I think I blinked

Six years ago I was in my third trimester of pregnancy with an unknown child.  All of the sudden that child is old enough to play on his own without me constantly watching.  To help me with his siblings.  Not to mention how he is learning to read, add, and learning new facts every day about different states, presidents, and countries.  Where did that time go?  

 Dominic has been pretty busy this summer.  We've done some traveling, but he has also participated in a soccer camp, and just recently started soccer practice for the fall season.  He loves it and has a great attitude about it.  Something I'm constantly checking, because I love watching him and don't want to mistake my enthusiasm for his.

 During the Tour de France, Dom renewed his interest in riding and racing (along with his brother).  They will race each other around our corner over and over again.  One day, I had the great idea that I would follow them around the entire block pulling Molly in the wagon with water.  We were the team car.  The boys loved it!  And, I'm pleased to say that my little mommy workout has paid off in a couple of pounds shed.  Because we did not just go around our half-mile block once.  Oh no, not these hardcore riders.  We went around 5 times.  Sometimes, I would be hauling a couple of kids as we were re-enacting the time trial...
  After watching several bike races, Dom expressed interest in learning how to ride a two-wheeler.  We purchased one this weekend and he has a great attitude about learning how to ride.  He actually counts down for Eric to let him go on his own.  He falls immediately, but jumps right back up to try it again.  The bike is on the big side, so we may look for a slightly smaller one for him to gain a little confidence on.  Though, I think if we just work with him every afternoon, he'll get the hang of it in no time.

 Eric's enthusiasm for soccer is contagious and Dom loves to watch the games.  There is an area soccer team that we've watch a couple of times.  Last night, the boys and Eric attended their last home game of the season and brought home some paraphenalia.  Dom requested I take the above picture, then decided he needed a better outfit.  Can you guess what the color is for the Dayton Dutch Lions?

We have let Dom and Will stay up for as much of the Olympics as they can handle.  This means they have been falling asleep downstairs around 9:30 every night.  Will sleeps in in the morning and makes up for his lost sleep, but Dom tends to wake up early and then can start dragging the rest of the day.   However, he is old enough to acknowledge that he needs to rest a little when he starts having a bad attitude.  I will often find him in his bed just having a little quiet time.  Last week he actually took a 4 hour nap, which he needed.  Unfortunately, that meant he was not in any way ready to go to sleep even at 10 when Eric and I were falling asleep.  He stayed up a little later looking at a book.  But the next morning he informed me that it had been a bad idea to stay up so late and he would need a nap later on.  Sure enough, he laid down when Molly did and got up ready to ride around the block a few more times before supper.

Dom just reminded me to add that he, Will, and Molly went to a track on Friday to run some races like Usain Bolt...their times were slightly slower.  He would also like to add that our track is not as nice as the track they ran on in Kansas.  That would be the new track at Lawrence High School.

No wonder he is tired.  It's not just lack of sleep, he's constantly moving!