Teague

Teague has been cracking us up lately. I thought I'd share a few of his funny comments with some Bower Studio pics (from May). 

 On Neland's birthday, Teague had visited the bathroom and as usual didn't want to put his shorts back on. He handed them to Granny and ran off. Granny asked Teague where his pants were and he said plainly, "You have them." I told him he couldn't run around without his pants on, he replied, "Okay I'll walk."

 Teague comes to our room every night. One night the light was still on and I was trying to get Chris to turn it off (but we were both under the covers and neither of us wanted to get up). I told Teaguie to give Chris a big kiss and say really sweetly, "Daddy will please turn off the lights." Teague did all of this, a super sweet kiss, and a super sweet voice. Then laid down and said, "Now do it."

 Teague has labeled a kid at school "the rude guy" and doesn't like to play with him. I try to encourage him to give the kid a chance and mentioned it to his teachers. His teacher laughed and said on Thursday the "rude guy" tried to play with Teague and a friend and Teague looked right at him and said, "Are you going to be nice today?"

 Chris has worked a lot of all nighters recently (like three in three weeks), and it's never like he works all night and then comes home, it's usually till 8 the next night - or later. One Sunday Chris went into work but we drove up to meet him for breakfast (and surprised the boys by going to Caribou Coffee). As we were leaving, Chris was putting Teague into his car seat and Teague asked, "Daddy are going to spend the night at work tonight or are you coming home?" Chris has been obsessed with Cat's in the Cradle song so I started laughing and mentioned how I didn't even have to coach him on saying that and sang the chorus to the song. Chris came home.

 I know I'm forgetting a few stories, but here's a few more pictures of this cutie!

the past few weeks

We are in the groove of school for the most part. We've stopped walking in afternoons because it started to seem a little too dangerous (a speeding yellow hummer coming out of blindish turn sealed the deal for me). Neland loves riding the bus, so it works. Teague misses walking but I think we will still do it occasionally (we will take a much longer route though). 

Both boys LOVE their teachers, which is such a blessing! They both get excited about going to school, although Neland does ask for a day off. And I don't blame him :).

Tball has started back up. We ended up on a different team (apparently you have to request the coach you want in some area of the form to stay on the same team). Our coach is great, but intense. It's all about fundamentals and drills and not wasting a minute. This is great, but it may completely take the fun out of it for Neland. We'll see. So far he's okay, not super loving it like before where drills were games and everything was a much slower speed. We did luck out that two boys on his team have recess at the same time he does! So he has a few friends on the playground.

 We had our first game on Saturday. The other team ended up asking to stop playing after 2 innings because our team can hit the ball hard. Neland is not one of those that hits hard, but the rest of the team is really good (I'm talking like forced outs, although we aren't up to double plays yet).

 While Neland is at school, Teague has been dragged to a few meetings I've had. Usually they are at Starbucks or Dean and Deluca. I have really been impressed with his ability to entertain himself and sit through 2-3 hour meetings. I usually end up handing him the phone to play with about an hour in, but we also take a journal with markers, books and cars.

When Teague has the phone, he loves to take pictures. This one turned out pretty cute.

 Meeting Neland in the afternoons is so fun. Teague always runs to him. Last Friday we were walking down the driveway to head to the bus stop and here comes Neland walking down the hill. His bus was early! The week before he'd asked if I'd meet him at the bus stop because he was nervous about crossing the street by himself. I asked him how he crossed the street and he said Ashley (another kindergartener) helped him. There is also a really sweet 5th grade boy that looks out for Neland. I am really grateful for him!

 Teague and I entertain ourselves when Neland is away - And sometimes Teague entertains Dali. He was really proud of himself for sharing his popcorn with her.

 We made a trip back to the greenways last Friday. It is such a great place. Teague loved riding his bike. We looked for frogs, ducks and deer, and instead found a snake! We ran after Teague said, "Look he picked up his head." The snake scampered away too.

 We visited the preschool playground for a few minutes to check out the new piece of equipment.

 Teague and I wave to Neland on the bus every morning. Recently Neland's been sitting in the second seat back and we see him waving to us. It is so sweet. We even got a double honk from the bus driver today!

 Sunday night we realized horsey was missing. Teague is usually good about keeping him in the car and Chris and I both remembered him saying before breakfast "Horsey will stay in the van so he doesn't get dirty at breakfast." At some point though, horse must have not stayed in the van. We only went three places, so we were hoping he'd be easy to track down, but two of those places were closed by the time we were searching. I drove to our breakfast spot and looked around, and then chris drove to breakfast, church and lunch (I should mention church is about a 30 minute drive). We could not find him Sunday night. Both boys ended up in our bed and Neland offered Teague the choice of any of his stuffed animals (robot filled in). Most of the night Teague had his arm curled around mine.

