Week 15 of 52 in 2017

It was spring break, which had lots of ups and downs emotionally for the boys.  It was a week PACKED full of things to do.  Instead of focusing on the emotional issues that we had, which deserves its own post, I am going to focus on our trips to Washington D.C.


On Monday, we went to the National Zoo. It was so crowded that the lots were all full and we were directed to an adjoining neighborhood.  Connor may have had a serious anxiety attack over the idea of parking the car and getting a ticket.  We discussed that we didn't have a choice and that the ticket would only be a little more than the fee to park at the zoo. Luckily, he acquiesced and we had a great trip.

On Friday, Michael joined us for another trip to DC via the MARC to check out the monuments. Michael was blown away with how easy it was to board the train and how you could be in the heart of DC in just an hour.  We are going to gloss over how we barely made the train, mmmkay (it was by minutes...)  It was a great day exploring the monuments and absorbing all the history that the boys   could handle in our Nation's Capital.  Jackson was conspiring on how we could go back the following weekend. Oh, how we wish that it was that easy!!

Week 14 of 52 in 2017

Jackson:  Jackson had his 1st lacrosse game and he was so happy to find some extra fans rooting for him.  He was ECSTATIC when his Uncle, Aunt and cousin appeared for the game.  As for the game itself, we couldn't be happier for him and are not sure how he knew how to check but are so happy to see these smiles for him while he is playing a sport in the spring.

Connor: It was another busy week for us and despite some complaints, I was able to talk Connor into this button down for his class pictures.  We discussed that despite it not being comfy (his assertion) that he looked handsome.  We LOVE that smile.

Week 13 of 52 in 2017

Jackson:  Jackson and Wyatt are best buddies. Wyatt even sent him and Connor but mostly Jackson a happy birthday video message. It was the absolute cutest that they were able to  have a light saber battle. Note: Wyatt has cooler toys than the boys. Their friendship is so sweet to watch. Jackson always ends his time with Wyatt with a hug and a kiss on the head.

Connor: Connor apparently swallowed his tooth during lunch on Friday.  He definitely had it Friday morning as there was a precarious teeth cleaning in the morning.  We realized it was gone on the way in to the doctor's office.  For as neat and orderly that he is about everything, it amazed us that he has lost 2 teeth and was unable to find either one.  At one point, the tooth fairy will get a tooth.

Hopkins v. Swarthmore

Towson Rec Council encouraged all their baseball players to attend the Hopkins v. Swarthmore game. Despite it being windy and cool, we decided it was something fun to do regardless of the weather.

Hopkins pulled out a victory and we had a great time watching the players and listening to the music. We are hoping to find a way to the field again for another.

After the game, the little leaguers in attendance were encouraged to go onto the field by the Impact Group.

Jackson, Conor Hodes, Chase and Connor

The kids were encouraged to run the bases.  The boys couldn't resist.

After running the bases, several Hopkins players were available for autographs. I'm not sure of how many autographs that Jackson was able to get as it looked like he was using the baseball player to write his name.  Michael figured out one of the Hopkins players played in RPBL when he was coaching the Toppers.  It's definitely Smalltimore.

Week 12 of 52 in 2017

Jackson:  Jackson absolutely LOVES musical theater.  We hadn't been to a play in awhile and realized that it was time to get some tickets.  So, in the span of about a month, we will have seen Mary Poppins and Stuart Little.  We had read Charlotte's Web and are starting Stuart Little. After the play ended, Jackson was ecstatic to see the cast.  Unfortunately we didn't have a pen for him to get an autograph but he was absolutely o.k. with a picture. He bear hugged Jane with the intent of having her pick him  up off the ground.  Fairly confident that he took her by surprise but she didn't seem to mind.

Connor:  Connor has made such great strides swimming but the one stroke hat he has really struggled with is the back stroke.  He doesn't really have the abdominal strength to keep his belly up without sinking to the ground.  His instructor said that she would keep working with him and at this lesson, Conor did at least 3 back strokes without assistance. Both he and I were beaming with pride.

Week 9 of 52 in 2017

Jackson:  Jackson was having a great week and we couldn't have been more proud of him. Unbeknownst to us, he had submitted an entry in response to a How To question posed by his school. Out of all the 1st grade entries, he was selected to organize  his materials to build a boat, which I was lucky enough to be volunteering in his class and be able to help. After the materials were assembled, Jackson made a video, which we are hoping to see. Unfortunately, we couldn't end the week on a high note.

He started sneezing uncontrollably and woke up with a fever the next morning.  We did call the pediatrician and they were able to get him in. Since I wasn't feeling great either, Michael volunteered to go.  As expected, Jackson tested positive for the flu. Later that day, I went in and also tested positive. The flu has officially taken our house.

