More Swim Lessons for Fenn

In mid-July, Fenn finished up a round of back-to-back swim lessons with Mrs. Mildred.  She teaches the lessons at her house.  We started the week of July 5th and went for 5 nights straight, and then resumed for 3 more nights the following week, with the last class being on Wednesday night.

Mrs. Mildred is both similar to and completely different from Mr. Ed (where Fenn and Boone have taken lessons before).  She is tough like Mr. Ed, but she does allow you to comfort your child more than Mr. Ed.  However, she is not afraid to get in their face and tell them they're not allowed to cry at her house.  This wasn't a problem for Fenn, because out of 8 nights, he only had one bad night where he just wasn't himself and was a little whiny.  Also, she does not allow anyone to say "ohhh, the water is cold!" when entering the pool.  You have to toughen up, shut your mouth, and get in and get wet within the first couple of minutes.

All this aside, she gets results and is a good swim teacher.  We'll probably use her again next summer, especially for Fenn.  Boone may not quite be ready for her class due to her techniques.  While the parent is in the pool with the child, her technique is very hands off for much of the class.  The child needs to be able to follow directions and has to swim on his own a lot.  And Boone will barely be 2 years old next summer, where Fenn was just over 2 1/2 at the time of this class.  Six months makes a huge difference.

Her big thing is making sure the child knows what it feels like when they fall into the water, with all that water rushing around you and splashing everywhere.  She says if a child has never experienced that before, that's when they panic and get disoriented and can't get to the side of the pool.  She teaches them to swim to the side, grab on, and climb out of the pool.  She also works on coming up for air, using their hands/arms, and floating on their back.  She does not teach dog paddling.  She teaches kids to swim with their faces in the water.  Oh, and one way she shows kids what it feels like to fall into the pool is to drop them off the end of the diving board and have them swim to the side... with mommy or daddy watching from the shallow end of the pool!

So here are a few photos from the last class.  I (mommy) was in the pool with Fenn and daddy was on the side taking pictures.  In the first photos, Fenn is jumping into the pool in his typical 'flying squirrel' pose and doing a great job of splashing mommy.  And in the next photos, Fenn is swimming across the pool by himself.  He couldn't quite hold his breath long enough to make it all the way across, but he came close.  Mrs. Mildred was there to help him with the last couple of feet.  Keep in mind that she did not help him swim across.  She was not touching him at all.  She was only swimming along beside him.  And we were so impressed with how far he made it by himself.  After climbing out of the pool, the kids were instructed to sit on the bench and wait.  Most nights, it was cold being outside the water and being wet.  And the kids would sit there shivering, and sometimes whining.  But Fenn never complained.  He just sat there and waited.

In the next group of photos, Fenn is being 'tossed' off the end of the diving board and is swimming to the side.  Because of the distance between the water level (kind of low in my opinion) and the edge of the pool, Fenn had a hard time reaching up and grabbing the side.  So Mrs. Mildred actually had to help him once she saw that he wasn't going to be able to do it on his own.  That was not easy for mommy to watch while standing in the shallow end of the pool.

At the end of the class, the kids got to go down the slide.  This was pretty special to Fenn because he's been watching people go down the slide at the YMCA pool all summer and has been wanting to do it.  But you have to be able to swim to the side all by yourself without a parent at the bottom to help you.  So he got to do it at Mrs. Mildred's and then swam to mommy.

So he did great with the lessons.  He still has not made the connection to start using his hands.  But he'll get there.  He kicks well, can hold his breath, can climb out by himself, and loves to jump off the side of the pool.  I think he'll be swimming pretty good next summer. 

A Visit to Grandmom and Granddad's {or GannMa & GannDad... as Fenn says}

A couple of weeks ago, we made a quick trip to Alabama to visit Grandmom and Granddad.  We headed out on Saturday morning.  And as usual, we got on the road later than we had hoped.  Why does it take so long to pack?  Oh, I know... one reason is because I'm convinced the boys instinctively know we're in a hurry and thus, become more clingy, demand more of our time, and pull out more stuff.  It must be some sort of test of our patience.

The trip down was fine and we made good time.  With the exception of the packing part, road trips with the boys have become pretty easy because they both ride really well.  Fenn, however, rarely naps in the car anymore.  Instead he stays mesmerized by the dvd player... which I might add was well worth every penny!  Boone, on the other hand, still naps pretty well in the car.

Since we got there late in the day, we let the boys have some time to play first.  And then we went for an early dinner to our favorite mexican restaurant, El Rio Bravo.  Oh, how we miss that place!  Yes, we have great mexican restaurants in Knoxville.  But there's just something special about El Rio!

