YMCA Swim Lessons

This was a picture of Connor coming up from being underwater.

Connor has been taking a bus from daycare to the YMCA for swim lessons since early June. I went today to preview his progress since he only has 2 classes remaining. He was doing very good holding on to the wall and treading water. He would duck under water to show me that he isn't afraid to go underwater. He did really good with the lifeguard as as they would take each child out one by one to do some swimming and trying to get them to do different things (frontstroke today). I was really glad I could see what he was doing, so we can work on it at home also.

Spent the day swimming

The funny thing about a pool is that life can continue to get in the way from enjoying it. To make up for all the evenings of it being too late to swim and weekends that we were too busy, we told the boys we would swim all day on Sunday. They swam that morning with daddy - they convinced daddy to do flips in the water and they would "save" him. That evening, they swam with mommy and convinced mommy to throw them in the water. They would bounce under water and right back up with their swim rings. They were having so much fun - they kept requesting it over and over again. Connor made a point to tell me he was a big boy and didn't mind going underwater. Hopefully they didn't swallow too much water - they will however sleep good tonight.

My Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed...

Connor's newest activity is jumping off of furniture, desks, chairs - whatever has a surface that he can launch from. Last night he jumped off his bed into the doorway and bounced around the doorjam resulting in a nice little gooseegg. It was actually really scary for a few minutes, because it was more like a bubble and we weren't sure what that meant. We kept an eye on him throughout the evening and he woke up this morning singing "Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree". Apparently, it was no big deal that our monkey fell off the bed, bumped his head, and we had to call the doctor! Any chance this monkey will stop jumping - not a chance!

Visit from Baby Tyler

Baby Tyler spent the entire day with us today while his family went to Holiday World for the day. He is now 7 months old, so he is past the earlier infant stage (aka fussiness) but is still pretty immobile. He played on the floor or in the bouncy seat just cooing and laughing at the boys. Above, Connor was pretending to take pictures of Tyler. The attention from the boys was pretty limited, once the newness wore off. Tyler was pretty content all day, so it was a decent visit.

Saturday included playtime at UE College...

Today, we spent the afternoon at UE for a Children's language study. They observed each of the boys separately through a series of activities to gauge how a typically developing child plays and interacts. They hope to use the findings for application to children with Downs syndrome and autism.

Connor was very excited about going to mommy's college, so he could see where I went. However, he was very clear that he would be going to his own college one day (when he rides a school bus). They started with Connor, while Brady went in another room to play with Chris and the professor. I wasn't sure if Connor would participate with strangers and in a new setting, but he really amazed me. They went through various activities (playing with toys, reading a book, doing puzzles, bubbles, eating a snack, etc.) all the time encouraging the child to participate, carry on a conversation, or be creative. Connor really got into the imaginative play - apparently we have a brown dog that likes to get on the couch and Connor has been on a boat ride where he went fishing with his fishing rod and caught lots of big fish while throwing the little fish back. Really??

The best story Connor told was when the student asked him if he drank his drink with the sippy lid on or off. He said that he was a big boy and could drink without the lid, but that he usually uses a lid at home so he doesn't make a mess on the furniture that mommy and daddy paid lots of money for (oops - guess we have said that a few times). One activity that was kind of neat, but difficult for both boys was explaining the steps involved in a particular activity like brushing teeth or washing hands. They would act out all steps involved, but when asked what they did it was the general task performed.

We concluded with a final activity of answering questions about Connor's development and then traded places with Chris and Brady. Brady went through the same activities, but had less of the imagination in the activities. However, Chris said he did participate and answered the way he would have expected. The professor will be providing us with a summary of findings on each child as well as the final study results, so that will be interesting to see.

Afterwards, we went to McDs (typical weekend meal) where the boys got the chance to burn off their energy in the climbing tunnels after they ate. Connor had the hardest time finding the slides within the tunnels, so finally Brady had to show him how. Sometimes, we are confused by who the older child is - I think Brady is more mature than Connor and it is very obvious some days (Connor is going through the 3 year old stage where everything is a crisis and his feelings get hurt more often).

All in all - Saturday turned out to be a good day with the boys and we got to make some new observations about their development.

Road Trip...in Southern Indiana

Who knew a road trip in Southern Indiana could be so much fun! We went to French Lick, IN and Starlight, IN today with Mimi & Papa. We arrived early to French Lick to catch the 9am train ride at the Indiana Railway Museum. This was a 2 hour train ride that included a long, dark tunnel that the boys loved and a train robbery! After the train robbery, we were able to get up close with the horses and cowboys but the boys wanted nothing to do with that.

"I got my hands up! Don't get me!"

Brady gave all his money to the robbers!

After the train ride, we went over to French Lick Winery for an italian lunch at the cafe. It was really good, but the boys were more interested in getting on with the trip. We stopped briefly in the West Baden Hotel to see the lobby area and restored dome, which was amazing.

