Just Keep Swimming

Posted by Lissa in 4 Yrs, Alex, swimming on Apr 2nd, 2012 | 0 comments

Wow, this has been quite a busy March for me/us.  I am now so behind in blogging.  But, due to work picking up, AMAZING weather that we really enjoyed, and me getting into a good workout routine, I just have not had the time or energy.

Since I’ve last blogged, Alex has still been doing GREAT at swimming.  I was anticipating his 4th class so that he could possibly move up and then poor Alex got pneumonia out of nowhere.  He had a slight fever and I was expecting either an ear infection or stomach bug and then he coughed.  WHOA!  It was one of the worst coughs I have ever heard from him.  Anyway, he seemed to recover nicely once he got antibiotics.

So, we moved his class from Monday to Friday that week and he did really well.  Remember the little platform that he swam to in the last video?  Well, in his make-up class, when it was time for him to swim 5 feet to the platform, he somehow swam right over it and landed on the next one (set up for the class on the other side of the lane)!  It was hilarious, and the teachers got a kick out of it!  He seemed to think that he did something wrong since he got so much attention for it, so I had to convince him that we were so proud that he could swim so far!  Needless to say, he got moved up to the next class that night. 

Since then, he’s been mastering turning from belly to back, and back to belly, and got moved up again to the 5yr+ groups (omg, he’s turning 5 in a few weeks!?).  Um, wow.  There’s a kid, probably 10 yrs old and 100lbs in his class.  The other 2 kids were probably 7-8.  I asked Alex if he liked his class and he said no, because he was squished when sitting on the side! lol  Little different than sitting next to 3-4 yr olds that are the same size as him.  The teacher said that he did well though and just needs to keep his eyes down when he swims, instead of looking ahead of himself.  He knows to do it, so I’m sure it’ll click with him soon.  He’s so excited to try out his new skills this summer!

2 Boys In Underwear!

Posted by Lissa in 2yrs, new things, Will on Mar 4th, 2012 | 0 comments

It’s official: Will is in underwear!  He was doing so well at school and keeping his pullup dry, so I sent him in underwear and he did great!  He’s only had a few accidents since then, and that’s mostly due to him still needing reminders/set potty-breaks.  He’s doing great holding it in between and he loves to poop on the potty! lol

He hasn’t gotten the getting dressed part down though, so there’s some funny fashions coming out of him.

Backwards underwear

He didn’t like that I was giggling at his attempt to put on some shorts   He’s still too cute.

 

Boys Weekend

Posted by Lissa in 2yrs, 4 Yrs, Alex, Houghton Lake, Will, winter on Feb 22nd, 2012 | 0 comments

We were trying to plan a little getaway in the winter to the waterpark, but then things got too busy at work for me.  So, one morning Josh asked if he could switch cars with me and said he was taking the boys up north to the cottage for the weekend, leaving me alone.  I was quite surprised and excited.  How many times as a mom, are you alone in your own house for a night, let alone a whole weekend?  Anyway, I had an uneventful weekend, but the boys got to play in the snow again. 

  

I never remember seeing so little snow there in the winter.  I don’t know how accurate my memory is, but I seem to remember huge trenches around the cottages (like the one behind Alex) where it looked like snow walls surrounded them.  Either way, the lake was frozen and the boys got a kick out of being able to play “on” the lake.

After a nice morning of playing in the snow, daddy took them to one of the water parks up north.  He wasn’t able to get any pictures.  APPARENTLY watching 2 young kids around pools AND taking pictures of them is too hard.  LOL  The kids loved it of course, so I think their boys weekend was a success!

Valentine’s Day 2012

Posted by Lissa in 2yrs, 4 Yrs, Alex, Valentine's Day, Will on Feb 15th, 2012 | 0 comments

(Trying to have a complete year here )

So I was one of “those” moms this year.  I marked the cool Valentine ideas on Pinterest, and although a bunch of people were doing the ones holding suckers, I still wanted to do them for the kids.  I figure my time is limited for having any influence on what Valentines get passed out, and right now, suckers – especially Tootsie Pops – are some of the kids favorites.  So here were the boys Valentines for this year

And because I was already making mini meatloaves for dinner, I figured I shape them into hearts.  LOL  I thought the kids would enjoy it, but I’m not sure they noticed.

