Spring 2014 Soccer Season

Brayden played soccer again this spring and his team won every game they played!  His good friend Brady's dad was the head coach and Matt was the assistant coach.  All of the kids except for one came from his daycare and they have been playing together for a few years now plus taking an extra soccer "class" at daycare.   They loved playing together and most of them are playing again this fall but with NCSU football, we just couldn't commit to the Saturday schedule. 

Because these boys were so good last year as well (when they were 4), the league director allowed them to play up a level so they were playing rising 1st graders instead of rising Kindergarteners.  They were smaller than most of the other teams but that didn't stop them at all!

It was interesting watching the boys play this spring.  Last year, they played "bee hive ball" where they just basically chased the ball all over the field.  This year though, even though the coach didn't encourage (or discourage) specific positions, these boys just naturally fell into certain positions.  Brayden and his friend Trey are natural defenders.  They would both be excellent goalies if the league played goalies at this age.  Their friend Zach is a natural offensive player and scored the majority of the goals for the team, although Zach was an excellent team player and passed the ball to his team mates when possible to give them a chance to score.  A few of the others fell into the mid-field and played great soccer as well! 

There is talk about moving the core group of boys from rec league next spring to a bit more competitive league where they can get some more intense teaching as well as more competition.  As long as Brayden is having fun, we will continue to let him keep playing! 

After the last game, one of the families hosted a cook out for the boys and their families.  Coach David had put together a little mini-ceremony for the boys and each boy not only got a trophy (all kids in the league got a trophy) but they had also created a certificate for each boy specific for them (i.e. Most Improved, Best Team Player, etc).  Brayden got the Sportsmanship award! 

Brayden - 5 years old

Brayden is all about "I am bigger than Lilly" and "I can stay up earlier than Lilly because I am older now".  That is the reasoning we now get with a 5 year old in the house.  I doesn't necessarily get him anywhere but that is how is brain is thinking.

In the 1 short month that we have had Legos in the house, Brayden has become a master Lego builder.  The only problem he has is when he is taking them back apart and can't pull two of the skinny pieces apart (which is quite hard to do if you recall).  Rarely does he come to us for help in putting a set together...he is quite detail oriented and likes to follow the instructions exactly (just like me!)

He continues to love learning and is really trying to learn to read...I think I need to work with him some more on site words and phonics, but if he is in the mood, he can sound out most words.  He can also do some basic math, occasionally in his head without using fingers to count.

At his 5 yr check up last week, we had to fill out the "Ages and Stages" questionnaire form.  A good bit of the form, required Brayden's input vs me just marking yes/no as to whether he could do a task.  There was only 1 thing that I couldn't mark yes by and it was "Can your child repeat both of these sentences back without making any mistakes?"  There were 2 8ish word sentences (both were sort of tongue twisters at that) that I had to read him and then have him repeat them back to me.  He did one with out problem, but the other he left out a word or two.  Not a big deal in my book!

1st warm day of spring... happy to be outside with no coat!

1st time bowling - he loved it!

Sprinklers Memorial Day weekend - before the tree came down in a storm!

Drawing with his shin guards on because who knows when you might need to play a little soccer!

Napping with Daddy at the beach

Early NCSU football game...when we were actually winning games this year!

Child labor at its best! He asked to help...why not let him try!

Building at Wesley's birthday party

His handwriting is amazing and he makes most of the letters correctly (facing the right way, etc) and uses upper and lower case letters appropriately 70ish% of the time.  I have been making him write Thank You notes for his birthday presents (we do a few a night) and he has been doing a great job. Brayden continues to love drawing as well.  Several moms from daycare have commented on his detailed drawings and good handwriting skills.  I guess this just comes naturally, because neither Matt nor I have great drawing or handwriting abilities. 

"at" words - He does this all on his own, every. single. day!

Airplane in hanger with tree and squirrels

Fire truck

Truck with trailer and jeep

As for growth, he has actually jumped up a bit on the growth curve!  For the 1st time ever (I think) Brayden is above 10% for height or weight!  The official stats were:

             height: 42" (29%)
             weight: 37.8lbs (27%)

I have no idea when he got so big and heavy!!   Some nights, he barely eats any dinner and then runs around like crazy all day long.  I guess he really is growing while he is sleeping though!  Speaking of sleeping, Brayden has been taking naps at school again the past month or month and a half.  He was down to 2-3 per week, but recently, he has been napping every day, although sometimes for only 30-40 minutes. 

