The Kids - What this blog is really supposed to be about :)

With the insane month of June we had there was little time to update everyone on the happenings of Jake, Brenden, Rylan, and Miles. So here it is!

The Bigs - Jake and Brenden

I believe in one of my previous posts I left off talking about tryouts for select soccer for Jake with Cincinnati United. Well, he made a team! However, when we first got the word Jake was still a little hesitant as to what he wanted to do and he found out he had made one of the B teams which competed at a lower division. Although he was listed on the B team there was a chance he would move up to an A team since he was also listed as the 1st alternate to make the 3rd A team. The kids have 24 hours to make a decision and less than a week from that they would have to be fully committed by turning in all the paperwork and money (which isn't cheap). So we talked everything through and Jake decided he was ready for the challenge so we let the team coordinator know. We got word back that one boy had elected to play up an age group so Jake would be on the 3rd A team, the CUSE Fire. He was thrilled, as were we. I was especially happy because I think being on the A team and more competitive division will really open Jake's eyes to the level of competition that is out there. He has always been the best player on his team and now he is playing with kids that have been playing select soccer for at least a season so he'll have to really work at his skills if he wants to be one of the best players again, a challenge I think he's ready for and I think he will enjoy (at least I hope). So the team has gotten together once to do some drills and conditioning and Jake seemed to like the players, coaches, and everything they worked on. He was also happy to discover that he's the fastest player on the team :) They will continue to have a few more training sessions this summer and 2 practices a week will start in late August along with games and tournaments on the weekend - I guess I will officially be a soccer mom starting this fall!

Also in the world of soccer, the boys attended their first camp - Soccer camp! We got word from one of Brenden's coaches that there was a good day camp nearby and it was also reasonably priced. I checked out the website and asked the boys if they wanted to give it a try. At first they were unsure, but when I told them they wouldn't have to go with me to the gym while I taught swim lessons and/or worked out, they were all in :) Brenden was also excited that his buddy, Lance, from his soccer team would be there. Camp was 9am-12pm Monday - Friday at a local park and was run by the former Xavier soccer coach. They spent their time learning new drills/skills and then putting those skills to practice in a week long tournament. Both boys seemed to enjoy it a lot. Brenden was a bit shy at first, but quickly got into it and made some new friends and had lots of fun. One of Jake's friends from school happened to be there too so that made Jake happy from the start. Brenden's team won their tournament and Jake's team lost in the finals on the last day (big bummer for Jake). I would say overall it was a very good experience. They got to learn, make new friends, and deal with some adversity (some of the players were more aggressive than both boys were ready for).

The boys will get their second run at a camp experience next week. Chris's parents offered to take Jake and Brenden for a week. And after looking at their schedules, Ginger suggested that the boys do a day camp at Gilmour Academy (Chris's High School). She thought this would keep the boys from getting bored during the day when Pete would be working and she had other commitments to attend to. We all thought this would be a great idea. The camp looks awesome - swimming, ice skating, tie-dye, games, etc. So I sent the boys off to Cleveland on Friday with Pete. I was a little sad to say goodbye and Jake couldn't get out of here fast enough. I'm really excited to hear how it goes, I'm sure they will have a blast. I also think it's great that they get to spend some time away from home even though we will miss them.

And even though it is summer, there has been homework. We are attempting to be good parents and keeping the boys reading and working on their math skills throughout the summer :) Brenden has been a reading champ. He has gotten through all of our level 1 &2 books and his well through the level 3 books and reading a lot of the toddler/baby books to Miles at bedtime. Jake is almost done with his second Harry Potter book and ready to start the 3rd. I gave him the goal of finishing the 2nd book by the end of June and the 3rd book by the end of July, and he's right on track. I have also had the boys doing math on the iPad with a few different math apps. Jake's not too keen on doing math, but Brenden has been very excited about learning how to add. Regardless, both boys are doing great in their progress and should hopefully avoid a summer slide.

The Littles - Rylan and Miles

There's not too much to report on Rylan. She continues to be our most challenging of the four, but she's also pretty awesome. I have to admit that I am not worried about her getting pushed around when she's older. That girl knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to get it, a frustrating trait for us now but it will serve her well throughout life :) She is enjoying having the boys gone although she has said Jake (not Brenden) can come back. She is soaking up all of the extra attention she can get. I'm pretty sure she would be more than happy if she were an only child :)

Miles on the other hand has had quite the month! At the end of May he hit a massive growth spurt. I'm quite curious to see just how big he has gotten at his 6 month check up on July 10th - when we left for Jamaica he was on his tip toes of the lowest setting of his exersaucer and is now on the middle setting with his feet nearly flat. During his growth spurt he had a few days of eating over 40 oz of formula/breast milk. He weaned himself because I simply could not produce enough milk to keep up with his hunger. As a result, we started him on solids a full month earlier than I did with the other kids. I now have him on the eating schedule that the others had at 9 months - 3 meals and 3 bottles a day. He has been a great eater, he favors the fruits, but more than willing to eat the veggies too. He is by far my biggest baby. 

In this past month he has also started to reveal his crazy :) He is no longer content to just sit back and take it all in. He is rolling from front to back and back to front. He's on his way to crawling, he can get from point A to B just not on all fours yet, but it won't be long - he is able to rock back and forth on all fours. He's reaching and grabbing for anything he can get his hands on. And he has quickly learned that in order to get attention in this family you have to make some noise :) Although he does like having the attention of his siblings, he often is happy to jump (and jump and jump and jump and jump....) in his bouncer. He is also able to sleep through the night, although he still has nights he wakes for short periods because of teething or other ailments, but that's to be expected at this point. 

So there you have it, Jake, Brenden, and Rylan are great and Miles has officially joined the crazy!