Karate Kid

 This is how it all started. After a few viewings of Karate Kid with Daddy, Lennox began insisting he get a "band," or bandanna. When Daddy came home from his last business trip the first thing he did was hunt for his old Karate gear and he found this "band." Lennox also got to play with his sparring gear. And an obsession was born. On Saturday morning Lennox was still wearing the "band" on his head. Daddy decided we should make a pit stop at his old Karate school to let Lennox watch. We didn't think Lennox was old enough for Karate yet, but figured he could watch. The manager took us on a tour and gave Lennox a little lesson. I have never seen someone more excited and focused on something. Lennox screamed "yes sir" when he was asked questions, he kicked and punched. The manager told us Lennox could start lessons and you didn't have to tell the boys twice about that. Mark signed up him and Lennox for lessons. We think it will be a good bonding experience for them. We couldn't get Lennox out of his "costume" all weekend.

So mama took Lennox to his first lesson on Monday. He literally clawed at his carseat when we pulled in and jumped out of the car. He was so excited. On this day Lennox was the only one. We had decided to send him to the Tiny Tigers class for the younger students for a few days, even though they had recommended he move up because he has such a great attention span. This was a great decision. He had the floor to himself. 

It was a proud day for mama. Lennox was such a big boy. He especially loved playing with the numchuks and now wants his own for at home to practice. I was so impressed with him and how hard he worked. At the end of the class he got his white belt. He said his little oath and bowed. I have not seen him this excited about something in a long, long time. Lennox has been begging to go back and luckily we can go to as many classes a week as we want, and soon daddy will be going at the same time as him :-) 

This is how we spent our weekend!

Lennox started his first T-Ball lessons this weekend. He is #7 on the Lake Lucina Braves team. We spent Saturday morning shopping for cleats and a glove. Then later in the day we went to practice. First he practiced his batting. He did pretty well! 

And patiently waited while his teammates practiced :-)

Then he practiced catching and throwing. Lennox is such a perfectionist. He had to make sure he was in good form before he threw the ball. We are going to work on moving through this more quickly :-) But he has quite the arm!

Then there was running the bases and some more fielding the ball. At one point as Lennox was waiting on first base he said "mama, I tired." Everyone chuckled over it. So funny! He looked worn out. When we left he chugged down almost an entire bottle of gatorade. That night at bedtime, he crashed so hard. We can't wait for the first game to see our little man in action!

Great Little Patient

Lennox made us so proud today. He was such a big boy at the hospital for his adenoid/ear surgery. We have been talking all week about how we have to visit the doctor and how he is going to fix Lennox's ears. Lennox even received a blessing from Fr. Mark who prayed for the doctor and the hospital. We tried hard to make things super relaxed for him to prepare him for his big day.

We had to be at the hospital at 6:15am. Lennox decided to wear his new space jammies. We checked into St. Vincent's and changed into the hospital gown. He did great, but he hated wearing the hospital bracelet and boo-hoo-ed about it for a long time.

Before 7am they were ready for Lennox to take his ride up to the Operating Room. Lennox rode in style in a wagon and raced through the halls, beating mama and daddy to the elevator. 

While he was waiting in the OR area he played with some toys and drank some "happy juice" to help him relax. The nurse came by and blew bubbles for him and they wheeled him to the OR in his wagon.

Mama and daddy waited in the surgery room for about 30 minutes and the doctor came out to tell us that Lennox had done wonderfully. They took out his adenoids and patched the hole left by his old left ear tube. The hope is that this will reduce the ear infections. Lennox was sick with them all summer. No swimming and a Staph Infection too. When Lennox woke up and they brought him downstairs to us, he was super groggy and very upset about the IV. We finally got him to drink a little and were able to take him home. He fell asleep almost as soon as we got in the car and was out cold for a few hours. 

When he woke up he got a "being a good at the hospital" gift, the Imaginext Rocket Ship and Launch pad. And a few minutes later Den Den brought him a brand new scooter. Mama is happy to see him up and about and playing. We are trying to keep him hydrated. For the next few days we will be staying close to home and chilling out. 

 So proud of our big boy. Two big days in a row: the first day of school and a trip to the hospital. Now we are ready for Disney :-)

Moving Up...

September 1 marked the beginning of the school year for Lennox. Another year at St. John's Preschool. On Monday he went to orientation with Den and met his new teachers Mrs. Sulzbacher and Mrs. Futo. He was glad to see Mrs. Futo who was also his teacher during summer camp. And happy to see that his buddy Gabriel was in his class too.

On Tuesday morning Lennox was pretty excited to head to school with his new backpack and his new Toy Story lunchbox. He insisted I take a picture of him from the front and the back :-) 

About halfway to school he started complaining about his shirt. Mama had dressed him up a little for his first day and he decided he did not like his shirt. Lennox wanted me to turn around and go home to get a new one. We barely got him out of the car. This was his sourpuss face on the way in. And all over the shirt. 

Lennox showed mama and daddy his new classroom and his spot at the table. He was super excited, even though you can't tell from the pics. 

We left him in the playroom. So glad that we returned to St. John's again this year. Lennox was completely comfortable and had no problem when we left. 

When I picked him up he said his favorite part was doing the Hokey Pokey with his class. And his teacher said he loved playing with the Play Doh and was a great helper cleaning it up. Mama and Daddy are so excited to see how Lennox grows this year.