Memorial Day Weekend

The Eaves family came to visit us Memorial Day weekend. We played tourist one of the days and visited murals around town and climbed the fairly short staircase up to Mt. Bonnell. The kids really enjoyed playing Xbox for as much time as we would let them play.

Brad, Andrew, Martha, and Lydia

Daphne was quite taken with Brad!

Andrew and Tyler; We sought out the first two
murals and this tank mural happened to be across
the street from the Welcome to Sixth mural.

Baylor Street art wall; The kids liked exploring this hillside
work of art much better than stopping at the other murals.

Daphne really wanted to climb to the top with everyone else
but the hillside was a little too steep so we hung out at the bottom.

Michael and Tyler at the top of the wall

Andrew declares victory with Brad

Atop Mt. Bonnell

Downtown Austin in the background

Handwriting

#1

Tyler's t-ball league had an end-of-season tournament. They arranged the 13 teams in a single elimination bracket with 4 games being the most that any team would play. There were even 2 umpires for the tournament and the scoreboard was used. During the normal season the coaches made all the calls and the score was just kept in a book. I was out of town for the first three games, but Tyler's team kept winning. Michael says there were definitely some nail-biting moments. On Monday I was lucky enough to be back in town for the championship game. Instead of the normal 3 innings, the game was expanded to 6 innings! Tyler's team caught a lucky break in one of the middle innings and actually made 3 outs to hold the other team to 3 runs instead of the maximum 5 runs that inning. Tyler's team was home team and they ended up winning 29-28 in the bottom of the 6th inning. I think the parents yelled louder than the kids did when they won. After an 11-3 season and a 1st place win, this is going to be a hard season to top!!!!

Ready for action

You can't catch me!

Tyler getting his 1st place trophy from Coach Steven

Tyler is very proud of his trophy.

The Rangers

Daphne and Abuelito

Running bases after the game

It was hard to keep Daphne contained for a full 6 innings, especially since the game ended around her bedtime. She was quite excited that she got to play on the field and run bases with Abuelito after the game was over. Yesterday on the way home from school, Daphne said out of the blue, "No Tyler t-ball!" I guess she was ready for the season to be over.

New 'Do

Mr. Faux-hawk

Tyler was due for a haircut. We talked about getting his normal cut (#4 razor on the sides and scissors on top) and the hairstylist asked if he wanted to comb it to the side on the top or wear it spiky. Tyler grinned and said that he would like it spiky. New haircut + hair gel = happy Tyler!

The Boss

Tyler and I were playing with Legos earlier. We were following the instructions and put together two logger Lego people: one with a chainsaw and one that was holding a cup of coffee. Tyler pointed to the logger with the coffee and said that he must be the boss.

The Staples are Out

The doctor took the 5 staples out of the back of Daphne's head today. She is so tough that she barely flinched! The good news is that the wound is healing nicely.

Sleeping Bookworm

Even though Daphne seemed really tired at nap time, she had a hard time falling asleep and I could hear her moving around in her room. When I went to check on her later I found her napping on top of a pile of books.

Happy Mother's Day

Michael and the kids took me out for breakfast and then we spent a nice morning at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, which just opened a new family garden section last week.

Tyler said I could have as many hugs as I
wanted today in honor of Mother's Day.

Both kids climbed the winding stairs to
the top of this tower. Daphne was happy
to be carried on the way down though.

We saw the waterfall on the news recently and this was the
part that Tyler was most looking forward to. He doesn't
remember walking behind the falls at Silver Falls State
Park when he was younger.

We weren't anticipating water features so we just stripped
Daphne down to her diaper and bare feet. She was
bummed when she had to get dressed again.

Daphne got mad we wouldn't let her wade in the deeper
section like Tyler.

Tyler enjoyed the maze you take to get
to Prince Ribbert.

Posing in one of the giant bird's nests.

Tyler's Mother's Day Card

Hallmark doesn't even come close to the awesome 3-page Mother's Day card that Tyler made at school.

I love that Tyler thinks I am 20 and says I
make yummy dinners even though he says
the best dinner I make is pizza, which is
almost always delivery or take-out.

Tyler said he gave me a green shirt because
green is my favorite color. He pointed out
that he also gave me green hands, ears, and
neck. I asked if that made me the Hulk but
sadly Tyler said no.

Anti-social?

Tyler wanted to take me to his Mother's Day party at school on Friday afternoon. Michael knocked off work early to take care of Daphne and Tyler and I got to the party about 5 minutes late. Tyler refused to go in his classroom but I dragged him in anyway. Then we followed everyone outside to hit a pinata. Tyler and I stood at the very back and Tyler kept telling me he wanted to go home, even though 2 of his best friends came over to say hi and one of them gave him a hug. Tyler didn't want to hit the pinata and didn't scramble for any of the candy. I finally got Tyler to tell me what was wrong. It turns out that he was very upset that we were late to the party. Have I mentioned that he is competitive and for him last is not an option? I tried to explain to Tyler the "better late than never" saying without any luck. I finally relented after about 20 minutes and we headed home. Tyler has always been shy (at first anyway) but that's the first time I have seen him freak out like that.

T-Ball

Tyler got his first double today during his t-ball game. I didn't get that on video but I did get a video of him getting a single.

Tyler's hips don't lie, he's ready to play 2nd base!

Little Miss Independent

5 staples in the back of the head have not deterred
our fearless acrobat from any climbing activities.