On Sunday, we let the boys swim in the morning.  Boone had a great time swimming with Grandmom.  And of course, he showed off some of his swimming skills.  

Fenn had a blast jumping into the pool over and over again.  He has mastered that jump!  {I'm still trying to master freezing the action with my camera, though.}  But sometimes you can even see a big 'ole smile on his face as he is jumping.  And then in other photos you'll see him closing his eyes and holding his breath right before he hits the water.

After naps, we headed to LaGrange to visit our friends, Kama and Jim.  We went to their beautiful, new house for dinner and finally got to meet sweet little Addy.  Fenn was completely enamored with her and wanted to hold her.  {Sorry for a not-so-great photo... somehow my camera settings had gotten changed and I didn't realize it until the 'moment' was over.} 

We also attempted to get a good picture of Gabe, Fenn, and Boone together.  Not an easy task with a 3 1/2 yr. old, a 2 1/2 yr. old, and a 1 yr. old!  They did not want to stand still long enough for me to get a good shot.

On Monday morning, it was time to head home.  While we were packing up the car, the boys played a little golf with Granddad out in the frontyard.

And I, of course, had to get the customary photo of the boys with their grandparents before we left (see photo at top of post). 

Fenn's Potty Training: Day 1

We officially started potty training this morning.  By that, I mean we are giving it a serious go this time.  In the past, we have played around with it, but just haven't had time to get serious.  And Fenn has shown a certain level of readiness for quite a while now.  So yesterday, I went to Target and bought 4 packs of underwear, 7 per pack, in all kinds of fun little boy designs.  I figured that would give us enough pairs to get started.  I got them all washed and we were ready to get started this morning.

We waited until after breakfast to put a pair of underwear on Fenn.  At first, he was resistant and kept saying he wanted his diaper.  But once he got them on, he was fine.  I put his pj bottoms back on over his underwear.  Then I left him to watch TV while I was doing something in the kitchen.  A little while later, I heard Fenn say "uh oh, mommy!  I go pee pee." and then he came running toward me.  Sure enough, he had peed in his pants.  I actually think that's a good thing, though, because he needs to know what it feels like to have wet pants.  I cleaned him up, put on a new pair of underwear (pair #2 for the day), and cleaned up the floor.

We knew he was due for a poopy, so we kept telling him to be sure and tell us when he felt like he needed to go.  A little while later, he told us.  So we pulled down his underwear and sat him on the potty in front of the TV.  A few minutes later, he came running into the kitchen saying, "I poopied in the potty!".  We ran into the family room to check, and he had!  Yay!  Progress!

After that, Dan took the boys outside to play in the backyard for a while.  He just took Fenn out in a t-shirt, pair of underwear, and his Crocs shoes.  While they were outside, Fenn peed in the bushes for the first time.  Yay!  More progress!

Then it was time for lunch and naps.  We put a pull-up diaper on Fenn for his nap, though.  But we made it past lunchtime with only 1 accident and only 1 underwear change.  Yay, Fenn!!!   

July 4th Weekend at Grami and Poppy's House {& Boone's 1st Hike}

We headed down to Sautee, GA for July 4th weekend for a quick visit with Grami and Poppy.  We were originally going to head down on Friday morning, but didn't get to leave until Saturday because Fenn was sick at the end of the week and we thought we might have to take him to the doctor on Friday afternoon.  We got on the road around 9:30 a.m. and got to their house at 3:30 p.m.  It was a relatively easy trip this time and we only had to stop once to eat lunch.  Other than all the stuff we have to pack for the kids, traveling with them is getting much easier than it used to be because they do so well in the car.

Once we arrived, we didn't really do anything that day other than get settled in, eat an early dinner, and then 'try' to get the boys down for the night.  Notice I said 'try'!  Fenn didn't nap on the drive down... not even for a minute.  And by the time we started getting ready for bed, he had passed the point of no return and was practically delirious.  It took a while, but we finally got both of them asleep.

On Sunday, we went for our traditional July 4th hike.  It's not an official tradition, but we're thinking of making it one.  We have hiked on July 4th several times over the last few years:  Colorado 2008, Colorado 2006, and Colorado 2004.  We have gone out to the cabin in Eldora every other year since 2004, so really this should have been our year to go out again.  But we really had no desire to fly this year with the kids being so young.  {Remember our trip from 2008 when Fenn was sick the entire time???}  Maybe we'll go next year if the cabin hasn't sold by then.

