That we've spent the last 6 weeks at swimming lessons every Monday & Wednesday nights? And that tonight was our last lesson? I think I might have mentioned it in talking about my schedule sort of passing way but I can only say that, holy Moses, does this kid like water.
His skill set has improved by leaps & bounds. His teacher, Ms. Lori, is fantastic with him & the other kids too. She's very keen on what they want to do and how to get that to mesh with what they have to do. And Liam is loving it. Matias has been coming with us also, I like that he's doing structured lessons with Liam. I think it's good for him to be in the situation also and not just Mama, so that he learns to pay attention & behave in those surroundings for more than just me. And the strange thing is, I think he kind of likes swim lessons better with Dada than me.
And I'm pretty sure that hurts my feelings.
Tonight I had him to myself for class & he was a total Klingy Koala Bear the entire class. Sure he did things he was supposed to but it took some talking into and then some scraping off of my torso to get him into action...
Even Ms. Lori commented on how different he is with Dad. I know she didn't mean it in a bad way but it's weird to have someone else notice it also.
Good for nothing, child of mine. I'll have to sign him up for another session just to show him who's boss around here.
Showing posts with label water water everywhere. Show all posts
Showing posts with label water water everywhere. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Pool Progress!
We've been taking Liam to the pool every evening for the past week & the amount of progress that he has made has got me thinking he'll be swimming on his own by the end of the summer! Not really, but yeah, really!
He was never one to enthusiastically kick, he would do it but not with any great gusto. He much rather preferred being carried around and playing that way & blowing bubbles every once in a while. Now as soon as we hit the water, he's full on kicking. And blowing bubbles. And doing a little breast stroke/dog paddle motions with his arms. All at the same time. And loving every minute of it! He's always got a huge smile on his face while he's in the pool, even when he's saying "no!no!" to one of our requests.
He would jump into the pool holding our hands, standing or sitting but usually with the Loophole that he would attempt to run away. Now, he THROWS himself into the pool WITHOUT holding our hands! Even flings himself, belly flop style, into the baby pool - try catching that!
His progress is awesome & I'm so proud of him for excelling at this at such a quick rate & enjoying every minute of it. He asks to go in the pool all day long. Gets his trunks & swimmie diaper out of the closet and brings them over to me and says "swim". It just seems like he cannot get enough of it!
And I have to tell y'all that we've "trained" him not to run but to WALK and it's the funniest little Loopholer walking you will ever see. He like hop, skip & jumps along - one leg firmly walking & the other one jacked up a little but not running and he hunches down to further illustrate he is walking! I've given the lifeguards the OK to blow the whistle at him when he runs because I believe strongly (hello, 6 years of lifeguarding) that running is way dangerous and learning to walk around the pool at all times is fundamental to pool safety. He has learned to listen to the whistle (really only happens once or twice) and I've learned that I can still bark out a full on WALK command without realizing I'm going to do it.
There's one lifeguard there that he has taken quite a shine to also. She's never really paid him any extra special attention but I guess what she has given him has struck a chord. She was the first one to blow the whistle at him & she's usually in the pool teaching lessons when we go after 6pm so he probably interacts with her the most out of all of them (as opposed to the ones who listen to their iPods while guarding, but that's an entirely different post). On Sunday, she wasn't working but showed up for whatever reason. He saw her walking outside the fence & Pool Walked over to the fence and YELLED HI to her! Then he went over to the entrance from the shower/changing rooms & WAITED for her to come through and when she did he HUGGED her & asked her to "rarry me" (Liam-->English-->carry)! And she did :) He kept asking her to get in the pool with him & it was so cute. She had to keep telling him that she wasn't working that day but the next time she saw him so would swim with him. I have no idea what brought this on & he's never acted that way with a "stranger" before but I loved that he recognized her & asked her to play with him basically.