The next morning, we saw Neland on the bus and then headed out again in search of horse. We visited the breakfast and lunch spots before deciding to trek it to church. And when we walked into the rec wing of church and mentioned to the greeter what we were looking for (I even had a picture to show people on my phone), she said, "oh wait one minute" disappeared in a back room and reappeared with HORSE!!! Someone turned him in! Teague did not let horse go the rest of the day. And even this morning I heard him say "Horse is not going to get lost again." There is also a copy of horse in the mail to us from Ebay :).

 Driving back from church I realized I'd forgotten to put a spoon in Neland's lunch for his soup. So we surprised him with a visit (and a spoon). He was so excited, and it was so fun talking to him and seeing his classmates.

 Teague slept soundly Monday night!

 Yesterday, Neland started piano lessons. He had asked about it for months, and then the week before decided he'd changed his mind. He said he'd rather play the violin or the guitar or the cello. Luckily his teacher told him that the piano is a great place to start if you are interested in playing other instruments.

 They use a weighted keyboard and worked on finger positions, notes, and introduced a staff. Neland left super excited and even woke up asking to practice this morning.

Time seems to absolutely fly. Our carefree summer days seem years away, the good thing is everyone still seems happy.

first days

Last Tuesday was Neland's official first day of kindergarten. We started celebrating the night before with special back to school books (and matching pjs).

 He was nervous about starting a new school. We had a special breakfast on the patio before getting ready to go.

 I took a million first day pictures. Neland picked out his outfit for the day (and I totally approve his choice).

 He opened his card from Miss Jean.

 And then we were off.

 Since it's a staggered entry with only a fourth of the kindergarteners coming, everyone met in the gym.

 We gave final hugs and goodbyes, said a quick prayer for a good day, and headed out. I think I counted the minutes until we could pick him up. Teague and I went to Starbucks for a special snack and then played a million games until it was time to pick Neland up. It's hard work keeping Teague entertained without Neland.

He had a huge smile on his face when we picked him up (and put my heart at ease). He had made a friend in his small group and really loved the teacher he was assigned to that day. On the walk home I heard a lot about the day.

 We met Chris and friends for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (which was deemed a great restaurant because they have the best coloring menu). We stayed out way too late, but it was a perfect evening.

 Neland stayed with me Wednesday and Thursday. He was invited to a playdate on Thursday but honestly I couldn't part with him (and I knew he'd see the friend at a party on Saturday - otherwise I might have felt a little more guilty).

On Thursday, we had Teague's Open House. I feel Teague's re-entry into school was a bit overshadowed by kindergarten. He was excited to meet his teachers, but completely his super shy self once we arrived. His teachers are so sweet. Miss Lisa (the second picture) usually teaches the babies, but is spending two days with the 3 years old this year. Last year, Teague's class would attend music with Miss Lisa's class and Teague would sit in her lap or wave to her - so I feel like this is a great match for him.

 Neland was so excited to visit and see his old teachers.

Friday was Neland's first day with his new class. We received a call on Thursday from the teacher he was with on Tuesday saying she would be his teacher this year. In my head, she saw how sweet he was on Tuesday and decided not to let another teacher have him. Neland was so excited (and our neighbors said wonderful things about her). Open House was Friday morning before school. Chris took the day off to make it extra special as well.

 Neland's friend from the first day wasn't in his class but he seemed to have a good day. He doesn't know anyone in his class which makes it a little harder, but he was happy with the day.

Teague's first day was today. He was pretty excited last night. (Neland was excited I agreed to let him ride the bus to school)

 We had our special breakfast of waffles on the patio again (we were all up and dressed before 7, mark this day down).

We walked up to the bus stop. 

 The bus was about ten minutes late, and it was a rush when it arrived. 

 The bus driver called me over, and I thought for sure I'd done something wrong, but then she said, "It's only their first time once, come on up and take a picture" So I did, but I couldn't see Neland's head above the seat, so I had to call his name. I snapped the picture, told him to have a great day, and thanked the bus driver. And then realized I'd probably totally embarrassed him. But I have the picture.

After putting Neland on the bus, it was time to concentrate on Teague's first day! 

 He was happy to be at school. He signed in, hung his backpack up and didn't hide between my legs at all like a thought. He went right to the table to play.

As I left, I heard Miss Lynn ask who knew her name and I heard Teague answer "Miss Lynn." I was so proud of him for speaking up! 

 When I picked him up, I had a wonderful report. He played, he was sweet, he even went potty (he refused to do that last year). He was full of smiles and talked about his day the whole car ride home.

I hope this is a good sign for his preschool year!