Pee-Wee Soccer Star

Today was Kelly's first day playing Pee-Wee Soccer! She was excited to go, although not really sure knowing what it was all about. Leading up to the day, Gary & I kicked her soccer ball around with her and asked her if she was excited to play. She kept telling us that she wanted to be #2. I have no idea where she got that from, but I knew what my first test as a S.M.I.T. (Soccer Mom In Training) would be -- to make sure I got to the coach ahead of time to commandeer the #2 jersey for my little soccer princess! Well, I passed the first test!

On our way to the game, and her oggling her new shin guards.

She reluctantly lined up with the others for "drills".

Coach Brian was really patient and encouraged her every step down to the goal.

She shoots! She SCORES!

She was very excited and couldn't wait to come over to the sideline to celebrate with me.

But after this shot, I think she may have logged a total of another 5 minutes or so on the field before she stripped off her 5-sizes too big soccer socks and 2-sizes too big blue (dissappointly, to Kelly, not pink) jersey that mom had fought another S.M.I.T. off for, and watched her teammates scrimmage. She ventured in a couple more times (when she wasn't supposed to), but the coaches were really great and let her wander at one end of the field while they were doing their business at the other end. About half the team was into it (the 4-yr-olds likely!), but the other half was pulling the same 3-yr-old, first-timer antics as Kelly, so she was in good company.

A couple other S.M.s around me that I was giggling with as we watched the scene of kids laying in the grass, picking up the cones, etc, assured me this was normal and that she would likely come around. Even the asst Coach Troy told me his son stood on the field chewing his jersey the whole first year.

She perked up again when, after the game was over, they cheered "GO KOALAS" and handed out the snack. And as we walked down to the adjacent park, she was quiet for a while munching on goldfish and sipping her juice box. But then looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I had fun playing soccer today!" and ran of to the swings. This S.M.I.T. can't wait for next week!

Killing Some Time at Sea World

I am now taking Wednesdays off with Kelly instead of Mondays, which worked out perfect this past week as I had already had a doctor appt scheduled for her that day for her annual Pediatric Dermatologist appt to see how the hemangioma on her arm is progressing. The appt wasn't until 4 p.m. though, and we had to go down to Children's Hospital, so I decided to take her to Sea World to kill some time before the appt. She had a blast exploring the new "Bay of Play" area which is completely Sesame Street themed. She watched a show with all the characters, led by her old favorite, Elmo (she still has a soft spot for him...) and after the show got to meet Abby Cadabby & Grover face-to-face and give them big hugs. With most schools being back in session, mid-week seems a great time to visit Sea World. Since we have a year pass, we might need to make it down there at least one Wed every month! (as a p.s. regarding her Dr. appt - her arm is progressing well, but we are considering doing laser treatment again soon. Will blog more about this later.)

A Visit with Gee-Gee-Bee

On Labor Day, Kelly & I took a day trip up to Murrieta to join Nana, Papa & Johnny on a visit to see Kelly's "Gee-Gee-Bee" (i.e. her Great-Grandma Lorraine Babcock) who has been ill and is currently recovering in a skilled nursing facility nearby. We wheeled her out of her room into a "living room" in the center of the bldg where there was more room for all of us to visit. As we sat in chairs around the perimeter of the room, Johnny & Kelly entertained us playing on Gee-Gee's wheelchair. In this picture, Kelly was in the middle of a comedic moment, pretending to lay back in the chair asleep and exaggeratingly snoring as loudly as she could. She had us all cracking up, even her accomplice as you can see in this picture...

Kelly brought up a couple of pictures she had made in daycare for Gee-Gee that she could hang in her room to give it some color. She is getting better each day and will hopefully be strong enough to get bounced from there in the next week or so. Then she will be heading to a great new apartment in a beautiful assisted living community called Cherry Hills in Murrieta. I havn't seen it myself, but hear it is like living on a cruise ship on land with beautiful surroundings and lots of activities like cards, shows, and Wii bowling tournaments. We look forward to many more visits at her new digs.

Beach Baby

Gary & I have really enjoyed taking Kelly to the beach a few times this summer. She absolutely loves the water and just running around the sand gleefully chasing a bird or a wave. She is a natural beach baby!

The Biggest Moth....Errr, I mean Butterfly EVER!

Kelly & I were hanging out in her room one day. I was putting something in her closet when out flew this huge brown thing! It came right at my face, and the wings were flapping so hard, I at first thought it was a bird. Then as it whizzed past my ear, I got a glimpse and thought even worse... that it was one of those giant flying roaches (some of you might remember my bad experiences with those critters back when I worked in the old bldgs at SDSU campus...).

So, of course, I go blazing out of her room screaming at the top of my lungs!! Halfway down the hall my brain kicks in and realizes that Kelly was still in there. I peer around the corner and saw the thing perched on her clothes basket and Kelly staring at me not sure if she should start crying or laughing. Then she says, "ooooh, mommy! A BUTTERFLY"!

Then I realize its actually a moth....not just an ordinary moth, but the biggest moth I have EVER SEEN! The wingspan was a good 7-8 inches! It stayed perched there long enough for me to snap this evidence, but as soon as it recovered, it took off, and I went screaming from the room again, this time with Kelly in tow. A while later, I made Gary go look for it, but he could not find it anywhere. Kelly kept going in her room calling out, "hey, butterfly, where are you?" But it still wouldn't come out! :-)

The following night, we were all asleep in our room (Kelly didn't need an excuse to sleep with us now!), and all of a sudden we hear a fwap, fwap, fwapping noise just above the bed. I jumped up, silently screaming (trying not to wake Kelly), turned on the lowest light setting and sure enough that darn thing was in OUR room now! It was caught in the swirling vortex of the ceiling fan. We pulled the covers all the way over Kelly to protect her while we stood on either side of the bed, me still silently screaming and Gary yelling, "shhhh"!!!

The force finally flung it to a corner of the room where it perched recovering again. I grabbed my laundry basket, dumped the clothes and handed it to Gary to capture this thing in. I opened our slider door so he could take it outside... Well, I really wish I had a picture of this next scene but it all happened too fast - Gary in his boxers, holding the basket up in the air, arms fully outstretched, prancing too and fro trying to figure the best angle to get 'em, cursing the whole time... But he got him in the basket and flung the whole thing outside and slammed the slider shut! Kelly remained asleep and missed the whole event. Bye, bye moth! Errr.... I mean butterfly!