Brayden continues to love all things sports...baseball and soccer are the only 2 that we have actually tried, but he loves both.  We took a break this winter, but Brayden does still get to do soccer weekly at school which is nice.  We will pick back up with soccer in the spring....he was asked to "move up" a level in the YMCA soccer program.  The coaches from the spring and fall (both daycare dads) picked some of the "more advanced" kids and asked if they would like to move up a level in the spring.  The next level up is for kids that are already in kindergarten, but they got special permission from the YMCA to bring this 1 team up.  I think Brayden will enjoy the challenge and will hopefully have FUN and learn a few more things along the way!

Baseball at Nana and BBs house

First t-ball game/practice ever!

On 2nd base

A normal around our house...football jersey and helmet are daily attire around here these days

Brayden and his best buddy Zach playing soccer

Award winner for t-ball!

Practicing his punts back this spring

The end of T-ball 2013

T-ball ended this past weekend.  Brayden had a blast, learned a lot thanks to his wonderful coaches (Coach Amanda and Coach Eric), and he had determined that he wants to play again!  Matt and I have also enjoyed hanging out with some of the parents from daycare a bit more...between soccer, t-ball, and birthdays, we have all gotten to know each other a bit better this past year, which has been very nice!

By the end of the season, "tackle" t-ball was no longer and they were starting to get the hang of the game.  Brayden and his buddy Zachary especially were hitting the ball HARD (like onto the other field hard).  Hopefully we can keep the same team (or most of the same team) next year so that they can only get better together!

Go Twins!!

A few pictures from the last game (official pictures to come in the mail soon I hope!) 

He looks so grown up in this picture.  I think the eye-black is doing it!

Pre-game pep talk

Team huddle

T-Ball Fall 2013

Brayden is playing T-Ball this fall for the first time and is loving it!  I am not surprised though!  Most of the team is kids from daycare so he is very comfortable playing with them and one of his friends mom is the coach. 

They have 30 minutes of practice and the a 30 minute "game" each week.  It is perfect for this age and short enough for the younger siblings not to get into too much trouble!  They are learning the basics of hitting, catching, throwing/pitching, fielding the ball, etc.  During the games, each kid gets at least 1 turn to hit the ball and run the bases.  They don't play with outs right now so they just run to 1st base, then the next hitter hits and they run to 2nd base, etc. 

The kids are all so cute sitting on the bench cheering for their teammates when they are up at bat.  Each and every week, they have done this "Go Zach, Go Zach!!" or whomever is at bat.  SO. STINKIN'. CUTE!

The organization that he is playing with is big on sportsmanship, which I really like.  They encourage the coaches to teach the kids about a different aspect of sportsmanship each week and then at the each of each game, 2 kids are awarded for good sportsmanship.  The kids get a medal and get to take a big sign home for the week to put in the yard!!

Brayden won this past weekend!  We couldn't be more proud of him!  Keep up the good work buddy!  That is what it is all about! 

He is already asking to play basketball this winter...not sure about that one yet.  But we will definitly be signing up for soccer again in the spring as well as swimming. 

NCSU Football game

The fist NCSU football game of the season was this past Saturday and boy was it HOT!  Upper 80s, high humidity, and not a cloud in sight!  And of course, the game was at 12:30 so we were out there in the heat of the day.  It was still fun though!

The kids enjoyed tailgating (I failed to get any pictures this time because we just ate and went in pretty quickly) and the game was good (NCSU won 40-7 I think)!  But the biggest deal of the game was that we got to go out on the field during halftime!!

My dad was selected as the Stanly County representative for the "This is Our State" campaign and he and his family (along with a representative(s) from each county in NC) were asked to go on the field.  We had to meet at a certain section a bit before the 2nd quarter ended.  Then they led us down 5 flights of steps to the underneath section of the end zone seating area.  It was MASSIVE down there.... buses, huge trucks, etc were all parked underneath as well as the NCSU helmet golf cart and the huge old NCSU drum.  The best part was that the team ran right by us as the entered the locker room at halftime! 

We had a few minutes to stand around and chat as well as take pictures...of course, Brayden was not being cooperative so I had to sneak a few pictures in of him :)  Lilly was quite excited about the entire experience though even though it was totally during her nap time!!

The team walking by!

MawMaw Rachel on the field!

In addition to getting to go on the field, when we were at the beach with Matt's family at the 4th of July, we recorded a "This is Our State" video.  They played out little video right as we were walking out onto the field!