He has gone under the water a handful of times "accidentally" but with no repercussions. I'm not a big worrier about him going under as we are ALWAYS right_there to bring him back up & most of the time this happens because he thinks he is a Bigger Boy than he really is. He loves to play on the steps & walk up and down them and refuses to let me hold his hands when he gets to the step that will put him under the water. I tell him repeatedly that he's not tall enough & that he will go under if he continues down that path but he doesn't pay any attention & just goes for it. He never reacts beyond rubbing the water out of his eyes & only once was his mouth open so he allowed me to hold him while he coughed it off. But the thing with Liam is he never really gets effected by these things, he just coughs them off & I find that a wonderful trait to possess. So I don't fret or hover or gasp, I just haul him back up (him not realizing just yet that all he has to do is stand up) and give him a hearty "WOW YOU WENT UNDER!" and we are on our merry way. He really enjoys throwing one of his toys (bathtub toys) into the pool and leaping after them, I think he's picked this up from watching the older kids just toss themselves into the pool. My main Worry (yes, now it's a capital W) is that he's going to get into the habit of just tossing himself in without making sure one of us is there to retrieve him, he doesn't want us there to guide him in but he needs us there to catch him, regardless of if we are holding his hands on the way down or not. And what two year DOES understand that?
And here's the part where I rant about floaties. I hate them. I think and strongly believe that they are a false sense of security. Almost every kid there wears them & I think it's stupid (not you, you're not stupid cause I like you.). Once before one kid (who was probably around 6 years old) had his floaties on because dad was still blowing them up, he just dropped himself right into the pool. And dad had to jump in after him (don't ask what the idiot lifeguards were doing cause my ass was off that chair already on my way to the kid...) and save him. The kid was panicking hard core, he bobbed 3 times before the dad got to him. And you know what? I think he was tall enough to just stand up but was freaked out without his floaties bringing him right back up that he had no idea how to do that. Now this all stems from those 6 years as lifeguard/swim instructor but let me tell you - Liam will NEVER WEAR FLOATIES. NEVER. I'm sure most kids have near-drowning experiences because they tried to swim without them and instead of saving their lives it could cause them to lose it. Now, let's not be stupid here, Liam will wear a life-jacket when necessary and he will play with noodles & yes, he has a float toy that he sits in BUT he is only two years old and not capable of supporting himself in the water (not talking about life-jackets he'll wear one of those until he's old enough to make his own stupid decisions [about 25 years old according to me]). And anyway, you should be IN the water with them until they (and sometimes even after) they are fully capable of swimming and breathing on their own. And I say "even after" because kids get extremely worn-out and that whole "don't know they just need to stand up" thing comes into play more often than you know. Trust the swim instructor when they tell you this. So this ends my Pool Safety Floaties are the Devil lecture.
I'm going to be really bummed when the pool closes over Labor Day but I know that we will be signing him up for more Mommy & Me lessons over the fall & winter.
He was never one to enthusiastically kick, he would do it but not with any great gusto. He much rather preferred being carried around and playing that way & blowing bubbles every once in a while. Now as soon as we hit the water, he's full on kicking. And blowing bubbles. And doing a little breast stroke/dog paddle motions with his arms. All at the same time. And loving every minute of it! He's always got a huge smile on his face while he's in the pool, even when he's saying "no!no!" to one of our requests.
He would jump into the pool holding our hands, standing or sitting but usually with the Loophole that he would attempt to run away. Now, he THROWS himself into the pool WITHOUT holding our hands! Even flings himself, belly flop style, into the baby pool - try catching that!
His progress is awesome & I'm so proud of him for excelling at this at such a quick rate & enjoying every minute of it. He asks to go in the pool all day long. Gets his trunks & swimmie diaper out of the closet and brings them over to me and says "swim". It just seems like he cannot get enough of it!
And I have to tell y'all that we've "trained" him not to run but to WALK and it's the funniest little Loopholer walking you will ever see. He like hop, skip & jumps along - one leg firmly walking & the other one jacked up a little but not running and he hunches down to further illustrate he is walking! I've given the lifeguards the OK to blow the whistle at him when he runs because I believe strongly (hello, 6 years of lifeguarding) that running is way dangerous and learning to walk around the pool at all times is fundamental to pool safety. He has learned to listen to the whistle (really only happens once or twice) and I've learned that I can still bark out a full on WALK command without realizing I'm going to do it.
