Little fishies

Jordan's first swimming class with the "big kids" (ages 3 and up) started in January. We talked it up real big for him and made him feel special because he was no longer going to Mommy and Me class.
Here's how that worked out for us:

Could he possibly sit any further away from the class? He was as far up in the corner of the pool as possible. He alternated between crying and sulking in the corner and doing his best to ignore the class and the teacher. Fortunately Christian had a better time of it.
After class we asked Jordan why he cried so much since he's a big boy now. He said "I don't know". We reminded him how much he loves swimming (he actually does) and how nice the teacher is. We told him no more crying in swim class OK? and he said he wouldn't cry any more (sure bob, we'll see about that). The following week, we braced ourselves for a repeat performance.
And we got this:



We got lots of smiles and lots of swimming. Who knew? He was telling the truth! Ever since then, he loves the class and his teacher. In fact, he loves it so much I have to keep an eagle eye on him because he just throws himself all over the pool as if he were a champion swimmer.

Just because I like pirates, doesn't mean I want to BE one.

I'm really starting to become an ER whore here. Pretty soon, they're going to greet me by name when I walk in.
Yesterday, while trying to wrestle a paper from CMan's hands, I managed to get a paper cut in my eye. Yes, you read right...only I would get a paper cut on my eyeball.
If it hurts on your finger, imagine how it feels in your EYE! I saw stars and covered my profusely tearing eye and had visions in my head of having to wear an eye patch for the rest of my life. Yes, I'm a bit morbid and exaggerated, so I immediately imagined the worst. Fortunately, the cut wasn't deep and I was given eye drops to use every 6 hours for the next 7 days.

Anyway, I still have some pictures to share from last week. It's all Amanda's fault though. Now that I have discovered PackRat on Facebook, I haven't been able to do anything else. I'm already a pack rat in real life, so this game just feeds on my natural tendencies.

Swim class went well last week with some more underwater action. It's called a mommy-and-me class, but there were no mommies in the pool this time.

Last Sunday (not this one that just passed, but the one before it) we went to a birthday party for Nathan who was turning 3. They had three chihuahua puppies running around at the beginning and Chris couldn't get enough of them (OK fine, I couldn't either). He hung out at the party and had a great time. There was even an old school piñata with blindfold and everything. I'm happy to report that nobody got whacked with the stick. There was so much candy in that thing that Chris filled up a whole bag and then started loading up his pockets too!

Here's a little video of Cman playing with the puppy (aw...I miss my little Peewee).



On a final note: Happy Birthday Adrian. Once again, I'm sorry about your rug. In all the commotion, I forgot to give you your present too. I can just imagine what ya'll are saying now: Not only does her kid pee on my rug, but she didn't bring a present either, Wench!

ps. Let that be a lesson to all of you. If you post about your son's outstanding potty abilities, you will be publicly humiliated by said son when he pees on the rug in front of everyone else. Potty Karma is a bitch. Arrrgh!

I'm almost scared to tell you that he slept in a big boy (twin) bed last night.

Oh sure, make me look like a liar

Children have the most amazing ability of knowing which parent they can manipulate and which parent won't go for it.

Yesterday I took Cman to swimming class because R had to work late. Based on what R had told me from Sunday's class I was fully expecting that Chris would not want to be in the water or do any of the activities. I mentally prepared myself to not push him to do anything he didn't want to do and to just take it easy and follow his lead. This is very hard for me because I'm all about trying new things (especially when I'm not the one doing the trying...ha ha).

From the moment I entered the pool everything that I was expecting to happen did not. I was expecting the water to be cold, it was warm. I was expecting him to complain, whine and squeal (yes, that's his latest talent), he did not. The class went wonderfully. He relaxed a little for the songs, he did most of the activities (albeit hesitantly, but he did them nonetheless). He even got on the little table and walked around by himself and started climbing the handle bar. Once he got to the top, I helped him jump in the water. What happened when he came up for air? He loved it and wanted to do it again...and again...and again (very unlike his koala grip from last time).

They had a new activity where the kids had to walk on a floating mat and then jump in the water. I let him watch the other kids do it first and then encouraged him to try it. He did it with no problems...twice! He floated swam underwater a couple of times and not a tear in sight. He protested sometimes when it was time to change activities, but would quiet down when he realized that I was holding him and nothing would happen to him (and that if you whine while you're diving you'll get water up your nose...JK...kind of).

I think I struck a good balance between following his lead and prompting him to try new things. Once he tried a new activity I cheered him on, but didn't push him to do it over and over again (like the other kids were doing). I just let him rest or play for a little while and then we would try it again.

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how great the class was and how nicely he participated. Last night I told R all about how well he swam and how he did all the activities and he almost couldn't believe it. It's like I was talking about a totally different toddler. I think it's because R is a big softy and treats Christian like a baby, so Cman then adopts that role. On the other hand, with me, he knew that the big baby act wasn't going to work, so he ponied up and put the macho in macho man. Woohoo! Great...now I'm going to be singing that song all day.

