, and never misses the "round and round" part.  The sweetest thing about Carter singing though, is that he sings on his own, unprompted too...not just when we're singing with him.  I really need to start singing some more educational songs (like the days of the week song, etc.) to him to since he picks up on things so quickly through song.
Carter copies everything that Dawson does...no exceptions.  This is both good and bad.  Carter loves his big brother more than anyone it seems.  This month he has become more affectionate than ever, and he loves to give Dawson hugs!  When Carter gives you hugs he also pats your back. It's so sweet, I love it.
One of the biggest things to report from this month, is that it appears we have started potty training.  About a week ago, I just happened to look at Carter and he looked like he needed to go potty (I won't go into any more detail than that), but I scooped him up and took him to the bathroom, where, sure enough, he used the potty!  Since then he has worn a combination of cloth training pants and his normal cloth diapers, and has been having about an average of 3 successful potty trips each day.  The best day we had 4 and the worst day we just had one...but he is just now turning 19 months, so I still am really impressed with him!  I wasn't really planning to start with him this early, but if he's ready it will mean less diapers to clean and change...and if he's ready I want to do it while he's interested.
I usually include information on Carter's vocabulary in these updates, but I believe we are beyond that now.  There is no way I could every get all of his words because he learns and uses new ones each day, each hour it seems! :) I love hearing him talk.  A couple of my favorite things to hear him say are snake "nake!", snack "nack", smoke "moke!" (He really doesn't like that double consonant that begins with "s" at the beginning of the word and drops the s on a lot of these words...this is totally normal, but I just think it's cute!)  Vocabulary-wise, he is also stringing together more words to make little sentences.  Again, all of which I can't write down because there are many!
In terms of diet, Carter seems starved some days and eats everything in sight (including steak and pot roast-previous "no's" to him), and other days he won't even eat favorites like grapes!  Overall though he does eat pretty well...he has improved over this past month especially.  Carter's very favorite drink is milk, he drinks this all the time!  Dawson never cared (and still doesn't) too much for milk, so this is slightly surprising to us!  Maybe not having dairy for the first year of his life, he thinks this is a big treat!  haha!  He still has never had juice, and he's so content with milk and cold water, that we're going to keep it this way as long as possible.
Carter is such a good big brother and little brother, and he's such a happy, sweet little boy!  We love him so much and all the laughter and joy he brings to us!

Monthly sibling photo

Monthly sibling photo

Monthly sibling photo and all on his own while I was taking these pictures, Carter looks beside him at Nora Kate and just decides to kiss her.  He's so sweet and affectionate like that!  There was no prompting here!

Monthly sibling photo

It's hard to sit still at 19 months!

Carter 19 months

What's It Like?!

*This post isn't too exciting.  I typed this out about 3 weeks ago, and I have debated actually posting it on the blog, just because I don't want it to seem like we've got it figured out.  haha!  We don't...for example, Friday evening the kids and I met my Dad for dinner, when we got there he noticed that Carter's shoes were on the wrong feet.  And yes, I was the one who had put on his shoes.  :)  More than anything it contains a lot of details I want to remember from this stage in the life of our family.  This stage is a little crazy and hectic, but it's so wonderful...and that's what I really want to remember.  I write our blog so that eventually I can have it printed into a book, as sort of a basic history of the kids' childhoods and our family life.  I think it will be neat for them to have to look back at.  It is only an added bonus that I can share this blog with friends and family we don't get to see too often (another reason it was started when we were living in Alabama).  So, again, if you read this post, it's not saying we've got it figured out and every minute is perfect.  It's just a crazy, hectic, fun, wild time, and I want to remember that.*

"What's it like having three kids?  How far apart are all three kids?  Wow, you have your hands full!"

I'm pretty sure I can't pump gas, walk in the park, or go to the grocery store without someone saying one of these things to me.  I really don't mind.  I'm happy to show off my kids, and generally they are behaving well so it works out.  But one of the most common questions I get is what it's like having three kids.  So, since I'm not doing the weekly blogs on Miss Nora Kate now (just monthly updates), I decided to post a little about this because I want remember what it's like having three kids ages 4, 18 months, and 2 months.

"What's it like having three kids?" 

When people ask me what it's like, I'm never really sure what short reply to give.  The truth is it's awesome...it's CRAZY awesome though...meaning there is always something going on whether it be taking Dawson to preschool or soccer, cleaning up a Carter mess or removing him from the latest piece of furniture he decided to scale, or nursing and changing Nora Kate.  There is always something going on.  We are never, ever bored...and a lot of times it is a little crazy.

