Tyler and Daphne's Blog

Monday, March 31, 2014

D'oh

I didn't remember that it was picture day at school until dinnertime when I asked Tyler to tell us about his day and he said, "They took pictures of me and Daphne." And of course Tyler was wearing a free t-shirt from a baseball game several years ago that is no longer mostly white and Daphne was wearing a hand-me-down Dora the Explorer shirt. The kids get so grubby at school that we don't usually dress up much. It's a good thing we don't have to buy pictures until after we see them and we can choose not to buy any!

Our Escape Artist

We knew it was inevitable that our little gymnast and daredevil would climb out of her crib. We think Tyler was physically capable of climbing out of the crib at her age but he was pretty well behaved and also a big scaredy cat. On Friday Daphne climbed out of her crib when she was supposed to be napping and quietly went off to Tyler's room and played until she was discovered. She climbed out again on Saturday at nap time. So Saturday night Michael converted the crib. It converts all the way down to a toddler bed but Michael just took off the front rail for now to get Daphne used to it. We thought she would be super excited but I'm not sure she knows what to think. Daphne has been so worn out from her cold that she has gone down for bed and naps without getting out of bed so we are off to a good start.

All tucked in and still not sure what to think... Daphne was
pretty tired at bedtime though because she had skipped her
nap when she climbed out of the crib earlier in the day.

T-Ball

T-ball practices started about a month ago and games began 2 weeks ago. Tyler is loving it, especially since he is in a pretty competitive league. I was a little worried he would get frustrated by the complexity of the rules compared to soccer and basketball but his coaches have been doing a great job keeping it fun while also teaching the kids the rules. Since this t-ball league is for ages 4 - 6 a bunch of the kids played last spring or fall. To keep the games moving there is a 5-run cap per each half inning. The first game ended in a 15-15 tie and so Tyler's team won because they got 4 outs during the game whereas the other team got 2 outs. It's a little like watching the Bad News Bears because most of the kids are still learning how to catch and there are lots of wild throws. In the second game Tyler played pitcher one inning and made an out by throwing a runner out at first. I was so proud of him! His team actually got 3 outs in 2 of the innings and won the game 15-10. It will be fun to see the kids progress as the season goes on.

Ready for his first game

Tyler loves running the bases.

Tyler scoring at home

Unofficial team photo before opening ceremonies
(Tyler is second from left on bottom row)

Video clip of Tyler's team running out onto the field. The t-ball teams got to go first.

All the leagues (t-ball through Pony) lined up on the infield

Lance Berkman (retired Astro) was on hand for the opening
ceremonies and threw the first strike out (aka first three pitches)
alongside the Round Rock Express general manager and a
DJ from sports station 104.9 The Horn

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Under the Weather

I thought we were going to escape cold and flu season with minimal illness but Daphne has been sick for over a week now and has given it to the rest of us! Poor Daphne had a fever for 3 days starting the week before last Friday along with nasty congestion (coughing and runny nose). We went to the doctor on Monday and she tested negative for the flu. Daphne did get antibiotics for an ear infection as well as eye drops for her infected eyes. Tyler has had the nasty cough too and it finally caught up to Michael and me. Hopefully we have now met our sickness quota for the year.

Basketball

Basketball season has already come and gone and I still haven't posted any photos! Tyler played a 7-week season prior to spring break that was very geared for learning. There were flat rubber spots on the floor where the players had to stand on defense to get the kids in the habit of figuring out how to spread out. Many of the kids ran with the ball and forgot to dribble. Instead of calling a penalty the ref just blew the whistle and reminded the kids to dribble. And the coaches were out on the court to help guide the kids.

I was out of town on picture day or I would
have removed Tyler's temporary tattoo.
Michael's mom says it just makes him look
more like an actual NBA player.

Tyler on defense with his arms up ready to block.

Tyler dribbling. Most of the kids had trouble keeping the ball
going while dribbling and the ball got lower and lower to the ground.

Team huddle

Tyler (#4) is pretty fast and liked the quick sprints up the court.

Click on the video to see Tyler score a basket. On average Tyler scored about 2 baskets per game. During the last game of the season he scored 5 baskets!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Sharing?

Hazel and Daphne are at the age where they are starting to learn about sharing. Here Daphne is sharing goldfish with Hazel. Of course, this is after Daphne commandeered Hazel's entire snack cup of goldfish!