Updates of all sorts

We've been busy doing lots of fun stuff lately, so I apologize because the blogging has fallen by the wayside.

The Friday before last, my partner in crime Jenny, came to visit from LA. She was going on a trip with her parents, so unfortunately I only got to see her for one night. Although one night is barely enough time for us to talk and catch up, we made the most of it. We went to out to dinner and had fun goofing off with our friends Meg and Claude. Meg and I are going to LA in two months to see her though, so I'll see you in September Jen!

We will be adding another boy to our group of kidlets because I found out that my friends Lissette and Mike are expecting a little one in October. I found out a tad late though since she's already 25 weeks (prob 26 by now). She was waiting for the first trimester to pass before telling anyone and then after that, she didn't quite know how to tell people because so much time had passed. I wonder if she planned on letting people know with the baby shower invitation! Speaking of babies...my friend Lilli is due to have her little boy at the end of this month. She's got a poll going to see who can guess the date of the baby's arrival. I guessed the 18th, so let's all send some contraction vibes to her so I can win ok? Ha ha...sorry Lilli.

I've been feeling awfully creative lately, so I had a little arts and crafts session at home the other day. Since Cman likes to act like he's the king of the universe, I made a little crown for him to wear on his head. I'm also working on a little project for his birthday in September. I could have bought this item for $35, but I think it's so much more fun to make things yourself. Too bad you'll have to wait until Sept to see what it is (what a tease).

Christian had his first little coin operated vehicle ride in Walmart the other day. At first it freaked him out a little, but then he enjoyed the ride. He even found a little toy cow in the car.

The weekend before last we went to Dylan's first birthday party. There was a fun ball pit for the kids and I'm happy to report that Cman actually got in to play with the other kids...repeatedly! Woohoo! Yay for progress! You laugh, but I bet you it was the ball pit training that helped!

Unfortunately the area where no progress is being made is in the swimming pool. Whereas before he would get in the pool (and stay in for the whole class) and even go underwater, now he doesn't even want to go in anymore. The past 3 times that we have taken him to the pool he has only wanted to play on the steps or not even wanted to get in at all. I guess it was too much too soon; now we have to take it slow and let him get warmed up to it again. I don't want to freak him out so that he'll never want to go in the water again, so we have to take cues from him and go at his pace, however slow that may be.

The daycare is going fabulously. He doesn't cry anymore when Ren drops him off (neither does Ren..ha ha jk). He sleeps one two-hour nap now and that is a glorious stretch of time that allows me to nap with him or get important stuff done around the house (you know like scrapping and watching movies and stuff).

I haven't done a "words" blog in over a month because he's gotten to the point that I can no longer count them and/or remember them. He used to say one or two new words per day, but now he repeats things all the time, so I'd have to be walking around with a notepad in order to get them all down. Let's just say he's become quite a little parrot.

Speaking of parrots, we'll be going to a pirate theme birthday party this weekend, so adorable toddler pirate photos are forthcoming!

Swimming

Since we are surrounded by water here in Florida, R and I found it increasingly necessary that Cman learn how to swim as soon as possible (in other words NOW). Seeing as how I have a child that isn't too adventurous and is scared of all things new, I thought, what better activity to schedule him in than swimming lessons every week? That way he can scream and cry and cling on to us and we can pay money for this to go on for 9 weeks in a row...Yippee!! Yes, I don't know what I was thinking either. I should've listened to Meredith is all I can say. Cristy brought Sophie to the classes too, but (unlike me) she's actually getting her money's worth.

Cman has gone to two classes so far. The first one went better than the second one (I guess he knew what he was in for the second time around). It's a mommy-and-me class, but R got in the pool with him both times. For the first class all the toddlers and their parents got in a little circle and played games and sang songs and passed toys around. Then just when they had let their guards down, the underwater diving began (from DAY 1! These people don't mess around). R put Chris underwater and I totally missed the Kodak moment because I was not expecting that to happen (I'm guessing Cman wasn't either). He didn't cry or freak out though (oddly enough); I guess he was too shocked to know what to do. After that, they put the toddlers on the ledge and played the humpty dumpty sat on the wall game where they pull them off the ledge and under the water towards the parent (it's not as bad as it sounds..see video below). Chris didn't like that one too much, but he tolerated it a couple of times. Not bad for the first class!

The second class was last Wednesday and boy was he crabby. It didn't help that he had only had one nap that day, in fact I think that's the reason why the second class didn't go that well. A tired, cranky baby is no fun in the water. For this class they had set up a little table inside the water so that the little kids could walk on it or climb on the rail. All the kids took to it quite quickly except for well...guess who. Did you ever hear that song on Sesame Street that went "one of these things is not like the others" (or something like that)? Well, yeah, these pictures remind me of that song...for some reason.

Oh well, at least Sophie's enjoying the classes (she throws herself underwater as often as possible...whether Cristy's ready for it or not). To hear me tell it, you'd think the class is a total waste of time for Chris, but it really isn't. He goes underwater alot and doesn't complain about it too much. I'm sure he's getting something out of them.