Connor:  Connor woke up with a fever on Tuesday and out of concern for his prior history of sickness, I called the doctor's office and was able to get him an appointment.  He took an early nap and with all of the sickness going around (stomach bug and flu), the doctor had her assistant test him for strept.  His strept test was negative but he was positive for Flu B.  We need he was going to be tired and achy and hoped that he would get better quickly.  Unfortunately, he woke up and almost immediately started complaining about his ear on Thursday morning.  We were off to the doctor again and he was diagnosed with an ear infection.  In 6 months, he has had pneumonia, 2 ear infections, pink eye and the flu....

Week 8 of 52 in 2017

Jackson:  We had picked up the majority of Jackson's equipment for lacrosse at a swap but a stick was still on our list.  It was a very big decision for him to switch from baseball to lacrosse but we made sure to know that whatever was going to make him happy was the right decision (even if that did not include having Michael coach him).  We went to LaxWorld to pick out a stick and get some balls that he could practice with.  Upon returning home, he immediately wanted to go out and practice. He even left a message for his cousins asking for some help as we are a little over our heads.

Connor:  It has been really hard to find something for breakfast that Connor will eat without prolonged delay.  We've tried all kinds of things to no avail.  I think that it is a situation where he just isn't really a big fan of breakfast. He will routinely eat all of his lunch, which Jackson rarely does. We had been giving the boys some "baby" food and recently started to reduce it.  As a result, Connor was left with minimal items that he would eat UNTIL he agreed to tried bagels.  And, I'd have to say we have a winner.  The bagel has to have butter, which makes absolute sense, but it's like breakfast  has totally changed. We are so happy!!!

Week 7 of 52 in 2017

Jackson and Connor:  I had picked up sunglasses from Target and decided on those as Valentine's for the class. We had discussed making homemade tags and attaching the tag with a ribbon.  Words cannot express how proud I am of the boys for their general thoughtfulness related to this task.  Each of the numerous sticker on their tags was selected especially for the recipient among the large number of Valentines sticker sheets we had. After the tags were made, there were more thoughtful decisions related to the color of sunglasses for each classmate and the ribbon.  It was a great display that boys can and do enjoy crafting.

Week 6 of 52

Jackson:  In his continuing efforts to woo Adelaide, Jackson made her a special Valentine.  He was adamant about bringing it to school on Friday and we didn't discuss how he probably should have not done it in front of people because he did and he was crushed.  An additional note that asked her if she liked it was intercepted by some of the boys in her class and returned to Jackson with a negative note. The boys had a play date on Friday after school so I struggled to get the whole story but we discussed that it was so brave of him to do this and that it was probably the boys that wrote the negative note as Adelaide couldn't be any sweeter and would never have done that. He seemed to feel better after we chatted.

I know that the purpose of this is to do just one but I couldn't forget that this boy he fell hard for indoor soccer.  It was The Force's last game and a victory which secured them the indoor soccer championship and an undefeated season.  His enthusiasm either on the field or cheering on his team did not go unnoticed.  He was encouraging his team and louder than his coaches and his directions were accurate as he's truly embraced the game.

Connor:  He started off the season with the Force with a hat trick game and a lot of confidence.  His confidence remained throughout the season and he confirmed many times that he liked indoor soccer a lot more than outdoor.  He was aggressive on the field and was rewarded with an additional goal and a lot of assists.  There were a lot of games that he was in the midst of scoring more goals.  His enthusiasm for the game grew although he is definitely ready for baseball season to start.

Week 5 of 52

Jackson:  Jackson had a great week with a lot highs so picking one was hard but I'm going to go with something that really put a smile on his face this week despite him scoring 2 goals in his soccer game today and having a fun field trip to the Aquarium.  He has struggled with making friends and has hinted that he doesn't think that he has any friends in school.  We've done our best to reassure him that he does but he reminded me just last week about a kid from his Kindergarten class who told him he had no friends. This week, Jackson confided in a girl from his class about how he loved Adelaide. She approached Adelaide with this information and she responded that she loved him too.  I'm not so trusting of this girl and think that it could have been an attempt to poke fun at him so Adelaide's response couldn't have come at a better time. He was so shy about it that he had Connor tell me what was said.

Connor:  Connor has a lot of issues with jealousy.  It was on FULL display this week. The majority of what was causing his issues was that I was going to be a chaperone for Jackson's class.  He was not very happy about this.  Things worked out so that a portion of Connor's class joined the bus with Jackson's class and he was part of the group.  We were able to sit together on the bus on the way down and back and ran into him a couple of times during the day.  He was so happy to have that little bit of my time that day and knowing that I could help his class during their Valentines party turned his mood around very quickly.