Cutest Batmen Ever

When Patrick realized one of his Batman t-shirts was too small he told Donald he wanted to give it to Madeline. She wore it with pride all day today.

Soccer Shoes

Patrick will be starting a soccer program with some of his friends and classmates in a few weeks. We took him to pick out cleats and shin guards on Sunday and he was so excited and proud of his new gear. He wants to wear his cleats everywhere, and has been practicing running "very fast." He has expressed some concern over the "no hands" rule in soccer, so practice is going to be interesting.

Patrick Becomes a Genie!

This year the tears were mine. Patrick started his Genie year with a smile and a wave to us as he ran off to look at books with his friends last Tuesday, and I had to fight back tears as I realized that this is his last year of preschool. We're entering into year three with the same 12 classmates and their families, and Abra feels like home, as evidenced when the school flooded in all the rain last week and everyone pitched in to help with wet vacs, towels, fixing the sump pump, and cleaning. Patrick was a little bit concerned about the new rule of "no outside toys" at school (he loved occasionally taking in a special superhero, "homework" book, or even a pencil to show his friends), but thrilled to discover that the new Genie room has "daddy nails" ("for real life, I'm not kidding mommy") and hammers, and he's been happily hammering away at "corners" (two pieces of wood hammered together with a nail) all week. We know this will be a special year for Patrick and all of the Genies.

Cape Cod 2011

This year we had the pleasure of discovering that Cape Cod can be really fun in good weather too (it rained almost every day last year). We explored every inch of Oyster Pond in pursuit of crabs, minnows, and clams. We briefly acquired a pet clam named Mariel, and Patrick was thrilled to catch his first minnow in a net. We played baseball with Grandaddy, flipped pancakes with Uncle Derek, made several trips to the fish pier to view the seals (and acquire chowder and lobster rolls), attended a fabulous clambake to celebrate Aunt Melissa's 30th, and Jen and I discovered beach yoga, which was one of the highlights of the week. Hurricane Irene scuttled our plans for the Friday night band concert, but we were happy to get back home after two weeks away.

Connecticut Cuties

The good news: we bought a house. The bad news: we have to keep our own house clean to sell it. So a few weeks ago I packed up the kids for a week in Connecticut and some Grammy daycare while I worked and the house in Virginia stayed relatively pulled together. Patrick quickly fell into the routine of swimming every afternoon, frequent ice cream cones, bike rides and and trips to the playground at O.G. Elementary. Madeline enjoyed harvesting veggies from Grammy's garden and cuddling with her brother. I wasn't sure how much Patrick was understanding about the move until I asked him to clean up his toys one night and he said "we have to clean up so someone will buy this house, Mommy." He got me again a few days later when I caught him gazing at one of my favorite views of the beach. I got a little nostalgic and said I wished he could grow up swimming on the team at Rocky, to which he promptly replied, "I thought you didn't want me to grow up."

Ms. Piggy

Madeline watches her brother get piggyback rides up to bed quite a bit, and it finally occurred to us she might be ready for a piggyback ride of her own. She held on tight, and was so proud of herself.

Playtime

I love watching the kids absorbed with their toys. Patrick asks me for a piece of yarn just about every day so that his "guys" can tie up the bad guys, or get tied up themselves. And Madeline is really into her baby dolls. She loves changing their diapers, buckling them into her high chair for "nack," and pushing her stroller. Recently she is insisting on carrying a "purse," which is a colorful gift bag that she hangs on her arm, or dangles over the baby stroller handle. Recently she had a little temper tantrum before getting into the car to go to the grocery store. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until she finally got her words out: "need purse!" I found a polka dot gift bag and we were happily on our way.