This weekend, we got to take the kids to their first Major League Baseball game thanks to my thoughtful boss, Sue, who offered us tickets. It was great!
The kids had a blast - eating way too much tasty stadium food, waving their foam finger and foam tomahawk, watching the fireworks explode after a home run and dancing to the funky beats that would thump the seats during non-play time.
They are now official baseball lovers. Nate was trying to pitch just like the pros during the game - lifting his one leg in the air and jerking his body forward to throw his strike. (We had to keep telling to be careful not to hurt himself in the limited space he had near his seat.) Nia enjoyed reading the program with her daddy. He would point out each player as they came to bat and tell her how they did the last time they took the plate and what position they played.
Since we got home from the game, all Nate wants to do is play ball. When we're in the house we pretend that we are pitching to him and he swings a foam bat - he will only take off running if we make firework noises and the tomahawk chop because that meant he had a home run.
Tonight, we put pretend aside and had the kids batter up outside. We all took turns pitching, hitting and playing catcher, even as a few sprinkles fell on us. Nate and Nia hit a few "home runs" but it was Daddy who hit it out of the park.
A baseball family has been born!
Her new black shoes, supposed to still be in the box, are on her feet as she prances around the house. They sparkle and she loves them. She loves the dress she picked to wear on the first day as well, but I won't let her hold a dress rehearsal. The dress needs to stay clean.
She tells me she wants me to put her hair in sponge curlers like her Lola did. (Something I've never done before.) Her Hannah Montana backpack from Honey is packed and waiting to be worn. She's all set.
Meanwhile, I nervously try to wrap the strands of her hair around the pink curlers. The big ones go on top right? Am I using too much hair? Andrew: I don't think that's how my mom does it. Nia: It feels like when Lola does it. Me: Nia, I hope you won't be too sad if you don't have curls tomorrow.
She wakes up with waves instead of curls. They work just fine and she is happy with them. (Phew.) Her backpack still looks giant on her even though she's grown. Nate and I walk her to the bus and take what will be our traditional first day of school picture. (You have them too, right?)
She says her first day was fun and that she even talked out loud in class. She said they could only talk when they held the bear. When it was her turn, she told everyone that her name was Antonia (or Nia, she couldn't remember what name she used and she points this out to everyone she tells the story to), that she liked playing outside and with her Barbies, that she was a 10 for the day (they measured how they were feeling like a thermometer) and that her favorite food was her mommy's spaghetti. (Awesome!) She told me everyone is nice, even the boy who was mean last year. (Phew, again.)
The First Week
Nia was the "helper" for the week with a boy named Anthony (also ruled nice by Nia). She brought home homework each night - it was already finished by the time I got to see it. Eight spelling words like a, at, cat, the and counting objects and filling in the missing numbers. ("It's too easy," she says. I tell her to keep doing her best and that I'm sure it will get harder.) I was supposed to read her a story each night but she read the story to me. (And skipped ahead in the book.) On one homework assignment, she was supposed to put the words in alphabetical order - she did that sure, but then she spelled out other words that began with the other letters (even, first ...).
She told me she didn't like Phys. Ed. - that they made her do jumping jacks and she had to count them like this, 1,2,3,1 - 1,2,3,2 - 1,2,3,3 - and she counted them all out to 10 for me. She then asked, "Momma, what keeps our heart from bouncing around in our bodies?" "What color is our heart?" What does it look like? Where are our lungs? How does our brain stay up in our head?" ... I tried to answer as many of them as I could. (I now call her the Constant Questioner because I feel like she just keeps firing them at us all day. One of my favorites, "Who made God?" I didn't even know where to begin.)
Congratulations on your first week of first grade Bean! It's so much fun sharing in your adventures and your stories (heck, even your questions!).
All of those children seemed to tower over her too. If she's not the tiniest first grader I'll be surprised. She still looks like a Kindergartner and I guess I still wish she was one.
