Soccer Player

While Grandma and Grandpa were here, one of Davis' fun playtime activities was to play soccer in the basement with them.  Their practice seems to have paid off.  Here are two videos of Davis playing soccer in the street.

Toddler Sports - The Pictures

Yesterday, we went the last session (this period) of Toddler Sports at the Y.  It was "peek week", which means that parents are officially allowed to bring cameras and take pictures of their kids.  However, it also meant that instead of doing the regular sports class where they have a single sport, they had lots of different sports and a bouncy house for the kids to jump around in.  Davis, and many other kids, spent most of the class in the bouncy house.  It took Davis a little while to get used to it, but by the end he was doing a good job standing up and bouncing as well as jumping.  One of the highlights came when another toddler vaulted over Davis and later worked on teaching Davis to do somersaults.  In between bouncy house sessions, Davis did play with a few of the balls and run around a little.

The tongue of concentration.

Trying to make a basket.

Taking a shot

Hiding behind the Y sign.

Running back to the bouncy house

Toddler Sports - Round 2

This weekend, we took Davis to the second class of toddler sports at the Y.  This week was hockey and it was just as much fun (at least for Kristen and I) as last week.  My co-workers were pretty surprised that they armed a bunch of 2 to 3.5 year olds with hockey sticks and let them run around the gym.  Davis did really well with the hockey stick and keeping the blade on the ground.  Moving the ball with the stick perhaps a little too much for him, but he had fun running around, playing with the ball, playing hide and seek behind the decorations on the wall and told us when he was done playing.

I managed to capture a short video of the action before he ran to the other side of the gym where they was an older kids basketball class in progress.  During peek week, when the Y officially allows cameras, we'll get a bunch of good videos and pictures.

Toddler Sports

This weekend we started a Toddler sports class at the YMCA in Woburn.  We missed the first class for our trip to San Diego and LA, but the idea is to give toddlers (2 to 3.5 years in this case) a sampler of a bunch of different sports in 30 minute classes over 6 or 8 weeks.  Our first class was basketball and it was an amazing amount of fun.

The class started out with about 15 toddlers and their parents lined up at one side of the gym.  The instructors told the toddlers that they should run across the gym as warm up.  When they said go, some of the toddlers ran across, others stayed where they were and other, such as our son, just ran and ran and ran.  They then ran back across the gym (Davis once again went for a big run).  This was followed by stretching (touching toes, arms up and arms down) then by some basic basketball instruction.  They tried to teach bounce passes, chest passes, shooting and dribbling, all of which were a ton of fun for the kids and great entertainment for the parents.  Davis enjoyed running, kicking and throwing the ball, as well as jumping of random structures in the gym and running all over.  We don't have any pictures yet since the Y only allows pictures to be taken during one week during of the classes.

We can't wait for next week!

Weekend wrap-up

Labor day weekend was a good combination of being busy, relaxing and saying good-bye to summer.  Our heat-wave broke when Hurricane Earl passed off-shore and the weekend was a fantastic 70 to 80 and sunny.  A great break after 5 days of 94, 92, 96, 94 and 95 for highs.

This weekend we:

• Went to the Y.  Freddy's class was cancelled because of the holiday weekend, so we went a little later than usual.  However, we ran into Freddy in the gym and he gave a special 6 person extra hard version of his class.  It was a great workout, much better than we would have done by our selves.
• As part of the next bullet item, we made a quick trip to Ikea for dinner and a new table and chair set for Davis to play with in the living room.  So far, both the cats and Davis approve of the new plastic furniture.
• Saturday we went to our first Revolution soccer game.  Kristen got deeply discounted tickets from Groupon that included a free shirt.  The game was at 7:30, a little late for our little guy, but we went anyways for an adventure and to start testing our parenting comfort zone.  The game, what we saw of it was fun, but Kristen was expecting a European atmosphere as was a little disappointed by the lack of passion from the American fans.  I spent a lot of time out of my seat with Davis walking around, but was rewarded by catching a tee-shirt thrown into the stands at half-time.
• Sunday we went peach picking in North Andover.  Davis had a blast running around the orchard then feeding the animals afterwards.  We fed llamas, goats and a cow.
• After a family nap and sleeping on dad Sunday, we went to our friends for a BBQ.  Davis again had a blast running around, climbing in chairs, eating and playing chase / hide and seek between the air whole-house air conditions.
• Monday we took Davis to a cyclocross practice in Lexington with a few people from Quad Cycles. Kristen and I are both planing on doing a race next weekend so we wanted to get our bikes tuned in and get some technical practice in.  We took turns practicing and supervising Davis eating donuts, peaches, water mellon, water and blue berry muffins by the handfuls.  Unfortunately, I did crash and hurt my right knee a little bit.
• After we got back from practice, Davis took a long nap and we cleaned the house and yard. 
• After naps and an early dinner, we skyped with Grandparents then headed to the nearby sprinkler park for the last time this year.  School starts tomorrow in Arlington and the sprinklers get shut off.

I have some videos from this weekend that are not uploaded anywhere yet, but here are a few pictures from the soccer game:

Exploring the seats before the game

Seattle Fans

With Mom

Hey mom, there is a soccer game over there!

Mom watching the game, Davis watching something else.

Tired guy, right before heading home

Swimming Photos

Here are some photos from Davis' first swim class. From where I was sitting, the lighting was extremely challenging so most pictures are a little grainy. Davis and mom had a great time.

MRC Cross

This Sunday, I did my first bike race in 14 months. I hadn't planned on taking this long off of racing. However, with the combination of 12 weeks off for medical reasons and having less time to exercise and train due to Davis' wonderful arrival, I'm just now getting back into cycling.

This weekend, the Minuteman Road Club hosted a cyclocross race in Wrentham. There are a lot of nearby cross races, but we didn't have any plans for Sunday, and if the weather had cooperated, we could have all gone shopping at the outlet malls afterward. However, toward the end of the week, it became clear that the weather would not cooperate (the forecast was for 40 degrees, rain and 18 mph winds) and I would have to go to the race alone.

The race itself was pretty uneventful. I arrived about 80 minutes early, registered, pre-rode the course a few times and sat in the car to keep warm. The weather wasn't as bad as predicted (rain but no wind). I knew right away that the course wouldn't favor me: lots of long sections where power is better than skill. Right now, I have some fitness, good bike handling skills, but not a lot of power so I just aiming to have fun.

About 50 people showed up for the race and I lined up mid-pack for the start. This would be the closest I got to the front. After a few delays for cars on the course, we got started a few minutes after 9. We started on a 100 meter gravel uphill with two sharp lefts onto a grassy section of the course. After a switch back and a long straightaway, there was a log barrier, followed by another grassy switch back section, a set of barriers, single track through the woods and more grass sections. I managed to stay mid-pack until the single track widened enough for people to pass me, then it was just a matter of riding my own race and enjoying the technical challenge of the grassy / muddy corners. I was pretty demoralized to see a lap card with 3 laps to go when I expected 1 to go, but that just meant two more laps to enjoy riding my bike. On the last lap, I was able to take a beer feed -- something I've always said I would do if it was available and I was so far off the back it wouldn't matter. I think I finished about 40th of 50. It was great to finish the race with my teammate cheering "Welcome back John Naegle" when I crossed the line.

After the race, I chatted with my teammate for a few minutes before cleaning up and heading to the outlet malls and Ikea. With the shopping it ended up being a long day and I missed a lot of weekend time with Davis. My next race will probably be in mid-November and hopefully Kristen and Davis can come cheer me on, or pass me beer feeds.

