This fall has been very rainy. So rainy that we’ve hit the peak of the fall colors outside and I haven’t been able to snap pictures of the kids with the leaves. I try to get pictures during a hike on a nature trail or a local state park… But the weather and our current obsession with attending football games and tailgates kept us from getting the pictures done. So… Today I decided to walk to school this afternoon with the girl to pick up Cameron and enjoy the leaves with my camera.

I’m not sure… But I think I snagged some really great shots. Rarely, the boy gives me real smiles. Speaking of real, things are improving dramatically this week at school. I made a huge change in Cam’s diet. Actually, we made a huge change in our family’s diet. We’re trying life without high fructose corn syrup. I’m not sure if that and the combination of piano lessons is the answer but I’m very, very proud my little man.

It isn’t every day when Tony Hawk comes to your town and shows off his moves for the heck of it. But that’s pretty much what happened this weekend. Tony Hawk has spent the last couple of weeks traveling and sending hints over Twitter. So I noticed he was coming from this tweet… An unexpected visit to our town:

Cameron grabbed his Tony Hawk skateboard and we went to see the big demo. It was so cool to watch the amazing skateboarding moves. What was even more exciting was watching his reaction after getting that skateboard of his signed by the skateboarding star himself. I hope it was something that might get him hopping on his board more often. It was a really fun experience… Hopefully it will be one he won’t forget.

Check out this cool moment:

Cam just wrapped up his football season. I have to say he started out as a completely unfocused player to a boy who knew how to block. That’s pretty cool. We’re proud of him and look forward to helping him get even better if he really wants to play again next year. Of course next year gets serious. The boys play tackle football next year – with helmets and pads. They even participate in a combine before the season to get put into a skills-appropriate team. That’s intimidating. At least it is to me as a parent.

Anyway… We’re headed into the next phase of activities for the school year. This week we’re giving piano lessons a try for the first time. I’m excited and it seems like Cam is excited too. I’m hoping he enjoys it a big and it is another outlet that will teach him a bit of focus. He’s also starting soccer next week – a once a week practice that may lead to playing on a team when there’s a player missing. I’m not too sure about that – I’ll learn more about it when we start lessons.

Cameron hit a wall at the start of the school year. He was so busy. He was so unfocused. He was not meeting his teacher’s expectations. He was having a similar challenge as he took on a new challenge of playing flag football. It’s his first time playing. At first he couldn’t maintain focus but lately, he’s starting to shine through. Cameron can be a pretty darn good blocker when he tries! It’s great to watch him improve at something and it makes him super proud. So cute.

At school, I’ve spent a lot of time with Cam and his teacher to find the best way to help him learn to focus. He can do it. He’s proved to us in tiny moments how he can do great work. He just hasn’t been consistent. So I’m working very closely with his teacher to try and find solutions. I won’t go on and on about how his actions confuse me. But I don’t understand how he can’t be worried about what others think of him — the emotional outbursts, the constant reminders to listen from his teacher… I don’t get it. But I am ready to try as hard as I can to help him. I’m starting to consider removing an item in his diet each month to see if it helps him focus while he works.

One thing I’ve committed myself is to try and help him learn how to express himself and exert energy in a healthy way. He’s starting to ride his bike around the neighborhood, he’s enjoying football (tackle starts next season – and he says he can’t wait) and I am trying to teach him how to run long distances. This weekend was a step closer to showing hum how fun it is to run in a race. He and his sister took part in a kid fun run right before I ran in a 5K. I think he’s going to enjoy running once he stops worrying about how “tired” he is. I’m pretty sure I was the same way for a while when I started running in January of this year.

There was no whining during this race… although the run didn’t last that long. I figure he’ll jump into this once he realizes that crying and whining slows him down in so many levels of his life!!

Along with finding the fun in running, Cam is really starting to LOVE math. He’s a pro at reading… although his ability to show his comprehension needs to improve. He’s starting to catch on when it comes down to addition, substraction and even some basic times tables! So cool. Hope is not lost for our boy… He’s just going to grow up and mature in a way that I may have never seen before. There’s nothing wrong with that – other than those extra gray hairs that are growing on my head!!

Cameron started out his first day of second grade today. He was pretty darn excited… And even more excited when he found out one of his new classmates is a new neighbor down the street. Cam’s new teacher is someone we’ve heard great things about for quite a while. I’m looking forward to all kinds of opportunities for Cam to grow and enjoy school. We have high hopes that his glasses will help him see and focus better.

In other Cam news… He’s on a flag football team and starting to figure out how the game works. It looks like he’s going to play in the tackle position. He has practice twice a week and games on the weekend. Exciting stuff. Cam has also started talking about taking piano lessons… So I’m going to start looking into that.

