Blake Update

Blake is doing well.  We are trying to keep him busy so he stays out of trouble.  He is still doing well in school though for a while we had trouble getting him to bring his homework home to do.  After three weeks we finally got him all caught up and we think he understands that it's important to keep caught up.

He has three main passions.  Footy, swimming, and playing.  We have started to go on a few bike rides as a family and he seems to enjoy that as well.  We don't yet have a car bike rack so we are limited to what we can get to from here for now.  

Footy is going well.  He plays AFL which is Australian Football League.  He started in the Under 8's but because of his ability, size and speed that have moved him up to the Under 10's group.  That means he has two practices a week and a game each weekend.  He also gets his own Jersey.  He's very proud of his mouth guard, his number 21 Jersey, and his footy boots.  Yes we did break down and get him some cleated shooes, though they were only $30 so it wasn't as bad as we feared.  

Here are some video's of Blake playing.  The first one I tried to sort of explain as best I could since I'm still learning what the rules of AFL are. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6Noz1kWks4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxEWsu8WjHI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsiiLXYXMMM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr5QdfCleZI

Blake has also been doing really well at swimming.  Last month he tried out for squad and didn't quite make it so he's been working hard all month and tried out again last Friday.  He did make it this time.  Squad is the step above lessons.  He is in bronze squad and he will get to do some fun racing and maybe one or two competitions, but he has to move up to Silver Squad and join the swim club before they get serious about competing.  He has his own little times book.  At the end of each practice the coach times one or two events for them and they record it so they can see how they are improving.

These videos are from before he joined squad and are of him swimming in the shorter pool.   He won't get to do that anymore now that he's made squad, but it is still some good footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqvyTninCtA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d12FoFUArv8