There's one lifeguard there that he has taken quite a shine to also. She's never really paid him any extra special attention but I guess what she has given him has struck a chord. She was the first one to blow the whistle at him & she's usually in the pool teaching lessons when we go after 6pm so he probably interacts with her the most out of all of them (as opposed to the ones who listen to their iPods while guarding, but that's an entirely different post). On Sunday, she wasn't working but showed up for whatever reason. He saw her walking outside the fence & Pool Walked over to the fence and YELLED HI to her! Then he went over to the entrance from the shower/changing rooms & WAITED for her to come through and when she did he HUGGED her & asked her to "rarry me" (Liam-->English-->carry)! And she did :) He kept asking her to get in the pool with him & it was so cute. She had to keep telling him that she wasn't working that day but the next time she saw him so would swim with him. I have no idea what brought this on & he's never acted that way with a "stranger" before but I loved that he recognized her & asked her to play with him basically.
He has gone under the water a handful of times "accidentally" but with no repercussions. I'm not a big worrier about him going under as we are ALWAYS right_there to bring him back up & most of the time this happens because he thinks he is a Bigger Boy than he really is. He loves to play on the steps & walk up and down them and refuses to let me hold his hands when he gets to the step that will put him under the water. I tell him repeatedly that he's not tall enough & that he will go under if he continues down that path but he doesn't pay any attention & just goes for it. He never reacts beyond rubbing the water out of his eyes & only once was his mouth open so he allowed me to hold him while he coughed it off. But the thing with Liam is he never really gets effected by these things, he just coughs them off & I find that a wonderful trait to possess. So I don't fret or hover or gasp, I just haul him back up (him not realizing just yet that all he has to do is stand up) and give him a hearty "WOW YOU WENT UNDER!" and we are on our merry way. He really enjoys throwing one of his toys (bathtub toys) into the pool and leaping after them, I think he's picked this up from watching the older kids just toss themselves into the pool. My main Worry (yes, now it's a capital W) is that he's going to get into the habit of just tossing himself in without making sure one of us is there to retrieve him, he doesn't want us there to guide him in but he needs us there to catch him, regardless of if we are holding his hands on the way down or not. And what two year DOES understand that?
And here's the part where I rant about floaties. I hate them. I think and strongly believe that they are a false sense of security. Almost every kid there wears them & I think it's stupid (not you, you're not stupid cause I like you.). Once before one kid (who was probably around 6 years old) had his floaties on because dad was still blowing them up, he just dropped himself right into the pool. And dad had to jump in after him (don't ask what the idiot lifeguards were doing cause my ass was off that chair already on my way to the kid...) and save him. The kid was panicking hard core, he bobbed 3 times before the dad got to him. And you know what? I think he was tall enough to just stand up but was freaked out without his floaties bringing him right back up that he had no idea how to do that. Now this all stems from those 6 years as lifeguard/swim instructor but let me tell you - Liam will NEVER WEAR FLOATIES. NEVER. I'm sure most kids have near-drowning experiences because they tried to swim without them and instead of saving their lives it could cause them to lose it. Now, let's not be stupid here, Liam will wear a life-jacket when necessary and he will play with noodles & yes, he has a float toy that he sits in BUT he is only two years old and not capable of supporting himself in the water (not talking about life-jackets he'll wear one of those until he's old enough to make his own stupid decisions [about 25 years old according to me]). And anyway, you should be IN the water with them until they (and sometimes even after) they are fully capable of swimming and breathing on their own. And I say "even after" because kids get extremely worn-out and that whole "don't know they just need to stand up" thing comes into play more often than you know. Trust the swim instructor when they tell you this. So this ends my Pool Safety Floaties are the Devil lecture.
I'm going to be really bummed when the pool closes over Labor Day but I know that we will be signing him up for more Mommy & Me lessons over the fall & winter.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
What a Difference (less than) a Year Makes
The 1st shot is from Oct. 2007 & the next one is from July 4th 2008.
I've been doing a lot of thinking (read: stressing) about Birthdays, our children's birthdays more specifically & I'm amazed that some parents don't make big deals out of them (and I am not thinking of anyone I know, just in general) and it kind of sort breaks my heart for some strange reason. And this coming from the person who really didn't enjoy her birthday OR being sang to BUT I really enjoy the thought of Celebrating (with a capital C) the year that was and the year that is to be. There so much that they've accomplished & become that how can you not bake them a cake (or get your sister to!) & shower them with love and wishes and icing and toys they don't really need but good lord do you see how much fun he's having with them??? It makes me heart swell in places I didn't even know I existed.
