Second Swimming Lesson

Caleb's first swimming lesson did not go well. It was really discouraging and I thought he's going to hate me for making him endure the torture. But learning to swim is a big necessity since we have a pool in our backyard. We were lucky that we were hit with a heat wave which motivated all of us to get in our own pool to cool off. Jamie likes to swim (although he won't ever do it in public) so he was the obvious choice at trying to get Caleb comfortable in the pool.

We've been in the pool since Sunday for a late afternoon swim. Jamie took Caleb in the pool and would walk him around and do "laps", bounce him up and down, ask him to kick his legs, and generally just play and splash in the pool. I'm such a nervous wreck I'm constantly shouting at Caleb to walk around the pool and to be careful when he tries to reach for something in the pool. But just the few days in the pool with Jamie has made a difference. Yesterday the mere mention of going in the pool was greeted with enthusiasm. Yay!

So with all the pool time this week I hoped he would not regress since Jamie wasn't there. To my relief he got right in the pool when Teacher K called him over. After that he was totally into throwing all the pool toys around the pool, getting in the pool using the noodle and retrieving the pool toys. Teacher K also got him to blow bubbles and got him on his back once to do a lap. He didn't like that at all and she didn't push it when she asked if he wanted to go on his back again and he replied no. She even dunked him underwater once. I think he was in the water the whole half hour. It was a HUGE improvement and I was so proud of him.




Lucas trying out the inflatable whale for the first time

14 month Lucas

"baby" Lucas is such a joy. I can't believe he's 14 months.

Throwing rocks at Shoup Park


Enjoying a swim in his inflatable whale

First Swimming Lesson

Caleb had his first swimming lesson. I did not prepare him at all other than telling him he's going to take a swim class. His swim class actually are private lessons at someone's house. The teacher was a competitive swimmer and teaches kids in the summer time.

Caleb was shy (no surprise there) because the teacher was new and very cautious. He was intrigued by the pool. Teacher K was coaxing him to sit on the edge of the pool and to get in the water. He didn't want to. He spotted some toys in a basket and grabbed two and threw them in the pool. Teacher K used that opportunity to get Caleb to get in the pool so he can fetch the pool toys. He wanted me to get one of the toys. I told him that I didn't have a swim suit on so I couldn't go in the pool. Teacher K finally persuaded Caleb to get in the pool and he got the two toys out and then proceeded to get him chest high in the pool and walked around in a circle holding him up with his body like an airplane. She then grabbed a noodle and asked him to hold on to it while she led him around the pool. He started to get nervous and began to whine. Once Teacher K put him back on the steps he got out of the pool and came to me. I tried to talk him back to the pool. I mentioned that he wouldn't get a sticker in Teacher K's sticker book if he didn't listen to her. I told him I would sit at the edge of the pool but couldn't go in. Caleb tossed in a few more toys and both Teacher K and I tried to get Caleb back in the pool to get the toys and do one more lap around. It took forever but he did it but whined the whole time.

I knew it wasn't going to be an easy to get Caleb in the pool. He doesn't like it when I pour water over his head in the bath. He does like to splash in the bath so I don't know why he wouldn't splash his feet in the pool. It usually takes him a while to warm up to new things, whether it be food or new places/situations. He has lessons every week for the next 2 months and I hope it gets somewhat easier by the end.

So after a half hour of negotiating, bribing, persuading, whining, and maybe 5 minutes of actually being in the pool as we were walking to the car Caleb declares "That was FUN!"

I was speechless.

learning can be messy

He likes to grab at eating utensils and now is trying to feed himself. What a mess!



btw... that's yogurt and scrambled eggs

Figure of Speech

One of the things Jamie and I love to get at the Los Altos Farmer's Market is roasted corn on the cob. A few weeks back we asked Caleb if he wanted a bite. He said yes and ate half of one. The following week he had one to himself. Today, when I got home from the Farmer's Market I said to him, "Caleb, I have a corn upstairs with your name on it" He excitedly followed me to the kitchen to go eat his corn. He asked, "Where's my name?" I gave him the corn and he picked it up and looked all around and asked, "Where's my name? I want to see my name" I then quickly wrote his name on the foil that the corn was wrapped in and showed it to him. Lucky for him he accepted that and happily ate his corn.

How do you explain figures of speech to a 3 year old?

Backyard Circus

While at Great America a bunch of us got in on the action. Sooo cute!

Great America

Having grown up in San Jose, going to Great America was a regular summertime activity. I haven't been since high school so it was really exciting to me to take the boys there for the first time. I couldn't help feeling nostalgic. I couldn't believe I used to like going on roller coasters. Looking at some of them now makes me sick to my stomach.

The reason why we went was for a Caleb's friend Ava's birthday. A's adventurous parents invited a bunch of us to go and it was a perfect reason to check out Great America through the eyes of our toddlers.

The day started off a bit rocky since Lucas didn't take a morning nap. But the upside of that was we left at the time I wanted to leave. When we arrived at the entrance we were dismayed at the TONS of school buses parked in the parking lot. It meant that the park would be crowded with kids. Luckily the kids looked like they were all in junior high so they wouldn't be going on the same rides as the kids.

Great America is the third amusement park that Caleb has been to (Gilroy Gardens and Disneyland being the first two) and he doesn't get overly excited about going on the rides. He looks at them disinterested and we do a lot of coaxing to get him to try it out. After a long while he did warm up and went on a few rides and finally looked like he was enjoying them. On the other hand, there's Lucas who seemed really interested on going on a ride. At one point, he followed Caleb and Jamie in line on a ride and the ride operator said to me, "He can't go on the ride". I had no intention of putting him on the ride but I think the ride operator thought I was going to put him on! We did find a few rides that Lucas could go on. The carousel, a plane ride and a snail ride. I was surprised to find that there wasn't any kind of seat belt on the carousel. I had to hold onto Lucas the whole ride. It kind of made me dizzy trying to watch him and go in circles. On the plane ride, there was a kid there trying to get his grandmother's attention. If it weren't for Janet, he might've fallen out of the plane. There actually was a car ride that the ride operator said Lucas could go on by himself since he can sit up on his own and there really wasn't a height requirement on it. I got caught up in the moment because Lucas really looked like he was into going and thought about putting him on it. Jamie stopped me because he didn't think it was a good idea. He was probably right.

There was show called Backyard Circus and most of the kids (not mine) went up on stage to participate. It definitely made the show more bearable to watch.

Caleb was really into the car ride that he went on it three times in a row. Between the second and third time, the ride operator made Caleb leave the ride, go out the exit and back through the entrance when there was NOBODY waiting in line. She said there was a rule that kids can only go on a ride twice in a row. Kind of silly but rules are rules I guess. I'm just glad Caleb followed and wasn't too confused by it.

Lucas was really into just walking around the whole Kidville area. Luckily it wasn't too crowded and he just wandered around a lot. He did great considering he didn't have a morning nap. He passed out in the car about two seconds.

It was a fun day. Jamie was a bit bummed that he didn't get to go on a roller coaster. I reminded him that he did... the kiddie one. ;)

My little monkey...

He still *LOVES* bananas




**I've seen him do this a dozen times so I was not worried about him choking