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!





Wedan's meet Wrigley Field

For our 12th anniversary we crossed our 7th major league ballpark off the list.  Bryan strategically booked our trip for when the Brewers played the Cubs.

It was a whirlwind trip.  We shipped the kids up to Meemaw and Papa's and caught a flight on Friday night.  We stayed downtown, which was nice even though it wasn't in the "Wrigleyville Neighborhood".

The donut shop by our hotel was marketing to the loyal fans and tourist.

We'd done the sites in Chicago before so it was fun to spend the most of our Saturday soaking in Wrigley Field, starting with our tour at 9:30.  101 years old, Wrigley is the second oldest major league ball park.  The iconic sign was originally green and the Cubs didn't play night games until they finally added lights to the stadium in 1988.  Wrigley is known for it's ivy along the outfield wall, and during our visit the stadium was undergoing some renovations to the outfield seating.

 

The JumboTron is an addition this year but the original scoreboard is still utilized and operated manually. 

 



We enjoyed seats behind home plate and it was a great day to take in the game.  The Brewers won.

 

We stumbled into a great Thai restaurant by our hotel for dinner and caught a flight home Sunday morning.  We have 23 more ballparks to visit, but we're planning to be married for a long time.

Easter

more winter highlights

As of last Thursday I have officially completed all of my continuing education credits to renew my license, most of them since January.  I work best under pressure! ; )  Here are some highlights from our winter that didn't make the blog yet.

 

Reggie was a frog in his preschool's production of "Noah's Zoo".  Papa and Meemaw came to see the program and take him out to lunch.

Lydia wrote a book about Giraffes.  Did you know giraffes lay one baby?

Lydia and I had a Girl's Night Out!  We went to Build-A-Bear at the Mall of America.

Lydia and Reggie took Beginner's Gymnastics through community ed.  They both did great!  Lydia started out really wanting to go, but says she doesn't want to take another class.  Reggie was the only boy in the class.  He is strong but lacks poise! ; )

 



Who was this party *really* for?

We made rainbow cupcakes for Lift Up Kids.  I forgot to take a picture of the end result but they were a big hit!

One of our favorite playgrounds added a zip line.  Hello Spring!



We went to see the farm babies at the zoo!