And I just might be a hugely sentimental person who loves to look back over the years & see how far we've come & how far we've gone and who's been there with us year after year after year (...bobbing head..) and I just might be a person who loves to get together to celebrate all of that TOGETHER. Is this really surprising anyone? This feeling manifests itself in my work with Creative Memories (hello!), my Freak Gatherings, my need to Tour & continue to hit certain venues with certain people...it's all a part of Me...
...and the year between my son's 12th month & his 24th month is something to Celebrate people!
...and to think this started out innocently enough with just wanting to post those two pictures side-by-side to show how much he's changed and how much he's stayed the same.
All I know is I cannot wait to watch everyone (but Nana & Mama who are smarter than the average bears) get hosed down from the feet to the sky by a Fellow with a Hose next summer. I think we're going to be in trouble then. I think not only will he be beyond operating the hose properly but he will be able to unlock the door with a key he's stashed away somewhere outside & bring that hose inside with purpose & intention.
I'll be waiting with a towel & a camera. That much I do know.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Friday, May 02, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Like a Koala Bear in Water
We started swim lessons this week & have two under our belt so far - they are going swimmingly! Oh, how I crack myself up.
Anyways...
Liam absolutely loves the water my only BUT is that he is clinging to me like a koala bear to a eucalyptus tree. This normally indicates that he is unsure of his surroundings & will not participate in anything you ask of him if it requires him to switch positions. When we encounter the wild koala bear, it takes a few times of doing that thing before he warms up enough to participate fully. And I've already seen that happening!
We use "tools" in the water and although he uses them properly, he doesn't want to let go of it when it's time to use the next one - we have a watering can, a ball (GOL!) and a noodle (newnew) - and I have to pry each one from his hands to move onto the next task.
Liam is a shy boy, almost to the point of being a Lone Wolf. When all the kids at playgroup are in the room playing with toys, he's in the kitchen staring out a window, eating his snacks. When all the kids are in the kitchen, eating their snacks, he's in the play room playing alone with all the toys. He will usually warm up & will discontinue his calls for Mama!Mama! right about the time has come for us to leave. He's quiet too around other kids in other houses but is not when in his own house so I know it's just the new surroundings that is contributing to his shyness. Mama was shy almost to the point of painful when she was little & I think it's safe to say she grew out of it ;)
With all that said, I knew that Liam just had to warm up to the idea of going to swim lessons; and after his second class, I can say that this has successfully occurred!
He gave up the tools a little easier each time, even went to his teacher to practice with her (stranger! danger!), peacefully went onto his back, correctly held onto the noodle (newnew!), attempted to BLOW BUBBLES BY HIMSELF and then successfully spit the water out of his mouth when that went awry AND by far his Most Favorite Thing Ever is to JUMP IN THE POOL BY HIMSELF. Even asking "Agan?" before he's barely even finished his jump!
I do think if I had started him earlier in structured classes he totally would have been easier to manipulate into doing what I wanted him to do, but now that's a pinch more Independent it has become tougher for me to control all aspects of his movements, you know? But knowing his koala bear tendencies helps me remain hopeful & able to focus on just getting him comfortable so that when he's ready to climb down from the tree he's got all the trust & faith that Mama will be there for him when he is at that point.
His classes are on Monday & Wednesday but Matias has soccer practice on Wednesdays so I don't know how many classes he'll be able to make it to. I asked that he arrange his schedule so that he can take him on Monday's (I'll go, of course, someone has to take the pictures!) and I'll take him on Wednesdays...I hope that works out because he needs to be comfortable with BOTH of us, separate of each other. Also, this stinking 30 minute class is like 30 minutes of pure SQUATS workout and whoa, doggie, that's a lot of squatting. ;)
Anyways...
Liam absolutely loves the water my only BUT is that he is clinging to me like a koala bear to a eucalyptus tree. This normally indicates that he is unsure of his surroundings & will not participate in anything you ask of him if it requires him to switch positions. When we encounter the wild koala bear, it takes a few times of doing that thing before he warms up enough to participate fully. And I've already seen that happening!
We use "tools" in the water and although he uses them properly, he doesn't want to let go of it when it's time to use the next one - we have a watering can, a ball (GOL!) and a noodle (newnew) - and I have to pry each one from his hands to move onto the next task.
