Little Fish

I grew up swimming, all summer long.  I don't think I ever took formal swimming lessons, swimming just came naturally to me.  So, I just assumed that my boys would take to the water just like I did.  Well, I was terribly wrong.  The first problem, I didn't have them at the pool everyday.  How could they learn to swim when they only occasionally went swimming?  Still, as they got older I just thought they would catch on.  They could do a really sad doggy paddle but it just wasn't going to cut it.  I finally got them into swim lessons.  I had no idea where to start them so they started in the level 2 class.  Once they were in the water they were instantly moved up to a level 3.  So, there they were on day one, listening to Coach Chris teach them the basics of a free-style swim.   After a short lesson they were instantly better and more confident swimming.  Both boys did an awesome job of listening and practicing what they had learned.

At the end of the first lesson Chris told them that they would be going off the diving boards the next day.  By the time we got out to the car Dresden was in a panic.  He was genuinely terrified.  He told me over and over, "I'm going to drown and die, and it's going to be all your fault!"  I couldn't understand his fear until he told me, with tears in his eyes, "Coach hasn't even taught us how to come back up out of the water."  I tried explaining to Dresden that he will come back up out of the water but he just couldn't understand.  All he could think of was that he would sink to the bottom of the pool.  I explained that his coach would be right there and if it made him feel better I would wear my swimming suit and sit right next to the pool to jump in if he started sinking.  That wasn't good enough.  The poor kid worried and stressed about this the entire day and all night.  When I was putting him to bed he said the same things, that he was going to die.  My heart was breaking.  As we talked he finally calmed down enough to understood that his Coach would be in the water, under the diving board, and that he would be right there to catch him.  This finally put peace to Dresden's mind and he stopped worrying so much about jumping off the diving board.  The next day, Chris taught the boys some basics about jumping into the pool,holding your breath, and swimming back to the top of the water.  I was so glad that he taught the boys this before they went to the diving boards.  I'm sure Dresden was full of anxiety when he jumped off the diving board but he jumped, resurfaced, and swam to the side of the pool.  He didn't sink and die!  Thank goodness.  Both boys jumped and jumped until Chris finally told them to get their towels.

Swim lessons ended today and I am so glad to see how much the boys have improved.  All they want to do now is go swimming, which we have done a number of times.  Can you guess where we will be tomorrow???  Yep, my little fish will be at the pool!

The boys heading to the diving boards

Dresden jumping in

We're still working on not plugging the nose

Logan jumping off the high dive

Nice form!

Champs

There aren't many activities that Larry and I do together.  We enjoy going out with friends but the only thing that he and I have ever really done together, consistently, is play softball.  One of the first times I met Larry he was playing in a softball game.  Soon after, I would occasionally play with him, not sure if it was a singles ward team or what.  I was very aware of the girls that didn't like me playing on the team but I still had fun playing and going to Pizza Hut afterwords.  For the past 11 years Larry and I have played at least Spring or Fall softball, if not both, with the Deseret News.  I think there may have been a one year gap but we have always looked forward to playing ball. This year was no different.  We had many canceled games due to rain but we finally got the season going and we came away the Champions. 

Taking Note

I was terrible about keeping records of Dresden and Logan.  I didn't write down all the cute things my boys did, because how could I possibly forget all those cute things?  I've learned my lesson and now know that I can't possibly remember all the cute things my kids do.  So, this is my journal entry on things that I am taking note about Strider...

This baby really does not liking being in the car.  We would take Dresden and Logan on car rides when they just couldn't fall asleep.  This boy, nope, he just doesn't like being in the car and forget about him falling asleep.  That doesn't happen often.  I'm sure things might be different if he didn't have two older brothers in his face all the time.  The boys sometimes have a hard time leaving him alone.

Strider is the only person that will ALWAYS smile at me when I walk in the room, and I love it!  How can your heart not melt when you see your baby give you a big gummy smile when he sees you.

