Pre - soccer season prep

Soccer season starts on Saturday!  Jaime is playing for ...

So this means we need some gear...

 

Pee Wee shin Pads..these things are so small and incredibly cute!

and boots.  Size 9 the smallest size they come in.  Jaime is a 7 ordinarily.  But they seem to fit, plus we expecting the soccer socks to be quite thick.

And this is how it all went down at Dick's Sporting Goods.. .

The shin pad fitting

The boot fitting

Some adjustment

They perfect!  Big proud grin

Hang on some more adjustments (bored face this time)

 And finally...

 

Finished product! 

Jaime insisted on wearing a soccer shirt to the store to buy his soccer gear.  I think the whole staff compliment consisted of Portuguese people cause every person Jaime walked/ran past commented "hey cool shirt buddy", "My fiance would love that shirt", "Dig the gear dude"


And a pre-season practice round/ gear testing session:

Warning: I talk right in the beginning and since I'm taking the video its really loud!

 

Thanks Avo

Thanks Avo, for my "bad guy" taxi all the way from New York!

 

Jaime update

27 August 2011, the start of the school year.  Jaime has moved up to a new class, new teacher and some new class mates. I think the whole anticipation of the move was more stressful than the actual event!  I think for the month of August the teachers started prepping teh kids for the move ie spending a couple of hours with the new teacher.  Jaime started saying things like "Mommy I don't wanna go to school" and "I dont like the new teacher".  I seriously thought this transition was going to be a nightmare!  However in true Jaime style, the morning of the new start, Jaime ran into his new class all excited giving his new Teacher Ms Erica a huge high 5, and then turning around bouncing every step, gave me a big hug and kiss and waved goodbye.  Ever since then, he tells me every day "I love being in Ms Erica's class", and "I'm a big boy now".   The only scary thing now is that the class room is the closest room to the front door i.e. this is his last year in preschool.  Next year he is off to kinder garden! 

Ms Erica is Kindergarden accredited so I think this next year is a big prep year for school.  I can see his attitude towards school has changed.  He is very excited and talks alot about what he has learnt. Lately its all about Bullying.  He tells me what bullying is and how its not good.  Manners are also a big thing, please and thank you, and when 2 people are talking you need to say excuse me.

Think the shift between summer and the school year has been good.

Our sleeping habits have changed a bit lately.  The normal routine of dinner bath story sleep still runs like clockwork.  Except half hour into lights out, our bed gets invaded... 1 earth creature, 1 dolphin and a zillion books!

night

after night

The old folks left last week Sunday, so we have had 1 week of a quiet house, back to our old routine.  Again I thought this would be a huge thing for Jaime, but again he surprises me, with lots of questions and lots of acceptance.  Accepting that Avo and AVo will be back, that one day we'll go visit "Africa".  The other big thing is "Now that Avo is not here I don't have to worry about him switching my TV off"...yip that is the biggest current issue!

The obsession with cars continues on, except now it has evolved to singing the Fin Missile theme song along with his cars and their racing and airs stunts.

Soccer season starts next week..looking forward to being a soccer mom ;-)  Jaime has his annual physical and his yearly cranio exam in 2 weeks. 

Otherwise, we just enjoying the "mom I love you" every 2 minutes and watching our little baby boy turn into a big boy with all his knowledge and hand gestures!

Jaime tucking into a rib!  If you had told me 3 years ago he'd be doing this I would never had believed it!

"Its yummy for my tummy"

26 weeks update

This week we hit the 26 week mark.  This means a growth scan, Gynae consult, and glucose test.

We'll start with the growth scan: This time round the technician was extremely friendly and easy going.  I'm not sure if its cause it was just a growth scan but she basically spoke to us the entire time.  Jaime was a complete chatterbox, which made us all giggle.  Jellybean on the other hand was hiding and curling into my pelvic bone.  No amount of shaking and twisting could get JB to turn.  The above picture you can see a front pic of the face, the tummy and a hand.

You'll also see a thick band like thing on the top.  That is my placenta its sitting right in the front by my belly button.  As the placenta is taking up most of my tummy space all softer movements are buffered by the placenta.  This information I would have loved to know a few weeks ago!    Here I was stressing about not feeling the baby move meanwhile JB was moving, but the placenta, its personal body bag, was blocking the sensation.

JB weights 2 pounds now ie about 900 grams.  According to "My pregnancy this week" the average weight is "about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel." So to quote Dr Pope, I have a fat kid in there... tee hee I'm very ok with that!

How has my body changed?  Well my tummy is bigger than its ever been.  Nothing fits and everything is tight.  I am starting to experience reflux/heart burn, so I constantly have to watch what I eat.   I crave carrot cake and lemon meringue..although I cannot find them nor bake them so I continue to crave them.

A tummy pic ...courtesy of Jaime, the Photographer!

