Reggie is 6 years old!

(And has been for a month.)

Reggie's birthday landed during our Packer's Training Camp vacation, so we kept it simple with a WWE-themed cookout at the park.

Reggie always likes to have his own cake.  He chose cheeseburgers, potato salad, Cheetos, and watermelon for his menu.  Some of his gifts were a John Cena t-shirt, a world championship belt, transformers, and wrestler action figures.  As you can see, he likes them!

 

Just for fun, a throwback pic from when Reggie was one year old!  Oh my, how time flies...

spotlight on Brett

(I'm just going to completely gloss over the fact that I haven't blogged in over two months.)

Brett on his last day of First grade
 

Brett's school year had it's ups and downs, but he worked hard, learned a lot, and had fun.  He has become a good reader and loved his teachers. 


Brett showing his baseball trophy

Brett has participated in two activities this summer.  First off, he was on a baseball team.  In first grade, the coach pitches.  They still batted through the lineup each inning, and outs and runs didn't mean anything until the tournament at the end of the season.  The team finished 3rd.  The coaches were incredibly supportive of Brett and another child with special needs and Brett became a pretty consistent hitter. 

Hey! Lydia took this picture of us on the Ferris wheel

Second, Brett has been taking swimming lessons.  He has gone from being afraid to even enter the pool to bobbing is head under water with no hesitation and practicing many strokes!  We are so proud of him!

When asked what his favorite thing to do is, Brett answers going to the playground.  He also loves playing catch and wrestling.  He likes to draw and make things.  What a fun, fun kid.

spotlight on Lydia

Lydia graduated from kindergarten!

 Last day of school.

 

Lydia loves school.  She excelled in learning to read.  She made good friends, and she loved her teacher.  On the days during the year when she had to miss school, she would cry and cry.

One day the last week of school, I asked her what she did during "choice" time.  She said, "I wrote a love letter to Alex because I didn't know how to spell Nathan"!  Monday's were her "sharing" day, so every weekend she would spend a great deal of time thinking and talking about what she would share.  Her goals for the future include going on the rides at Mall of America and meeting the Disney Princesses!

 Lydia with our babysitter.

Outside of school, Lydia loves swimming and is also playing t-ball.  She likes to color and create, watch movies, read and swing.  My goal for her this summer is to get her to take her training wheels off!



spotlight on Reggie

Last week Reggie graduated from preschool, so I thought I'd write a post all about him! 

On Mother's Day, I was feeling nostalgic, so I went back and looked through the baby years on the blog with the kids.  It really is amusing how we had him pegged from the start. (See also here and here.)  Reggie certainly does have an "outgoing and boisterous personality", he is "high-energy, tough, and fearless", and he continues to "eat his way right through our grocery budget"!

I have to confess that with all his energy, we were unsure of how well the structure of preschool would *sit* with him, but he really amazed us.  His teacher sang his praises, he made lots of friends (no surprise), and he didn't get a single "break" all year (at school!!!!).

I've never really considered taking the kids with me to conferences, but due to conflicts in the schedule, Reggie ended up attending his spring conference with me.  I thought he would play during the conference, but instead he sat next to me like a grownup at an important business meeting and hung on every word.  Everything had been checked off the teacher's checklist except for "student can write name".  Of course not, the kid wouldn't sit and color or draw if his life depended on it!  He's far to busy taking down villains and pitching to himself in the world series.  But that very day when he got home he started practicing, and within a week he got it!  And not just his name, he did this independently:

 

Yes, "Dod", isn't that cute?  He even drew a picture of our guinea pigs and "Mom" and "Reggie" as "ice sculptures" (which he insisted on labeling with my help) on my Mother's Day card.  I guess the motivation had to come from within, and I've changed my opinion of taking kids to their conferences.

 

Reggie also has a fascination with numbers.  He is constantly quizzing me, "What's 14 plus 38?", counting (once to 409 with a little help), and, his newest venture, figuring out how time works.  Sometimes he surprises me with his mental math ability!

 

But his true passion is on the field.  Any field.

 

 

(Look close enough and you will see how passionate Lydia is about t-ball.)

 

And let's not forget the pool.

 

 

Reggie has really grown up during this year of preschool, and we are certain he will love and do well in kindergarten next year.  We love getting to watch him learn and grow, and are glad to be on this adventure with him!