This is scary and I'm nervous. I just want her to be ok. I am fearful about what this first grade year will hold for her. Will she be shy the whole year? There is only one kid in this class that she had class with last year and according to Nia, he wasn't nice. I know I can't protect her from everything. I know she's going to have hurt feelings, have to deal with mean kids and learn by making mistakes but I just want her to be ok.
Despite the shyness, she still seems happy. That should be good enough for me, right?
In our house, there is a "computer" room.
In that room, there is a computer - but there are also several overflowing boxes.
In those boxes, there are pieces of paper that I treasure very much.
They show off first ABC's and 123's, families shaped like hearts, crayon pressed so hard by Nate that you can scratch your name in it, school work documenting little Nia's Math and Spelling skills, colorful finger paint art and Nia's illustrated stories.
I cherish every creation in those boxes. Each one is so special and shows how the kids have grown. But now I'm afraid - the collection of Nia/Nate Originals is growing too large. They are only 6 and 3 - I can't possibly let the collection keep growing - it would eventually take over our house.
But where do I begin? How do I choose one over the other? What if I throw one away that I will wish I had later? It's just so hard for me to even think about sorting through those boxes and dividing the contents into "keep" and "toss" piles.
In my head, I have issues.
Taking YouTube requests from the kids is a pretty common thing for us. In fact, when they even see me just sit down near the laptop they surround me, hurling search terms out in the air - Spiderman! Barbie! Me! Lightning McQueen! Hannah Montana! Charlie Bit Me! Funny Videos!
It actually can be a lot of fun. We all really crack up over Charlie Bit My Finger and the other night we watched some boy talk about his cool Spiderman action figures for six minutes. (That one wasn't a blast for me but Nate was totally into it.) That same night, we ventured into a few "Lightning McQueen" videos. That's when we saw a cute picture of a Beagle puppy labeled, "Talking Puppy!!" Of course, I clicked on it.
The clip was fine for the first few seconds but then - well - you can just watch it and see for yourself.
Yeah. Not the best thing for the kids to see, especially right before bed when that's pretty much the last thing they'll see for that day. I told them it was pretend and that it was just some guy who was wearing a lot of scary makeup for Halloween. That, plus a few more "innocent" Spidey and Barbie videos, seemed to help them forget about the crazy man screaming at them as they were trying to watch the dang puppy say "I love you!"
Of course, I've known you never know what you're going to get with YouTube vids but my cockiness with my searching and selecting ability got the best of me. I guess I'll just have to screen the videos the best I can before pressing play.
Seriously, May 21? Seriously? It's been that long since I've posted any content? Geez.
It's not that things haven't been happening -
- Nia "graduated" from Kindergarten and now has two baby teeth missing
- Nate can now reach the pedals on his Radio Flyer tricycle and his new toy love is Spiderman (Lightning McQueen cars come in second - his beloved Thomas has been derailed)
- Andrew actually got to go golfing (twice!)
- We are now proud members of the Atlanta Zoo
- I attempted to take a trip back to my twenties with my hip, young, co-worker buddy Ashley for a No Doubt concert (the are some Facebook pictures floating around out there - it was fun!)
- We made a trip to Ohio and West Virginia and visited family in 4 and a half days (pictures just added, with more to come)
- The Web site I help manage at work is now launched
- Andrew baked a two layer cake using a circle pan!
- I've gained six pounds
- The dog started limping again
- In an act of self-defense (and a twinge of PMS - yes, I am claiming that), I pretended I was having a blast and splashed back some rough kids who were flooding us in the YMCA pool. Andrew's response: Something like, "Way to go hon - you showed those 10 year olds." Yeah, definitely not one of my better moments - I'll have to blog more about that one in a month or so!
Recent Comments
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mom valles said:
The kids seem to really like playing ball. We did this some downstairs near the back door while I was... read more
on Nia and Nate Swing Away! -
Anna said:
Oh my gosh, Nikki! What a slugger you have there. It reminds me of that old video of Tiger Woods... read more
on Baseball Highlights
Thanks for sharing the pictures. read more
on Halloween Fun