I'll talk about the awesome part first, though.  I really do love taking care of all three kids-and not just because I have to.  I'm glad to be the one to answer all 3,000 questions Dawson answers each day and to explain to him that it's okay to take the ball from someone in soccer if they're not on your team when they're kicking it toward their goal.  I'm happy to be the one to sing the same song (today it's "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes") to Carter over and over and over with his requests of "more" after I finish each time, and I'm equally happy to be the one who has to continually get on to Carter for his new found love of sneaking to unplug and re-plug cords in electrical outlets.  I'm also glad to be feeding Nora Kate  day and night and changing her diapers. 
I'm happy to do all of this because I remind myself that Dawson's 3,000 questions are because he just wants to keep the conversation going with me.  I'm happy to do give Dawson the soccer advice because one day (soon, I'm afraid) I won't really know much sports advice to give Dawson that he doesn't already know.  I'm happy to sing for Carter because one day he will know all the words (and will probably also know that I don't have a great singing voice).  I'm happy to teach Carter about the dangers of the electrical outlet because one day soon he will understand, and I will have kept him safe.  I'm happy to feed and change Nora Kate because I know that things change so quickly in the first months and years, and that although being up in the middle of the night is tiring it won't last forever--even when it seems like it will! 
So the "awesome" part of having three kids, is really just more of what's so great about having one or two.  I also love that the kids will have siblings close in age with whom they can grow up and play.

Now on to the "crazy" part.  I believe that part of what attributes to the craziness is just that the two youngest are close in age.  If Nora Kate had come on her due date, she and Carter would be 15 months apart.  Since she was a couple of days late, they are actually 16 months.  Either way, they're close in age.  It seems I hear of people having their first (or only) two kids close in age more commonly than their second and third close in age.  But, I must say, I think it's a little different when the 2nd and 3rd are the two who are close in age (by no means, am I saying one is better/easier/harder than the other, just different).  Many of Dawson's activities (ie, preschool, soccer, playdates at locations specific to his age level), take us out of the house more frequently than probably most 18 month old and 2 month olds.  Frequently being on the go can add to the craziness just because it requires added planning, packing, etc.  The great part, though, is that Dawson is a big help.  He is usually always great to help me, especially when we're on an outing.  Another nice thing, is that Carter and Dawson are enjoying playing together more and more, so we don't always have to go somewhere or have someone over (although we love to!!!) for the boys to be entertained by someone other than just me!  The craziness, I mentioned, usually kicks in when we're headed out the door, or we've had several days in a row of being out of the house or staying too busy.  More than anything, I think I'm learning not to plan too much for us to do each week so that we can enjoy some time playing at the house-so the boys can play with just each other some, and so we can have a little home time.  I have been trying to be more mindful of this lately, and I still feel like we are getting to let the kids do some fun, entertaining things without absolutely exhausting ourselves. 

The biggest things I want to remember about having three kids at ages 4, 18 months, and 2 months...
-It is FUN!!
-I NEVER, EVER leave the house without the double stroller!
-I NEVER, EVER leave the house without some type of carrier for Nora Kate-the Moby wrap, the Ergo carrier where I can wear her on my front, something!  (For example, grocery shopping-Dawson walks beside the shopping cart, Carter rides up top in the seat, and I wear Nora Kate in the Ergo carrier on my front...this is the only option because if she's in the shopping cart there's no room for groceries.  At first I thought this was a challenge, but we've adjusted!)
-Whatever time we need to be somewhere, I plan to arrive 15 minutes early.  We NEVER actually get there 15 minutes early, but we're usually right on time.  Carter and Nora Kate both have a habit of needing to be changed one additional time after I change their diapers for us to leave the house. 
-It's fun!!

"How far apart are all three kids?"  (This is the question strangers usually ask)
"What's it like having two close together in age?" (And this is the question friends usually ask)

When I was still early in my pregnancy with Nora Kate and Carter was not even one year old yet, I remember worrying that all the special "baby moments" might not seem as special with Nora Kate simply because I had just experienced them with Carter.  I thought that nursing might not seem like the bonding experience it is because I would have just weaned Carter 4 months before Nora Kate's birth. Or that I might not have as much patience and energy to be up with her during the night since Carter didn't start sleeping through the night until just 5 months before her birth.  I wondered if all of her firsts--first smile, first laugh, first bath, etc. might not seem as special having just done all of these 15-16 months prior with Carter.  BUT I think that having Carter and Nora Kate close in age, has made these moments even more special.  I see how much a baby can change in just 16 months.  When I saw Nora Kate's first real smile, I thought of how many times each day Carter smiles now and how just a short time ago his first smile was newsworthy.  When I'm up with Nora Kate at night, I think of how it already seems like so long ago that I was up at night with Carter.  More than anything, I think that having two children close in age, makes me appreciate all of these special "baby moments" more because I know how fast they change. 
On a funny note that relates to the question of the age gap between the kids... a few weeks ago, we were out and I had Carter and Nora Kate on the double stroller and Dawson was walking.  A lady looked at all three kids and then asked if Carter and Nora Kate were twins.  Yes, she was asking if my 2 month old and 18 month old were twins.  I was SO caught off guard! I must say, I never expected this question!  :)

