Fall Ball

Last Sunday we had Eileen, Luis and Alex over for play time and dinner. Here are the three with Axel and Phoenix reading books before bed. We all enjoyed the visit. I was glad to be able to give belated birthday wishes to Eileen as well. 

I have been trying to get a cute photo of the kids together and every time I think I get a good one it looks like this....I would love to get both kids fully in the picture smiling.

We had last weekend off from soccer because of the Holiday and families going out of town. This Saturday we were all geared up to see Axel have a fun soccer game, but he did not feel well and spent half of the game trying to use the restroom. He "played" the first and fourth quarter, but you could tell he wasn't feeling well.

Luckily, today was a better day and Axel felt good for the most part. He still isn't eating very well, but he didn't complain of his stomach hurting. His baseball team uniforms were not in yet so the boys looked a little chaotic all in different jerseys. The good thing is that they all had fun and played really well for their first game.

They made outs every innings and scored almost every inning. The league does not keep track of either, but it is fun for the coaches to keep track. The boys really enjoyed coach Keith doing 5 push ups for every out they made. He had to do a total of 20 push ups this game.

Here is a shot of coach Keith pitching to Axel. I am amazed at how much Axel's hitting has improved. He has a significant increase in power when hitting. It is amazing what a couple of inches and a couple of pounds can do for a child's strength!

It was really bright out so I couldn't see any of the images I was taking. I had no idea I was zoomed in as much as I was,but I really like these images of Axel running around the bases.

I am so proud of him for not only trying, but enjoying himself at the same time!

Look at that smile!

In other news Phoenix has finally reached an age where she can do 24 piece puzzles on her own. It was like a switch went off during this past week and she is looking at the images on the jigsaw pieces and the shape of each piece. She is able to figure it out most of the time without help.

Axel received his first homework of first grade this past Thursday. He has weekly homework this year. He has been complaining of school being too easy and his homework reflects it. The good thing is if he focuses and engages repetition can only help. The problem is keeping his interest!

We hope this weekend was a big confidence builder for Axel with his improved performance in baseball and a big play date with his friend and teammate Logan and our neighbor Evelyn. He has been complaining about not having friends. Hopefully, he feels more and more confident as the year progresses.