Those are pretty cool and active things… But really if Cameron could have his way, it would be to play Star Wars Legos on his Wii. If I could let him, he’d spend days playing. The kid who loved watching TV all the time is now much more interested in games. So what do I do? I spend a lot of time convincing him that playing outside is also a great option. He’s going to get a chance to have a camp out sleepover with a neighborhood friend one of these weekend… I know he’s looking forward to that. (I am too – I think I dreamed of getting a chance to camp out in my backyard many times as a kid) I kind of feel that as long as I focus on finding chances for Cam to stay active, the video games won’t gobble up his entire brain. I also think his return to school will help a bunch. It’s an exciting time.

When I took Cam to his seven-year-old check up, he had an eye check up where the nurse mentioned there was a little chance Cameron might need glasses. So… I waited because I didn’t think it was a big deal.

I was wrong.

Cam and I were sitting on the edge of his bed last week when I asked him what time it was on his clock… And he couldn’t see it. He really couldn’t see it. Enter: Mommy guilt. We should have gone back in April. But we went last week. He got the full eye check complete with dilation and everything. The diagnosis: He has a pretty pronounced astigmatism and nearsightedness. Poor buddy.

He’s proud and excited about the chance to really see!! I am too. I can’t wait for the glasses to arrive… I’m keeping my fingers crossed they get here soon.

To add to this… I have to wonder if a bunch of his challenges at school this past year were because Cameron couldn’t see and focus on his work. I’m really looking forward to the coming school year. I’d love to see if glasses help him.

Cameron is two private swimming lessons into the summer and he’s already doing more in the pool than I’ve ever seen before! If you saw me right now, I’d be jumping up and down. I’m THAT excited. And this kind of progress is exactly why we joined a pool this summer. I wanted him in the pool more to really push him into swimming safely. It’s great to see that coming together… without any sadness. That’s probably the best part.

In other news, Cam is in the middle of a ton of camps. Last week was Camp Invention where he got to take apart an old Leapster and see what it looks like inside. This week he’s in Art Camp! The theme: “It’s All About Me!” So he’s doing art with images of himself and things that he likes. Here’s a little snippet of what he showed to me during class yesterday. (He cracks me up)

Cam and the rest of the family got to hit the pool for the first time of the season. We’ve never invested in a pool membership – so this is a pretty big deal for us. First, because the kids aren’t that skilled in swimming. Second, because we’ve never thought about joining a pool before. I think it’s pretty great to have a place to cool off… and have an opportunity for Cam (and Jordan) to get more comfortable with the idea of swimming.

We made strides this weekend. First we had Cam’s second to last soccer game of the season. We’ve had so many rain outs that we’re trying to redo a couple of games. This was our first really hot game of this season – and the kids were so worn down by the end. It was so perfect to head to the pool later in the day.

In typical Cameron style, he was all scared at first… It was like he’d never been in a pool before. Granted, this was a cool pool. It had just opened so there hasn’t been a ton of time for the sun to warm things up. But after a while, Cam calmed down and started having a blast jumping into the pool with a group of other boys. Apparently this is the cool thing to do with the elementary school set.

Cam also had a chance to swim at a friend’s house this afternoon – warmer water and less fun play things. But I did challenge Cam to swim a bit and I am certain that we’re going to get him up to speed in no time!

It’s the simple things in life that I hope my kids will remember with their childhood… so when I had a little extra time this afternoon, I decided that we should have an impromptu dinner at the gardens near our house. It was awesome. Cam told me it was the “best dinner ever!” We played catch and frisbee and I tried to scam the kids into taking a few pictures together. That didn’t go incredibly well… But we had fun. That’s really all that matters.

I was out of town a LOT in April. Poor Cameron missed a ton of Mom time. So these days when I am around, I get surprise hugs and clingy moments when Cameron mentions: “Mom hasn’t been home that long! I can give her extra hugs.”

I don’t mind that a bit.

In the last month, Cameron has had baseball practice twice a week and a soccer game once a week… But since I’ve been out of town a lot, I haven’t been to many practices for baseball. We’ve only missed one soccer game. I’ve found I’m pretty happy with this whole soccer/baseball mom life. While the kids get to play, the parents get to chat, compare notes and watch our smaller kids play. It’s pretty cool. I made fun of the sports parents before I was one.

Of course, we’re not sure if Cameron is the kind of kid who was really made for group sports. He loves running, but he’s not always focused on the actual game. I’ve noticed a bit more engagement in soccer than baseball… but I say that and he hasn’t had an actual baseball game yet due to rain.

Other highlights – we’re still working on getting Cam comfortable with riding his bike anywhere. He’s pretty focused on flat biking conditions… and that is still a bit of a confidence issue from time to time. He’ll get there in his own time.

We’re really looking forward to the summer. My schedule at work is changing… so I should be able to take the kids to the pool every afternoon is that’s what we want to do. I’m planning a bunch of travel… but when I’m in town, we’re going to enjoy access to a pool. It’s our first year as members of a pool and I hope it will be a ton of fun and maybe both kids will improve their swimming skills!