5 years

Five years ago on July 30, our lives changed forever. Thousands of miles away on a hot and humid day in Kirov, Russia, we met our little blue eyed wonder. It is hard to believe it has been 5 years! So quickly he went from a bald drooly little 5 1/2 month old to a 5 year old ready to take on kindergarten! He is such an amazing kiddo, we are truly lucky to be his parents!

Well, soccer is in full swing, two nights a week. He is definitely enjoying it and has great coaches who are fun and full of energy. So, I have noticed something interesting between tball and soccer. The parents. There seem to be 4 distinct groups at the field. First there are the vets, as I call them. They all seem to know each other and have older siblings, so they have their own little group. They are always pleasant enough and polite but you can tell, there is no more room in their group for newcomers. They enjoy their social time at the field. Then there are the newbies, like myself. Taking it all in, trying to figure out the system, and watching intently, yet trying to figure out which parent seems nice enough to try to befriend. The third group is the "mouths" as I can them. They cheer really loud, yell really loud and border on obnoxious especially given the fact these are only 5 yr olds playing. Guess it is a matter of living thru their kiddos? You definitely cringe when they get going. And then there are the others, I dont really have a name for them. They are hyper, march to their own drum, friendly in a weird way. Not quite sure how to take these women. They will hit you with some doozies and you are never sure how to respond. Hard to tell if they are joking or serious. It is all fascinating to me, this mom world. It is like a giant social studies class! I love it!

Last weekend we headed to Jersey to visit friends. We stayed at their beautiful house and enjoyed their fabulous pool all weekend. The kids were truly water rats, barely leaving the pool in two days. The kids took a little walk with the dads to a small lake and even went swimming there. It was a great weekend, hanging out and catching up. Kids all had a blast together. Both boys are doing great swimming. Alek is starting to breathe to the side and his freestyle is getting good, he also is getting close to doing butterfly, he has a great dolphin motion and kick. I am impressed. Maks can swim about 20 feet without stopping, he lifts his head to breathe and can also float well and kick on his back. I am really happy with their progress.

This is Alek's last week of day camp. He is bumming. I definitely should have signed him up for another two weeks. Next year. Maks will be able to join him too, so that will be nice.

I plan to spend the next 3 weekends at the beach. I am making up for all the crappy weather we had in June! The kids will be happy for sure! Alek and I will be headed out this weekend to pick up some school supplies. He cannot wait to pick out a back pack. Maks wants a new one too, so I will give him a special night as well, since he will be moving into upper preschool class.

My babies are getting so big!