"Wow, you have your hands full!"

This obviously isn't a QUESTION I get commonly, but I do get this comment everywhere we go.  I have yet to come up with a great response to this comment.  Even when all three kids are perfectly behaving and no one is crying, I get this comment-so I believe it's more of a comment on having three young children more than on having kids that are a handful themselves.  I saw a sign someone had made on pinterest the other day that said, "If you think my hands are full, imagine how full my heart is."  I have never actually said this to anyone, but this seems like the perfect response.  John and I have actually been told this so many times in public that we have talked about it, and John suggested that maybe it's meant as a compliment.  Either way people mean it, we do have our hands full AND we do enjoy it this way, AND, as the sign I saw on pinterest said, our hearts are full also!

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, more than anything I just wanted to document what our life is like at this stage of three kids 4 and under so we can remember.  If you've managed to read through this whole post, you deserve a few pictures...     :)

In the spirit of trying to record things so we can look back and remember...

Let's remember how at age four Dawson LOVED wearing this Hawaiian shirt.  He calls it his "painting shirt" (not sure why) and sometimes he calls it his "work shirt" or his "mowing shirt" either way, he wears this shirt at least once a week.

John says that when Dawson's in high school and is really into his appearance we will pull out ALL the pictures we have of him in this shirt and remind him how he wanted to wear it EVERY day!  :)

I want to remember how Carter loves to climb in things....boxes, drawers, anything he can fit (or try to fit) in!  (Here he is laying in the drawer we keep the Weebles in!

In the spirit of remembering that being up at night with Nora Kate won't last forever, here is a picture of me and her cuddling one night when she wasn't wanting to settle down in her bassinet.  (I think I took this picture on my phone to text to John who was at work to say, "we're STILL awake!")

Dawson's Midterm Preschool Update

At Fall break in mid-October Dawson was officially a fourth of the way through his first year of preschool.  He was at the midterm.  :)

I thought it would be an appropriate time to briefly talk about his first school experience.  He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES school!  I was worried for months that he wouldn't like being away from me two days every week, or that he would have mornings he didn't want to go, or that he would get teary eyed and want to go back home with me.  I also worried that the beginning of his school year being the time of Nora Kate's birth that it would be stressful for him with too much change.  Haha-I shouldn't have worried at all! 

Dawson seems like such a big kid!  He has never cried, never gotten teary eyed, never asked to stay home.  In fact,  he's always thrilled to go to school, walks quickly down the hallway to his classroom because he's excited to get there, and he really seems to enjoy it.  He has two great teachers-Ms. Libby and Ms. Nancy, and he really likes them both.

I can tell he's learning a lot, and I'm really impressed with that.  I know he loves the social part of school.  He always comes home with a story.  His favorite friends to play with at school are Bailey and Cheyenne.  These two girls are into Hello Kitty, and now Dawson points out Hello Kitty everywhere we go.  He thinks these two little girls are pretty awesome.  One day I was helping Dawson when my hair tickled his face.  He said, "Mommy, you need to get Hello Kitty hair clips like Bailey so your hair stays out of your eyes." (Thanks, Dawson!)  He really enjoys having his school friends that he's made on his own.

We have gotten nothing but good reports from his teacher which makes me very happy!  At some point around the halfway mark, I believe we have parent-teacher conferences. 

In the mornings, we take Dawson to his classroom to drop him off.  I load Carter and Nora Kate on the double stroller to walk Dawson in.  About a third of the time, Carter cries for Dawson on the way back out-sweet little brother!  In the afternoons, there is a car line to pick up the kids.  Carter and Dawson are both always excited to see each other.  Then Dawson tells us all about his day!