I tried to include symbols to demonstrate how JB is lying.  The kicking I do feel are head butts to my lower body region and a few kicks to the right of my belly button (where I now know are the feet).

My glucose test: I passed with flying colours.  This means I do not have gestational diabetes.  Always a plus to rule these things out considering everything else we trying to cover.

Starting in 2 weeks are the non stress tests, these will be done weekly.  This I have to do at the hospital in the maternity ward.  As far as I understand they will be monitoring the baby's heart rate and any sign of contractions for a period of half hour.   

Other than that, I have another growth scan in a month, gynae in 2 weeks, and an appointment with anaesthetist in 3 weeks.

Jaime is still all excited about being a big brother.  He keeps telling anyone that will listen that he is going to be a big brother, that his sibling is coming at Christmas, he'll teach his sibling to do hand stands, that once his sibling arrives we going to Africa and his going to have a sleep over with Tiago...all in one breath lol

So that's that 26 weeks down and 14 to go!

Happy First American Birthday to us...

Its been 1 year since we landed our grubby paws in the US of A, a year, a full complete year, a year filled with lots and lots of choices, memories and adventures.  From finding jobs, school for Jaime, renting for the first time, looking and finding our home, birthdays, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Jelly bean!!  Wow it has seriously been a year to remember!

I tried to summarize the year into a slide show, not an easy task but I think the memories are there: 

My Jaime has just grown so much and both Ili and I have changed, for the better I hope ;-) We still miss everyone in SA every single day and we look forward to one day making our way back for a visit, as a familia of 4.  In between then and now, we look forward to our visitors and everyday we love and appreciate each other and carry on making more and more memories!

Happy First American Birthday to us!

 

Seriously mom!

Now that Jaime is 4 he has become a real talker, knows everything and asks so many questions, why, why, why, but why? What's this, what does that mean, what is this for...etc etc etc then when I explain to the best of my ability I get the "Mom! Its not like that, its...."  guess I'm learning everyday too.

Yesterday he had the facecloth over his mouth, so I ask "what you doing buddy" he replies "I'm a doctor, I wanna check your blood" mmm OK... so I offer my hand, he inspects it with 'ah, mmm,OK, no blood" then my other hand "oh dear blood here and here and here" shaking his head.   I then ask " Dr what does that mean?" Oh geez I get the stare and the "MOM I'm just a kid doctor!!!"

Our conversations have become quite intense which I love, provides me with tons of entertainment! However,  with the emotional seesaw still exists and we still fight lots but we at the age now that when I explain he listens and when he explains I listen.  Its a good stage!

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A visit to the Butterfly Zoo

How we spent the last weekend in August...

 

An afternoon trip to the Butterfly zoo

 

A couple shots of what we saw

 

Can you spot wat Jaime is looking at? A clue..its black and in the centre Mr Ventre.

 

A something...horned something....It turns into a moth

Another delightful sight, butterflies "dancing"... or like Robby says "making a shape"

 

And just in case you could not imagine it, I posted a video....

Warning: this may offend sensitive viewers 

 

 

On the road again, this time seeking lunch and a drink

 

 

The boys comparing notes about which was the best butterfly at the zoo

 

We landed in Newport...

 

Serious conversations



Lunch is served



Yip he was lunch!

 Today, for some reason, Mr Josh was stuck on me

literally stuck on me

How did Jaime react?  Well with  "I love you Josh" and kisses on the nose, cheek, arm...wonder if this will be his reaction in a couple of months time??? Guess only time will tell

Geez then all 3 boys wanted some love

Running around

Frozen yogurt time!

The folks enjoying their fruit and ice cream

Cheese

 

Clearly I did not get the memo

 

A self portrait

And with that we were on the road again, with flowers in our hair we head home...

Ordinarily the ride home is quiet and relaxing, however with 2 4 yr old boys in the back seat and a wrong turn it turned into an interesting drive!  The conversation, on the other hand, in the car was entertaining / annoying, here are some samples :

 

Sample 1: J "I saw a blue car"

R " Its not blue its purple"

J "its blue" * 10

R "its purple" *10

J "MOM is it Blue"

Me "yes"

J " I told you"

 

Sample 2: R " This is a huge bridge"

J " no its not" *10

R "yes it is" *10

R "ROSE is it a huge bridge"

Me "yes"

R " See Jaime I told you"

 

Sample 3: J "My imaginary friend is a butterfly"

R "mine is my daddy"

J "you cant have your daddy"

R "well I can"

J " MOM Robby says his imaginary friend is his daddy"

Me" you boys can imagine what ever friend you want, it can be what ever you want it to be"

R " Ha ha Jaime I was just kidding Jaime"

 

And it pretty much went like that for a FULL 60 minute ride home..."Ai Yai Yai"