And this was actually Boone's very first hike.  And he really seemed to like it.  We haven't been as good about going as we were with Fenn.  Fenn had been hiking 4 or 5 times by the time he was 9 months old.  But we have just been too busy to go since Boone was born. 

We hiked from Grami & Poppy's house, down by the lake, and out to the horse pasture and barn.  It was a good first hike because it was easy and short.  Most of the horses were out in the pasture, but one horse was still in the barn for some reason.  He wouldn't come down to our end of the barn so the boys could get a closer look, and we couldn't walk around the barn because of the barbed wire fence. 

And apparently there is a horse there named 'Boone'.  Funny, huh?  The boys did have fun playing with the barn cat.  Boone seems to really like cats for some reason.

After the hike, it was time for naps.  And after naps, we went for a swim and then came back to get cleaned up for dinner.  Of course we had to do a few family shots.  I like to get those whenever I possibly can.

And here's a few more fun photos from the weekend.  On Monday morning, we had to pack up and come back home.  We had a fun weekend and won't get to see them until fall because they're getting ready to go out to the cabin for the next 3 months.

.: Hanging out on the porch swing with daddy... early Monday morning.

.: Petting Sugar with Poppy.

.: Reading a book with Grami.

Boone's 12-Month Visit to the Pediatrician

I've been meaning to get around to doing this post about Boone for a while now.  I'm actually about a month late.  He went to the pediatrician on June 2nd for his 12-month visit.

These are his stats at 54 1/2 weeks (or 12 months) old:
Weight:  23 lbs. 6.5 oz. (55th %)
Height:  30.625" (70th %)
Head:  46.6 cm (52nd %)

Compare this to his stats at 40 weeks (or 9 months) old:
Weight:  21 lbs 7.5 oz. (65th %)
Height:  28.75" (67th %)
Head:  45 cm (41st %)

And a few things about Boone I don't think I have mentioned before:
.: He sometimes sleeps with his eyes partially open.
.: He makes a smacking noise when he wants milk.
.: He loves to carry around the plastic golf clubs he got for his birthday.  He'll walk all over the house holding on to one of them.  Future pro golfer???
.: He has mastered the skill of using his feet to push himself around the house on the Mickey Mouse ride-on toy.
.: He can climb a 2-step step ladder in the blink of an eye.  Thankfully, we discovered him before he had a chance to fall.  But he was standing proudly at the top with a smile on his face when his daddy noticed him.
.: At some point over the last couple of months, he started waving to say "Hi" and "Bye Bye".  I thought I had written it down somewhere, but apparently I didn't.
.: On March 20th, he started clapping his hands.
.: He got 4 new teeth over the course of about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks.  He got his upper right central incisor on May 12th (my birthday), his lower left lateral incisor on May 21st (Dan's birthday), his upper left central incisor on May 25th (our anniversary), and his lower right lateral incisor on May 28th.  That's a lot of teeth in a short amount of time.  And we actually survived it.
.: On May 31st, he climbed up the stairs from the basement to the main floor all by himself.  Of course, I was right behind him in case he started to fall.
.: I think he is very close to learning to blow kisses. 
.: And he is trying so hard to use some real words.  I think maybe his first word(s) will be 'da da' and/or 'dog'.  He's definitely a little bit of a daddy's boy here lately.  And he loves his Petey.  {He actually makes the 'da da' sound, but he hasn't really started affiliating it with his daddy.}
.: If you ask him a question, he'll sometimes answer either 'yes' or 'no' by nodding his head accordingly.
.: He has finally decided that he likes to read books.  Before, he wouldn't sit still while we read a book to him.  He would constantly grab for the book.  But now he'll actually listen and point to things on the pages.
.: He loves to give kisses.
.: He loves to dump out the plastic container of wooden blocks, shuffle them around with his hands, and then walk away.  It's all about making as much of a mess as possible.
.: He is doing so great with his eating and we're discovering more and more stuff he likes everyday (e.g., green peas, flour tortillas, and cheese).
.: And he has quite the temper!  One example:  The assistant director at his school told me this story... She loves Boone and he loves her.  Sometimes she visits his classroom during the day.  One day she went in and saw Boone playing across the room.  But she headed over to pick up an infant and didn't notice him walking toward her.  So when she picked up the baby without acknowledging him, he pitched a little hissy fit.  She ended up having to hold the infant on one knee and Boone on the other knee.  She has multiple stories like that.

I'm sure there's tons more stuff I'll think of later, but that's what comes to mind right now.