It's always funny to see what stood out to him about his day.  He usually always reports what centers he did during center time, what he did on the playground, if they got to use scissors (he loves cutting!), if they got to paint (another favorite), and usually there is some report of what someone was wearing (so-and-so "had on a shirt with a ghost on it, and that ghost had on a hairbow!" or so-and-so "hand on fingernail polish like you, Mommy!" or "so-and-so had on a shirt with a tractor!") Oh, and how could I forget the most important part...he NEVER forgets to show me what he picked out of the treasure box! (They get a treasure if they don't have to pull a card for disobeying-I'm proud to say Dawson has had a treasure every day!)  He's really bought into this treasure box idea, and one time he was headed to Lolly and Pop's house and he told me that if Lolly was "a good girl, she could get a treasure out of a box somewhere." Haha! 

 

Dawson's first school picture!

The day before Halloween the kids had a pancake breakfast and costume parade.  They were to come dressed as a storybook character.  Dawson picked a book about firemen to go along with his Halloween costume.  Here he is parading with his class.

Dawson and Daddy at the pancake breakfast!

Dawson with me at his pancake breakfast Wednesday morning.

 

It was fun to watch Dawson walk with his class and act like such a big kid at the pancake breakfast.  John and I both agree that it would be wonderful to be a fly on the wall for just one day in Dawson's class.  I'm sure it would be entertaining, and I'd love to see how he acts when we're not around! 

All in all, we have all adjusted to him going to preschool two days a week.  I still am not used to having him gone two mornings a week, but he really does enjoy it!  More than anything, we are so happy that our sweet Dawson is loving preschool. 

 

So I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, and I'm just now getting around to putting it on the blog...so I wanted to add that just this past Wednesday at school was the FIRST time Dawson has told us that he has played with a friend that was a boy.  He was excited to report when he got in the car that, "I played with someone new today!  He's a boy!  His name is Brooks!"  There aren't many girls in our playgroup so I think maybe that has been why he's been so interested in playing with the girls, and I really don't care who he plays with at all!  I just thought it was funny that he made SUCH a big deal that he played with a boy this time. 

Dawson's First Soccer Season

Dawson played his first sport this fall...soccer!  He had been looking forward to this since last Christmas when he got a soccer ball and goal!  He was so excited!  During the season he made big improvements and learned (on a 4 year old level) how to play the game.  His was on team T-Rex, and had two (patient) coaches.  The first couple of games, most of the kids had fun just running and playing in the field from time to time, and would have to be reminded to stay with the ball and pay attention-Dawson was no different, but when reminded he got right back with the game.  By the second game he was paying more attention, then we realized that he didn't like to take the ball away from people because he didn't understand that that was OK to do in the game...he was trying to be nice! :) Sweet boy.  After we talked about this being what he was SUPPOSED to do, he got it!  Dawson looked forward to going to his soccer practice and game EVERY week, and he never said he didn't want to go.  He really did enjoy it!  It was fun to go to watch him practice and play every week, and we were proud of him!

 

Ready for first practice.

Kick!

I always packed a bag of snacks for Carter to eat during the games.  After the first two games, he came to expect to sit and eat the whole time!  Here he is enjoying a fruit leather!

Dawson had a big fan club at every game.  Here are the regular members of his fan club!  Nana, Grandad, Pop, Lolly, John, Carter, Nora Kate, (and of course I was taking the picture!)  One game Dawson ALSO had Aunt Em, Eric, and Hailey come watch!  He's a lucky boy to have such great family willing to come watch every game!!

Fro the munchkin league (U5), the don't wear jerseys for AYSO Blount County.  They wore t-shirts.  So here's his "jersey".

He was number 1!

Instruction from a coach.

Nora Kate enjoyed all of the games too because she loved being held by Nana.

After each game we would let Carter get out of the stroller and run around on the field.  He would always kick and kick the ball to the goal...he had watched and knew what to do!

Nora Kate also had fun being held by Lolly while cheering on her big brother!

Soccer fun!

 

 

After each game we would form a tunnel for both teams to run though.  The kids loved this part!  (Dawson is number 1.)

Dawson played his friend, Finn's team.  Here Dawson (number 1) is up against Finn (in the green closest to Dawson).

After the season we met at Mr. Gatti's for a dinner and the trophy ceremony.  Here is Dawson getting his trophy from one of his coaches!

Dawson's first trophy!  He is very proud of it!

It's on a shelf in his room now.  He told us that he wants to get a lot more trophies and then put them all in a box like Grandad.  :)

 

This Monday night seemed odd not having soccer to go to!  Every Monday since Nora Kate was 1 week old, we have spent watching Dawson play on the Maryville College soccer fields.  We just got an email about Spring soccer sign ups, and Dawson says he wants to play again...so it looks like we will be back at the fields again in the Spring!  :)