Big Roo

Those First Days

September 10, 2012 by melissa

It was a big year in the Culbertson house.

Big Roo started Kindergarten this year! Ya know, he’s been in either daycare or preschool since he was three months old. I worked full time until he was three and then either part time or freelancing since then. So, other than marking the momentous and sentimental occasion, I thought the amount of time he was gone wouldn’t affect me too much.

Wrong.

When Little Roo gets home and goes down for a nap, I either work on the blogs or do things around the house. I find myself checking the time all-so-often and then slightly freaking for a half a second before I realize that I’m NOT running late to pick him up from school or the bus stop. He’s still in school.

It’s such a surprisingly long day for him… and me too! Luckily he’s adjusted after a week or two of crankiness. As a kindergartener, we also have homework every day (GASP!) and he’s settled into the routine of that too. Now I just need to remember what a long day it is!

Do you know what he told his little brother on his first day? This is the cute little convo they had:

Big Roo: “I’m going to miss you.”

Little Roo: “Why you going to miss me, Noah?”

Big Roo: “Because I’m going to Kindergarten.”

Heart. Melted.

A few weeks later (aka last week), Little Roo started preschool again. This kid didn’t miss a beat. New class but some of the same friends. He already loves preschool but just about every day asks “Is Big Roo at home?” He’s used to seeing Big Roo at preschool so he’s not quite understanding the routine yet.

However, he hasn’t even cried in the morning when I leave. Barely even notices.

Sigh. These boys are getting so big.

The Curious Tale of Soccer Team Names

March 20, 2012 by melissa

We started Big Roo in soccer at age 3. Not because we were training a mini-Pelé but really because it’s just so stinkin’ cute.

With soccer teams come team names. When I signed him up, I didn’t really give it much thought. I pictured cheering for something like the Bears or the Eagles or the Kickers.

What I didn’t expect was any of the hilarious names we’ve had over the past few seasons.

Under the Sea

For Big Roo’s very first team, we cheered for…. the Lobsters!

The entire league was made up of cute, innocent ocean names like the Dolphins, the Starfish and then, oh yes, the crustaceans with claws that we eat on occasion. That name gave me a chuckle every time I said it.

Fluffy & Frilly (or Not)

When Big Roo turned 4, we hit the soccer fields again. We ended up with the same red jersey but the name was oh so different.

Ready?

Gooooooo Poodles!

Poodles?

This league was made up of Bulldogs, Retrievers and then someone decided 4-year-olds wouldn’t mind being called Poodles. Heh.

Lucky for us, even the coach couldn’t deal. She changed the team name to the Boxers. Muuuuch better.

Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy

Now Big Roo has moved onto the “bigger” league that goes up until age 12 or so. He has a real jersey (not a screen-printed t-shirt) and even in the picture below, he’s looking so much older.

So I figured we’d get into less kiddy cute names but oh was I wrong.

This year? I’m cheering for the Blueberries!

Hence the blue shirt. In the league, we have teams like the Kiwis, Strawberries, Grapes and Bananas (so many jokes I could do like “squash those Bananas!”).

I love that Big Roo was attached to Burt, his withering pink bear, at the beginning of his first game. But Burt ended up sitting with me on the sidelines cheering Big Roo on.

For all the making fun of the names, I know that Big Roo will move to the “normal” names soon enough. So I’ll enjoy the quirky, cute team names and enjoy it while it lasts.

What wacky team names have you heard that make you chuckle?

It’s Just a Proof

February 28, 2012 by melissa

It’s just a proof.

You know, the grainy picture you get from school with the word PROOF right over the center.

Well, this proof I knew was coming. They told me if was coming. But yet I still wasn’t prepared to see this…

My Big Roo, in a silky, purple gown with a cap sitting perfectly on top of his head.

No, I wasn’t prepared to see my now five-year-old looking so grown up.

He looks so much like me in this picture. The eyes, that smile. I can’t get over it.

I can’t get over that in a few months, he’ll trot off to Kindergarten ready to face a whole new world of cafeterias, school supplies and new friends.

I can’t get over that in a few months, he’ll be “school-aged” and not just a “preschooler.”

I can’t get over this proof.

But life ages us bit by bit, so swimming-through-mud slow that we don’t seem to notice how much we’ve grown until we’re smacked upside the head with something like a birthday. And then we say “oh time has just FLOWN by.”

And it has. But it hasn’t.

I didn’t really see a five-year-old until I saw this proof. Yet now I do. It’s like that stamp PROOF is indeed just that. Proof that Big Roo is just a little older than I realized.

Proof, indeed.

Five and Two Years Ago

February 23, 2012 by melissa

Five years ago…

I became a mother for the first time.
Big Roo entered this world exactly on his due date.
And Daddy Roo and I entered the world of parenthood.

Two years ago…

I was 38 weeks pregnant with Little Roo.
And at 3 in the morning my water broke.
Little Roo became big brother’s birthday present.

Two brothers with the same birthday.

We’re talking about a three year and four hour age difference (with the time difference since Big Roo was born in Arizona and Little Roo in North Carolina).

I don’t know if they’ll ever get how special it is to have the same birthday because that’s all they’ll ever know.

What I do know is that they are beautiful and brilliant and downright hysterical little guys. They never cease to surprise me.

Happy birthday, my Roos!

Now that’s Love: the Impromptu Bear Birthday

February 14, 2012 by melissa

So when exactly do kids grow out of their loveys?

Big Roo has been the loving owner of Burt the Pink Bear since he was around 15 months. I wrote about Burt back when he was all pink and fluffy (whereas now he pretty much looks, er, greyish… even right after he gets out of the washer). And one of my most heart-thumping parenting moments was when we almost lost Burt at Toys R Us during the holiday season.

Yes, this bear has been through it all.

Recently, Big Roo has taken an even heavier interest in the ole pink bear. He’s wanted to keep him in his backpack at preschool, have him at the dinner table and take him into stores (though I can sometimes convince him otherwise since I still get flashbacks about that time at Toys R Us).

A couple of Saturdays ago, Big Roo woke up and proclaimed that it was Burt’s birthday.

Hmmm. Okay.

I figured by mid-morning that he would forget he even said it. But nope. He kept talking about it. Burt apparently turned 2 (even though he’s more like 3.5 if you’re really counting when we got him).

So what did this mama do?

We went and bought some birthday cupcakes.

Luckily it’s Valentine’s Day season (Happy Valentine’s Day) so I found some yummy pink and white cupcakes from Whole Foods.

And we had a mini birthday party for the pink bear.

We even sang.

Too bad Burt didn’t really get to eat a cupcake.

But no worries. The kids took care of that.

Yes, they really know how to eat a cupcakes.
As for Big Roo’s love for that pink bear, who knows when it will end? Maybe he’ll take Burt off to college.

And that’ll be okay with me.

If he lasts that long.