3 Months

At three months old, Teddy has set into a little bit of a routine. Most nights, he is waking only once and will be up for the day by 7:30am. After his morning feeding, he'll hang out in the swing cooing, smiling and playing with his hands while everyone eats breakfast, gets dressed and cleans up. A little tummy time later and he's ready for his first nap. Usually a cat napper in the morning, he'll be awake by 10:30am and ready for an early lunch before wanting to nap again. He'll typically have a two hour nap in the afternoon and wake up ready to eat and play. From then on, it's a guessing game. He'll be tired for the rest of the evening, but struggle to take another solid nap before bedtime at 8pm. But even through those fussy couple of hours at night, he'll still gaze at you and cop a big smile when prompted. He's a sweet little guy who seems to love our crazy family.

This is pretty typical of most of his day with his big sister.

See his 1 and 2 month posts.

Birthday

After traveling for work and coming home to sick kids, Nick requested a low key birthday celebration. We had a quick lunch at home together, followed by gifts, singing and cake, before Nick headed back to work for the afternoon. In the evening, Coach led his football team to a 4th consecutive victory and then came home to enjoy his annual birthday turkey dinner. It was a quiet, relaxing day for Daddy. Happy birthday, babe!

Our homemade, lopsided, but delicious confetti cake.

I guess I don't have to wonder how we all got sick after seeing this!

Someone was excited for cake.

Hike

This past Sunday, we took advantage of the warmer weather and headed to the Lions Den Gorge for a hike. With Teddy in the carrier, we walked along the wooded trail, stopped at the bluff and tossed some rocks into the lake before heading back home for the night.

On our way in. She moves with a purpose.

A steep staircase to get down to the lake. It took us all about 15 minutes.

A rock heaven - perfect for a boy (and apparently a grown man) who loves to toss 'em in!

Heading back home just as the sun was starting to set. It was a serene Sunday afternoon.

Training

The closest park to our house has a walking path that I've been attempting to "train" on while the kids play. We signed up for a charity 5K in early October and I'm trying to get my butt in gear to run it. 

Today, before I started off with Teddy in the stroller, I asked Max to take care of Violet at the park and make sure she didn't climb on anything too high. But when I came back around, I spotted Violet acting as "Mommy." I guess next time, I know who to put in charge!

She's holding the swings together so he can step across.

And doing so in style with her shades on.

Teddy staying entertained during my run. 

The three rascals.

 

School

In his second year of preschool, Max has grown accustomed to the morning routine. Find his hook, check in with the teacher and off to play. On his first day back, he quickly spotted his best buddy, Riley, and didn't look back. Neither him nor me had tears, so it was a success!

Showing off his two bags - backpack and his lunch bag. 

New this year, Max stays an extra hour and a half on Mondays and Fridays to eat lunch with his class. Here he finds the lunch bin and throws his bag on top. 

First check in with one of his teachers, Mrs. Gallogly. Violet was so excited, she didn't want to leave!

Cardinals First Win

Not only did Coach Ober help the Cardinals win their first game, he wrote a terrific play-by-play recap of Thursday's victory for the players to remember. 

Cardinals Win First Game on Key Defensive Stop and Final Drive

After weeks of preparation and some last minute pregame practice, the Cardinals finally took to real competition with a game against the Saints.  This game of high-powered offenses came down to one final play after many great plays by both teams on both sides of the ball.  The Cardinals offense could not be denied as they scored on each offensive possession.   Every kid got an offensive touch and participated with unwavering focus in between plays!

In the first half, James Meehan threw a terrific block to allow Everett Klink to score his first career touchdown.  James later scampered for a long receiving touchdown with solid YAC (yards after catch) from a short pass! There was great blocking on the play by Regie Welsh and Max Ober.  Zachary Caravella kept the scoring alive when he zig- zagged across the field and then tiptoed the sideline for a long touchdown.  After the touchdown, he was quoted as saying “did you see my mad skills coach?” 

The Saints started with the ball in the 2nd half with the score tied.  And the Cardinals were up for a defensive challenge.  Charlie Galligan and Ty Sullivan spearheaded the defensive series with relentless pursuit of the ball carriers and tight coverage on defending two passes. The Cardinals forced the only turnover on downs and took over possession for one final drive from their own territory. 

They quickly moved into Saints territory with a 30-yard reception from the sure handed Grame Nowak who was brought down just before the end zone.  After three unsuccessful tries from the five-yard line, the Cardinals needed to convert on the last play of the game.  On what was supposed to be the Statue of Liberty Play, Zachary Caravella ended up taking a desperation dump pass for his second touchdown with time and daylight running out!  The Cardinals won their first game, hopefully had a great time, and then shook hands with the Saints to learn a little bit about sportsmanship. 

Teddy's Baptism

Over the long holiday weekend, Teddy was baptized at our church in Cedarburg, St. Francis Borgia. During the early 9:00am mass on Sunday, our entire family welcomed Teddy into the Catholic faith.

Teddy and his godfather bonding.

As you can see, it didn't take long to have fun...and make a mess.

The boys.