 |
| Family boat time courtesy of Nana & Poppa |
It was such an awesome summer! Lots of fun was had and lots of growth and development occurred.
I think Lochlan grew the most he ever has over the last few months than he did in the entire year. He is now 41.8 inches tall and weighs just over 36 pounds...still 3 + pounds to go before he can start sitting in a booster seat. I feel like he's been in his car seat forever....
You know he's beyond ready to move to a booster when he's doing things like this!
 |
| Spiderloch! |
This summer, we went on a family vacation to Niagara Falls. Such fun! The kids and Rob and I really loved camping at the KOA. Highly recommend the KOAs. Fun for everyone. We stayed in a cabin so not roughing it for sure. We also did some touristy stuff --- went up in the SkyWheel and played Dinosaur mini golf, and a few other activities. We even went to a Buffalo Sabres development camp exhibition game between their top prospects including Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart. It was electric!! It wasn't just Rob that loved it, the kids and I did too. They can't wait to go back and get their Sabres t-shirts! (The souvenir shops were closed) Abby even lost a tooth at the game! Very memorable indeed.
 |
| YAY for KOA! |
 |
| Loved the porch swing |
 |
| Our cabin |
 |
| Mommy and Abby |
 |
| Loch & Daddy |
 |
| Scary ghost stories...oooooh! |
 |
| Ready for the Sabres!!! |
We also went on another camping trip to Gatineau, Quebec with friends in August. It was really beautiful and while completely different from our earlier camping adventures, it was equally wonderful. We actually bought a tent trailer (shout out to my Uncle Roy who did an AMAZING job fixing up the trailer -- he redid/replaced everything. It looks brand new!) With getting the trailer, we are really looking forward to many more camping excursions in the future. Every year we plan to travel somewhere new. Although we really would like to go back to Niagara Falls next year too!
 |
| Can't say this guy has no personality! |
 |
| Hey there! |
Lochlan learned to swim without his puddle jumper this summer. It was actually quite funny. Unsafe, but funny because he could touch. Our nephew was over and had jumped into the pool. Loch was so excited, he went down the ladder and right in the pool. And went under. Came back up immediately cause he could touch - I said, did you forget you didn't have your puddle jumper on? He nodded his head yes. We put it on him for a bit but then I told him he was going to practice swimming without having it on. He was hesitant at first but did awesome. The very next day, he started swimming around without it. By the end of the summer, he was able to swim in the deep end even! Such a rock star!
Unfortunately on Canada Day, Lochlan fell and hit his eyebrow on a rock leading down from our pool deck and split it open. It required 4 stitches. Not surprisingly, he took it like a champ.
Loch started senior kindergarten this fall. He is well ahead of where he is "supposed" to be. He is reading really well. At the end of senior kindergarten, kids should be at a level 4 or 5 PM Benchmark for reading. Lochlan is already at 7/8. His sister Abby has always been a strong reader as well. She is well beyond her levels in reading for grade 2. We just love to read. Rob and I have always read with the kids even when they were a few weeks old. It became part of their evening routine - actually I think we read with them before they had their naps as well. It was a great way to settle in, and also to spend some quality time together. Still to this day, we read with them. Sometimes they will read to us, sometimes we'll read to them, and sometimes we do both. And, we still love it. The kids get really upset if they miss their story time for whatever reason --- late night, or due to a consequence...I'm talkin' tears here. The routine and the love of reading we have, I know has really made a difference in their literacy and school work.
 |
| First day of school 2015 |
Lochlan started hockey in September. That meant finding some ice time over the summer. We had him out a few times leading up to his evaluations. He went from shuffling and falling down, to bull skating (skating with one foot) to the day of his tryout skating on both skates. He is so awesome! I can't wait to see how much further he progresses over the season. Just blows my mind!
 |
| Daddy the teacher |
 |
| Lochlan and daddy first official Team Green practice |
 |
| Sibling love and support |
Lochlan also learned how to ride his bike without training wheels recently. It was a very quick transition actually. Both Abby and him were out riding bikes - Lochlan's training wheels had been off for a while but he still couldn't ride it properly) I noticed his tires were pretty flat. Our neighbour pumped up his tires (Thanks Jim!) Lochlan hopped on his bike, and immediately started riding it. I was like "what????" Super proud and super shocked! But with him, anything is possible!
Loch recently had a check up recently with Dr. Flavin. (his lung doctor) Only thing really to report is he's back on his puffer (Alvesco) over the next few months to ward off colds settling into his lungs since that has been a big issue in the last 5 years and him having to be hospitalized. But the doctor did say, if none of his colds settle in his lungs, we can take him off of the Alvesco. I'm not sure if I'll be brave enough to try over the winter. It's very scary to me. I really don't want him to get some nasty virus and having it go deep in his lungs and then needing oxygen support. Ugh. I would deal, but it wouldn't come without worry for sure. So we'll see. The other thing is, we noticed when Lochlan played soccer in the summer, he would often get tired or give up. Sometimes, he'd come off the field and say he was exhausted. We are to give him Ventolin now before any sports to see if it makes a difference.
 |
| Soccer comes to a close |
And it does. We forgot last week to give him his puffer before hockey, and he couldn't keep up. He was really tired. I'm super pumped to see him in his first game. It's not until December but man, it's going to make me beam with pride.(I already do just seeing him at his practice so I can imagine I my cheeks will hurt come December) Abigail is playing hockey too which is awesome to see. She only decided to play mid-summer. All along she said she was going to do figure skating, then changed her mind. So we switched her skates and she is starting to really get the hang of it now. Again, the progression at this age is amazing. Both Abby and Loch have always loved watching their cousins play hockey, now they get to join in the fun! Another fun thing is that Abby has a lot of 7am ice times. Yay. But actually it's not that bad. We are starting to get into a routine. I'm a morning person anyway so it doesn't bother me that much. And knowing how much our kids love it, is definitely worth getting up so early.
We are gearing up for Halloween. Lochlan has decided he is going to be a Storm Trooper from Star Wars. Rob introduced the kids to Star Wars this year and they've really gotten into it. Abby is going to be a Power Ranger. Good 'ol Netflix. Actually Abby has started Karate this year at school. I bet seeing a few episodes of Power Rangers and doing some of my Jillian Michaels Kickboxing workouts inspired her to take it. Speaking of working out, Loch wanted to do a workout the other day. Man was it cute! I finished my workout and he asked if he could do one too. I said yes (of course!) He chose Jillian Michaels' Yoga workout. Proud momma.
 |
| Our lil yogi! |
I am excited about what the rest of the year will bring. Other years I've been nervous with the cold and flu season. As he gets older, I'm not so nervous. I've always tried to not let anything hinder what we do, but this year especially, I just want to live and enjoy life with our family. Lochlan is absolutely the most amazing boy you'd ever meet. I feel so blessed to be his mom and to be on this journey with him.
 |
| Mommy and Lochlan |
 |
| My fav boys |
 |
| Why not dig in the flower garden!? |
 |
| This guy! |
 |
| Our ham - Supermodel "Thor" |