My parents came down soon after Valentine’s Day and Alex asked about Valentines.  Both Josh and I were like dude, stop being greedy, you already got a Valentine from Grandma and Grandpa, and he said NOO the one’s with the suckers!  Yup, he wanted to give Valentines to them too   So thoughtful of him <3

If…you…could…see him now!

Posted by Lissa in 4 Yrs, Alex, swimming, video on Feb 9th, 2012 | 0 comments

So we’ve done t-ball and soccer and a golf class and a previous swim class in a cold pool, and in all of those different activities Alex did what was necessary to participate, but showed no enthusiasm about them (until after they were done).  But this swim class?  Alex L.O.V.E.S.  He’s going to a mostly local chain place here that has 90 degree pools and steamy air in the pool area.  The teachers are like well-oiled machines.  We go in at our time, and the teacher says hi to Alex while pulling him in the water.  Right away, they go under water, and every other thing they do, there’s no time for the kids to get scared, they just do it.  It’s down right amazing to watch.  I basically sit there for the half-hour class beaming the whole time.  Alex does too.  Almost every day he asks if he can go to swim class that day and said that he wishes every day was swim class day.

Ignore the glare, these were taken from behind the waiting room glass.

 

He’s been to 3 swim classes now.  Class 1 he floated on his back unassisted for a few seconds. 

Class 2 he floated on both his back and belly (with his face in the water) and swam down to the ledge he was standing on to get a ring. 

Class 3 he was swimming 5 ft and the teacher was using him to show the other two boys how to float, and in the next class he will be evaluated to move up already. 

It’s so cool to see something really click with him that he loves doing.  I really can’t say enough about this place!  When 5 minutes are left at each class, the parents get to go in and chat with the teacher and see the new things their kids are doing.  I recorded Alex’s show-off time last session (the pictures are all from class #3 too).  The teacher was telling me that next class Alex will be evaluated and then another mom immediately started chatting, so I added some music to block that out.  Enjoy!

Getting Bigger Every Day

Posted by Lissa in 2yrs, video, Will, words on Feb 5th, 2012 | 0 comments

Will is continuing to grow up more and more.  It’s always bittersweet.  We moved him into his toddler bed just before Christmas.  He transitioned pretty well.  We ended up having to lock his door so that he would stay in his room/bed, and I tried unlocking it at 11 when we went to bed, but then we got a little visitor at 2 or 4.  Now he’s very good at staying in his bed and every night when I put him in his bed, he asks me to “Tell <his> daddy” (..to come up and kiss him again) and to leave his door open.  That’s funny to me, because even in the crib, we’ve never left his door open – it just wouldn’t work with our house layout.

He likes to talk about a lot things and asks us if we Bahmember that?

He now calls Alex “Awex.”  No more Owie/Ahwee confusion.

He can now just reach the water dispenser with a cup on the refrigerator and almost always HAS to get himself.

He now asks me to cubber his feet instead of cubbie (this is one of the words I won’t give in to, along with Hoo-hoo, also known as musac).

He’s in the 2.5 – 3 yr old room now at daycare and is potty training.  He’s doing really well there and has even pooped on the potty there and at home a number of times.  For Alex, that was the final step in potty training, so I keep getting my hopes up, and then Will fills a diaper 10 min’s later. Bah!

Alex, even to this day call McDonald’s “Old McDonalds”  Will calls it “Mick-a-Donalds.”

When Will apologizes, he doesn’t say Sorry, he saws “Sor-you.”  Innocent, but sometimes when we’re in the car, Will and Alex will argue whether or not Alex saw something, like the plane that Will saw, or the school bus we passed.  Alex gets all worked up because he did TOO see the bus! and Will sounds so flippant and says “Sor-you, you didn’t see the bus.”  The way he says it, his “sor-you” sounds like such a jerky comment. lol

Lastly, here’s another fun pronunciation.