This post could be titled first soccer game, first game ever, or where did my little boy go?

We have had two soccer practices. Thane is the youngest on the team. By over a year. The next closest turns 4 next week. Thane will not be 3 until the end of May. You can tell how much better the other kids are but he can keep up.

Even though Jay is coach, he had to miss the first game, he had an all night release the night before and then, on our way, got a call about a last minute issue. Adam, Boston’s dad, coached for us and did a great job.

Somehow, I managed to juggle 2 chairs, a baby, a soccer bag, and hold the hand of an excited little boy while we trekked to the fields. (Sidenote: Mara walking would have made this easier, I don’t care what you naysayers say.) People started arriving and the kiddos lined up on the white line for gear check. That was when I noticed a little boy gripped to my legs. Oh, this is not a good start to the game.

Somewhere between death grip and game start, Thane disappeared onto the field. That was when scared little boy was replaced by David Beckham II, well, not really but it was quite the switch.

I did stake the deck a little. The game ball was Thane’s. He does much better going after it when it is “MY SOCCA BALL.” His first rotation was a long one. I kept expecting Adam to take him out but no. And he kept doing well. That first series was all played at our end of the field. At least Adam was coaching and there could be no calls of favoritism.

He finally got called off the field and he went to the team bench. The wrong team bench. That’s my boy! Making friends everywhere.

He made it back on our bench eventually…I think I had to tell Adam he was there when water break was called.

For his next shift, he decided it would be nice to say hi to mommy a few times and wave for the pictures she was taking. Then he decided that the shiny orange soccer ball was very cool…and he wanted to play with it…on the field BEHIND us…DURING HIS SHIFT. Yeah, that was fun.

Adam got him back on the field (“Race Me to the other end, Thane!”) and he got into it again. Our team was scoring goals…for their team. We decided if we were on that side, let’s stay on that side! The game was about 45 minutes which we all agreed is crazy long for 4 year olds.

In the end, we may not have won (they clobbered us!) but I think it was a victory…NO TEARS FROM ANYONE!!! And then there was the best part of the game….SNACK!

Getting back to the car with my stuff was another story…luckily Adam helped me!

It took Jay (apparently) 38 years to have fondue. It took Thane less than 3.

When Rachel texted me and asked if we liked fondue, I responded that that was equivalent to asking me, “Do you like air?”

Our new tradition of pizza night was another success. Kids had endless fun. Then the special treat came out. Have you ever seen 4 under 4 eat fondue? Wow. Now that is an adventure!

They had their own little table with ramekins filled with chocolate fondue. Bananas. Strawberries. Pound Cake. Yum! I will say that I think the kids were better at working with the pound cake than Justin was, whose pound cake kept crumbling every time it went into the pot.

I stripped Mara down before the chocolate feast started. Good thing. There was chocolate everywhere. Trying to get melted chocolate off of little hands while making sure other little hands don’t touch your clothes is quite a task.

The aftermath of fondue night

We had three moments of quiet during the evening. Once, when the pizza was first served on the little table. Next when fondue came out and we were demonstrating proper fondue technique (to 3 year olds). Then, surprisingly, after the fondue. We figured there was about 20 minutes of calm before the sugar kicked in so we took that time to go for ours. We were right. The mayhem, or Timbits as Jay calls it, started as we were finishing dunking our bananas (and Justin was searching for his pound cake).

For future reference, if you are going to lose an hour for daylight savings time anyway, might as well do it with 3 bottles of wine and fondue the night before, and really have a lazy Sunday morning.

This week’s i heart faces project is “Hilarious Outtakes.” Being the mother of two under three (and just eighteen months apart), I find that “hilarious” is a word I use quite often…because if I were not laughing…I’d be crying…

When our son, our first child, started to be on the move, we were the ever vigilant new parents. We carefully safeguarded cabinets and door handles, to prevent him from wreaking havoc on himself or the house. Apparently, we missed a cabinet.

The kids go to a Montessori school where they teach them to be independent. The independence sometimes becomes before mastering silverware…or the patience to eat one bite at a time.

Thane is a miniature version of my husband. Sometimes I joke that I just incubated a clone for nine months. Here he is in Daddy’s shoes…they are some big shoes to fill.

I once heard the story, with the first child, if the pacifier falls on the floor, you pick it up, run it under water and then give it back to the baby, with the second, you just wipe it off, and with the third, you let the dog lick the pacifier. Here is Mara getting into (of her own accord!) our Airedale’s very large dog crate.

Our daughter is the adventurer of the family. I guess it comes from being a second child and wanting to do everything big brother does. Here she got on the treadmill (which was turned off) and then tried to get off of it. She went head first and stayed that way for a moment at a friend’s house a few weeks ago. She had not quite mastered the stairs yet, I think we will keep her off the stair master for a few years!

check out i ♥ faces to see some more hilarious fun