Strider is a wiggle worm, and when I say wiggle worm, I mean he NEVER stops moving.  You try to feed him his bottle and his arms and legs are going or he's trying to twist around so he can see what's behind him.  When he wakes up in the morning I give him his morning bottle sitting in one of our red leather chairs in the living room.  I always get a kick out him every morning because he slides his foot up and down the arm of the chair the entire time he drinks his bottle.  It wouldn't be so funny if it didn't make the noise skin makes on leather, you know that "was that a fart?" sound.  Unlike his two older brothers who were very calm, Strider is our little wiggle worm.  In fact, when he gets really wiggly while eating I sing to him, "Slow down, you move to fast"  The Simon & Garfunkel song. 

Strider has learned to roll so now he seldom stays on his back.  He isn't always happy when he has rolled onto his tummy but if you put him back on his back he rolls right back over.  This is far different than Dresden and Logan.  Neither of them cared for their tummy's, therefore causing them to be late crawlers.  I predict this little boy will be crawling by next month.  He is already pulling his knees under him trying to scoot forward to grab toys. 

Strider loves to be sung to.  When he gets fussy he quickly settles down if he is sung to.  It may have been a coincidence but the other night I was tired and forgot to sing to him while I was feeding him his bottle.  I was sitting on the chair in his bedroom feeding him.  He finished the bottle, I burped him, and put the pacifier in his mouth.  He kept blowing bubbles and spitting the pacifier out.  I realized I hadn't been singing so I started singing his songs to him and he started to suck on his pacifier.  When I thought he was close enough to being asleep I stopped singing but then he started blowing bubbles and spit the pacifier out again.  So, I sang some more and he sucked on his pacifier.  Anyway, this happened a few times, every time I stopped singing he would spit the pacifier out until I started singing again.  Little sweetheart just wanted to be sung to until he fell asleep.

When I sing to Strider he will reach his little hand up and touch my face.  I love when he does this.

The only time Strider giggles is when he is tired.  The more tired he is the more he laughs.  Tonight he was pretty tired so I brought him downstairs to put him to bed.  The big boys were on their way downstairs too and decided to jump a few stairs to the bottom.  Strider found this absolutely hilarious so the boys kept climbing the stairs and jumping down.  Strider's laughing had all of us laughing.  There isn't anything we won't do to get this little boy to laugh.

Strider is beginning to be spoiled...I guess he isn't beginning, he all ready is.  I've mentioned how he isn't satisfied unless he is right near someone.  Well, it has only gotten worse.  It's not good enough to be across the room, he needs to be within a couple feet of me.  So, I finally bought a Bumbo chair for him and he now sits on the kitchen counter while I fix dinner or do the dishes.  This seems to keep him happy.

The latest thing Strider has discovered is his tongue.  He looks pretty darn cute when he sticks it out and gently blows air out making a cute little noise.

Here are a few pictures.  The quality isn't great because they were taken with my phone...

My kid can beat up your kid...

...or at least roll over and squash yours.

My little guy doesn't look much like a little guy next to cousin Grady.  

At two weeks, Grady is still nearly a pound smaller than what Strider's birth weight was.

I can't wait to see these two at Christmas time.

Baby Grady 1 week     -     Baby Strider 5 months

We are so happy that everything went well for the delivery of Grady

and that we have a new little cousin to love.

Mmmm Pizza

It is always interesting when we get the cousins together.  Dresden & Collin and Logan & Sydney are little characters when they are together.  Tonight we did one of our "swaps". Collin is spending the night here and Logan is with Sydney.  I'm not sure how much longer the Sydney/Logan pair will last but I'm hoping forever...not the sleepover aspect of it but the friendship part.

So tonight I have let Dresden and Collin sort of do their thing.  We went for a quick walk and then the boys have been outside pretty much the rest of the night.  We bought pizza for dinner and they used the box for a rescue mission.  It had been raining so there were lots of critters that needed rescuing. Well, I'm not sure the critters needed rescuing but Collin and Dresden were certain they would find every single one they could and save them.  I'm pretty sure a couple of the neighbors were happy to see them gone...

I think the final count was 38 before I told the boys I didn't want any more snails "rescued" and that we needed to find a new home for the ones we did have.  The new home was snail heaven after Larry fed them snail bait. I think there are lots of flowers thanking us tonight.