Swinging

Not long after Daphne started swinging she said, "Go to the playground." I thought that meant she was done swinging and ready to go play some more. After a brief discussion with Daphne I realized that she was telling me to go play on the playground so that she could swing alone. What a character! This is quite the opposite of Tyler who loves attention. He constantly tells us he is lonely or needs company even if we aren't very far away.

Kindergarten Round-Up

Birthday cake pancakes with sprinkles

My baby starts kindergarten this fall! On Tuesday morning Tyler and I went out for breakfast and then we went to Kindergarten Round-Up to register for the fall. Tyler seems to be excited about kindergarten, which is good considering none of his friends from his preschool will be attending the same elementary school as him.

All the kids were given name tags with a different shape on them. The kindergarten teachers called out each shape and the kids, including Tyler, went running off with one of the teachers without a second look back at their parents. I think all the parents were amazed, sad, and proud all at the same time. The kids did an art project while all the parents filled out paperwork in the cafeteria. We have heard great things about our elementary school and this will definitely be an exciting new chapter in our lives.

Tia Ludy's Visit

Tia Ludy was in town from California last weekend. The kids enjoyed catching up with her but didn't want to pose for photos.

Michael, Ludy, Abuelita, and Abuelito

 

ER

Daphne in good spirits at the ER. I will spare you the photo
that Michael took of the gash on the back of her head.

As a parent there are some firsts that you hope never happen to your child. On Saturday Daphne had her first trip to the emergency room! She had a bleacher accident at Tyler’s end-of-season baseball carnival. I was holding the kids’ place in line in the hot sun for the barrel train ride. Michael, the kids, Ludy, and Michael’s parents were hanging out on the bleachers in the shade. Daphne climbed up on the second row of the bleachers and when Michael wasn’t looking climbed up to the third. Michael’s mom, who is very overly cautious by nature, urgently warned Michael that Daphne was climbing too high. Michael reached out to grab Daphne and little Ms. Independent instinctively leaned backwards because she didn’t want any help. Daphne fell from the third bleacher about two feet to the foot area for the row above and she hit the back of her head on the junction of a metal post at a metal ledge. (In hindsight, Michael thinks that if he had calmly gotten off the bleachers and walked around behind Daphne she never would have fallen.)

There was blood and we knew immediately that we were heading to the ER. Daphne cried for a little bit while I carried her towards the car and Michael ran to get the car and meet up with us. She was strangely calm and didn’t really say anything on the 6-minute drive to the ER and just stared out the window. I loosely put a clean diaper on her head to help put pressure on the wound and absorb the blood. The bleeding had pretty much subsided by the time we got to the ER.

They admitted us at the ER right away and overall we were probably there for about an hour and a half. Daphne was her normal self in between visits from various nurses and doctors. They used numbing cream around the wound and a doctor put 5 staples in her head! Daphne was so brave and never even cried throughout this whole process. Before the staples a nurse and doctor wrapped her like a burrito in a hospital sheet to restrain her arms and placed her on her belly. She was calm throughout the whole thing. Michael touched her nose and told her he had her nose and Daphne said, “Stop it Daddy.” I sang to Daphne for a little bit while they did the staples and halfway through the second song she said, “Stop it Mom.” What a tough little cookie!

We gave Daphne some preemptive Tylenol before bed on Saturday and she doesn’t seem to be bothered by the staples at all. The doctors will take the staples out 7 – 10 days after she got them.

Side note- I was so proud of myself for not fainting! Of course I avoided looking at Daphne's head wound as much as possible and concentrated on looking Daphne in the eyes while the doctor put the staples in.

Bouncy House

Tyler and Daphne enjoyed the bouncy house and other activities at Tyler's end of season baseball carnival.

T-Ball

T-ball season is nearing a close with only one week left. It is amazing to see how much the kids have improved since the beginning of the season. Force outs are still a hard concept for many of them to grasp but the kids definitely love tagging runners and we have even seen some close plays at home recently. Tyler typically plays pitcher, second base, or outfield; and he sometimes plays catcher.

We love Tyler's ready-to-run stance!

Daphne and Daddy wearing blue to support Tyler and playing
before the game while Tyler and his teammates warm up.

So cool I gotta wear shades...

"Baseball ready" in the outfield

"Baseball ready" at pitcher

Daphne only watches the game when she is eating a snack. The
rest of the time she colors or plays with all the rocks near the fields.

Pre-game slide

Checking out the telescope with Tia Ludy

Tyler really hustles from base to base because
he hates getting out on the force plays.

Getting ready to bat

Click the video above to see  Tyler in action at bat.

Penguin Pajamas

Have I mentioned Daphne's obsession with her penguin pajamas? She would wear these around the clock if we let her. She has been all about the penguin PJs for a few months now. We do often convince her to wear other pajamas, especially when the penguins are in need of a wash, but sometimes nothing but the penguins will do. Daphne went through a phase where she wanted to wear her penguin jammies to school and she would cry when we put regular clothes on her. And last time she was really sick I let her wear the penguin jammies for 3 days straight and she cried when I changed her into different pajamas for a few hours so I could wash the penguins. A few days ago when getting ready for bed she wanted the penguin jammies and they were sitting in the dryer. Daphne helped me search for them and when I found them Daphne hugged them tightly to her and said, "I love you penguin jammies!" Michael and I don't even get I love you statements from Daphne. I guess we know where we stand now.