We then headed to Starlight, IN (which Little Debbie GPS did not think existed) to visit the Huber Wineries and Farms. We spent most of the afternoon at the Joe Huber Farm where the boys could go on cow train rides, wagon rides, launch apples into the lake, climb a 35 flight silo, slide down a 40 foot slide from a barnhouse, and feed/pet goats, chickens, and more. They had a blast! We then ate dinner at the Huber Restaurant before heading home. I think everyone slept except poor Papa!

Connor and Brady both were talking about how much fun they had until their heads hit the pillow that evening and they were out! The fireworks sounding off outside didn't even phase them.

Typical Ride Home...

Connor is my back seat driver....today he informed me that the reason traffic was backed up (when mommy was getting annoyed) was because the light was red and traffic couldn't move anywhere. He also was so kind to point out that once I got back on Hwy 41 (after my short detour) that I was finally going the same way daddy goes home. This is his typical back seat driving comments...you went the wrong way, you went a different way than daddy, is there still construction on that road, why did you go that way. Daddy said he got called out the other day when he rolled thru a stop sign. Also, during the rides, the boys usually get to singing together and sometimes on top of each other. Connor was singing the ABCs while Brady was making a new song of combining twinkle twinkle, itsy bitsy spider, and ABCs. I caught a little bit of footage towards the end.

Connor is my prince!

Mommy and Daddy had a date night Saturday night while the boys went to Gma's house. While we were getting ready, Connor came in and told Mommy she looked like Cinderella (I had a dress on). Wasn't that the sweetest thing - Connor can be my prince any day! Chris said he must be buttering me up for something. Brady on the other hand asked if I was going to wear my dress to work. Date night was nice, but I always miss my boys too! We went to dinner, furniture shopping (not that we need anything), and then went for drinks and dessert at Hacienda. I love their mudslide dessert. While we were eating all evening, the boys were getting wild with their cousin Ethan and keeping Gma on her toes.

Brady's 2 Year Picture Slideshow!

Play Day at Scales Lake!

Papaw suggested a play day at Scales Lake today with all the kids and grandkids - what a great idea this turned out to be. We had a great day of hanging out with the family - picnic in the park, playing in the sand at the beach, swimming in the lake, going down the BIG waterslide, and playing on the playground (especially the seesaw - over and over again). My brother is back from Wyoming so he was there with his son and his son's mom. My sister and her fiance were there with their crew of SIX (yes - SIX - her 2 kids, his 3 girls, and the baby). My parents were there and while most of us were at the beach, they stayed back at the picnic table with baby Tyler. Our picnic consisted of sandwiches, chips, and whatever else could be grabbed for the picnic but didn't require cooking. I think the boys snacked the entire time except for when we were in the water.

We learned today that Brady has no fear of swimming, but also has a strong instinct for kicking his arms and legs. He loved to prove his independence and try to walk straight out to deeper waters. Connor, who has been taking swim lessons, preferred to be in less than 1 foot water or clinging to Mommy. (FYI - Scales Lake does not allow flotation devices). There was a kiddie slide in the water that the kids loved to go down. There was also a large waterslide (separate from the lake) that Connor went down twice - each time with a parent. That was deeper than either one of us thought, so that when you drop off that long, winding slide you DROP and are trying to swim with both of you. Connor thought it was a blast!

It was a great day that we will have to repeat again!

Happy Father's Day!

Today was Father's Day! Unfortunately for daddy, it was also the day we promised the boys we would set up the water table and the new pool. I finally talked daddy into a small 8 ft pool that we could get in with the boys. Not too big, but it is a start. (I already have plans for the 12-15 ft next year). We started out the morning splitting up the family - I took Brady to the doctor due to a rough evening of fever and shivvers. Yep - another ear infection after my theory that we were past this and didn't need to replace the tubes. Daddy took Connor to the grocery store. The remainder of the day was spent outside where the boys played in the water ALL DAY- migrating between the water table, their kiddie pool, the hose, and the big pool that was filling up. By time it was ready, Connor and I were the only 2 that got in and that was a max of 20 minutes! That evening, the grandparents came over for a Father's Day grill out and to see the boys play some more. Hopefully daddy doesn't feel like he did too much work on his special day! Happy Father's Day to a wonderful, supportive dad and husband!

Time flies - My baby boy is 2!

My youngest baby boy celebrated his 2nd birthday this week - it just seems like yesterday that I was spending the summer on maternity leave with him and settling into our new house. He started his birthday out with a nice fall at daycare that resulted in a busted lip - that wasn't going to stop him from enjoying the festivities! Friday, we had take home pizza and then headed to the drive-in movie. The boys lasted until about 9:30 watching Kung Fu Panda before climbing into their car seats to go night-night.

The next day was the official "Blue Clues" themed birthday party where we had lots of friends and family over to celebrate. He got lots of great gifts to play with - water table, fisher price dump truck just like daddy's from the 70's, swim toys, and more. Later that evening, some of the family stayed for an extended visit where we enjoyed the nice weather outside. It was so nice to see everyone and to end the birthday celebrations on a good note!