Danskin 2009: I survived..kind of about the same as always

John mentioned in a previous post that I raced in the Danskin last weekend. This was my third time doing the Danskin and the second time it has happened around a life altering event. My very first Danskin, and my first triathlon in general, occurred two weeks before John and I were married in 2002. My good friend Melany was the inspiration for the start of triathlons, and biking and swimming in general, and we had a blast racing together,along with my other good friend Christi. The second time I raced Danskin was in New England in 2006, where I raced it with Melany's sister Sarah (who was living in Maine at the time) and my friend Shan. I came out of this race so proud of my bike time since I had been racing bikes that year and felt like I had really flown on the bike (I borrowed my friend Caitlin's time trial bike, which was especially fun). My first triathlon was during the year I had joined the Master's swim team in Seattle (also inspired by Melany) and so my strongest leg was definitely my swim. So that brings us to the third Danskin, just a mere 15 weeks after I had given birth, following 50 weeks of exercise that all occurred at or below a heart rate of 145 beats per minute. So I was prepared to be happy if I just finished this race, in fact ecstatic, and I was. I was even happier that despite the fact that I had only run 2.5miles at most so far, I managed to 'run' the full 2.9 miles. I say run since this is the slowest I've ever been in my life, but it was still a huge accomplishment for everything my body has been through in the last year. Despite the fact that I know I should be happy about this race, I can't help but be a little bummed that there is only a 6 minute difference in my race times between my very best fitness (2006) and my very worst fitness (now). I suppose it make sense, when a race is so short the accumulated difference in time due to a slower pace won't be as dramatic, but still..it makes me wonder if I've ever actually been in good shape? Or if there's no point in even training?? In fact, more depressing is the fact that my swim this year was the fastest it has ever been, and I only swam three times prior to the race! I'm attributing this to extra buoyancy, but really, mentally I would have been happier to have been a slower swimmer as opposed to a better floater due to additional baby weight.

Despite my mixed feelings about my performance and my annoyance with the sheer size of the Danskin (3500 people this year=1.5 hour wait for the port-a-potty before the race), finishing the race with a friend is an absolutely fabulous experience. This was Megan's first triathlon and hugging her after the race reminded me of my first experience with Melany and Christi, and I was just as happy this year to have 'survived' as I was that first year. Doing this race and writing this post has also reminded me of how much my general lifestyle has changed in the last (gulp) 7 years, I would definitely say for the better. I'm also reminded that John, just like he is in every other part of my life, is as supportive as ever. I'm very thankful to have the physical ability to compete in an event like this, the support of my family, and the best of friends to do it with.

New Pictures

This weekend, Kristen did the Danskin Triathlon. I don't have any good pictures from the race, but I have a few of Davis during the race. We are no longer using his car seat in the Bob stroller, so he can now sit up and see the world.

Here, I think he is concerned about what he sees (me):

Grandma and Grandpa took care of Davis for most of the race. Davis seemed to need to be walked in the stroller for the entire race, so afterward, all 7 of us (Davis, Grandma, Grandpa, Kristen, me, Domino and Lilly) all had a long afternoon nap.

Here are Davis, Grandma and Grandpa before the race:

We've been spending a lot of time with Davis on his tummy. He is doing better at rolling over and getting quite a bit stronger. Using disposable diapers makes it a lot easier than the cloth diapers which are about three times as bulky. In this way, having the dryer go out and being unable to wash diapers was a little bit of a blessing.

Here, Kristen is supervising the little guy on his tummy. The idea is to get him to lift head and reach for the toy:

It seems to be working, or Davis is just determined to progress regardless of what we do. He was able to roll over front-to-back and back-to-front last week while in a disposable diaper. I've uploaded a video of one of his first rolls to picasa web albums.

Davis seems to need a lot more stimulation than he did a couple of weeks ago. The mobile in the crib is entertaining him for shorter durations of times. Today, Grandma and Domino cleaned off the bouncy chair and tonight we tried him in it again. A couple of weeks ago, we tried him in it, but he was not quite strong or tall enough for it. Today, he had a blast in it. He grabbed and played with the toys and was much better at sitting / standing in the chair. I love his facial expressions.

He came out of the chair right after this.

A video of him in the chair is also available in our picasa web albums.