Liam is a shy boy, almost to the point of being a Lone Wolf. When all the kids at playgroup are in the room playing with toys, he's in the kitchen staring out a window, eating his snacks. When all the kids are in the kitchen, eating their snacks, he's in the play room playing alone with all the toys. He will usually warm up & will discontinue his calls for Mama!Mama! right about the time has come for us to leave. He's quiet too around other kids in other houses but is not when in his own house so I know it's just the new surroundings that is contributing to his shyness. Mama was shy almost to the point of painful when she was little & I think it's safe to say she grew out of it ;)
With all that said, I knew that Liam just had to warm up to the idea of going to swim lessons; and after his second class, I can say that this has successfully occurred!
He gave up the tools a little easier each time, even went to his teacher to practice with her (stranger! danger!), peacefully went onto his back, correctly held onto the noodle (newnew!), attempted to BLOW BUBBLES BY HIMSELF and then successfully spit the water out of his mouth when that went awry AND by far his Most Favorite Thing Ever is to JUMP IN THE POOL BY HIMSELF. Even asking "Agan?" before he's barely even finished his jump!
I do think if I had started him earlier in structured classes he totally would have been easier to manipulate into doing what I wanted him to do, but now that's a pinch more Independent it has become tougher for me to control all aspects of his movements, you know? But knowing his koala bear tendencies helps me remain hopeful & able to focus on just getting him comfortable so that when he's ready to climb down from the tree he's got all the trust & faith that Mama will be there for him when he is at that point.
His classes are on Monday & Wednesday but Matias has soccer practice on Wednesdays so I don't know how many classes he'll be able to make it to. I asked that he arrange his schedule so that he can take him on Monday's (I'll go, of course, someone has to take the pictures!) and I'll take him on Wednesdays...I hope that works out because he needs to be comfortable with BOTH of us, separate of each other. Also, this stinking 30 minute class is like 30 minutes of pure SQUATS workout and whoa, doggie, that's a lot of squatting. ;)
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Fun with Water!
If we had a theme in this house it would be Fun with Water! The Fellow loves him some water; running water from the tap, water that he sees in bottles, toilets flushing, any drink (beside milk) is water (to which I explain that "yes, water does help make up that TEA but it's TEA not WATER"), watering the plants, rain, fountains...you name it, if it's wet, it's a favorite of the Fellow's.
Now, our favorite game in the house is now pouring of the water. It can be from one cup to another, from a cup to a pot/pan, from a cup into the cup holder on his highchair tray, watering plants (has his own watering can), dumping water into his duckie in the shower. If it's not being pouring, this miraculous water is cleaning something; water on his chupies, water rinsing out his yogurt/apple sauce containers, water rinsing off the dishes. You get the picture, I hope. Also, I hope you understand that we do these things multiple times a day. Every day. All day long.
Let's not forget flushing the toilet - he just likes to stand there & flush signing WATER over and over, frantically saying WATER WATER. He now says ByeByeWater when we drain the tub - which is cute, so I'll give him that one. And since Mama NEVER gets to go potty by herself, he's started tearing off some toilet paper and pushing me aside so that he can put it in the toilet & flush. I've jumped on that wagon though & when I change his diaper, I tell him I am wiping him & then let him toss his diaper into the bin & he says ByeBye to his dirty diaper - I'm hoping this makes potty training a little easier since I'm working in the ByeBye aspect of it early and he won't freak when he's peepee goes ByeBye. He's trying to get me to turn the shower on for him (if I happen to be going potty in our bathroom) so that he can play in that water. He has mastered turning on the tub water in our bathroom & throws as many things in there as possible - the big issue now is that he can reach the hot water tap & also the flow of the water so I actually have to watch him now.
This love of water though has brought us our FIRST REAL TWO WORD SENTENCE though! He now says "more water" whenever his stash is running low - which is often. I do appease him though & let him play with little containers of water and watch him dump them from one to the other because I'm amazed at his ability to do this without very minimal spillage. He's very good at it & I think that's a hard skill to accomplish, there's very little mess & I've taken to putting a kitchen towel under his "toys" so that it's easy to clean up and he's now taken to sitting & waiting for the towel or even going over to it when he wants to play Dump the Water; More Water. I also gave him this tiny mustard condiment container that he loves to fill up (please, when I say "fill up" I mean three-five dribbles, I'm not crazy) and SPRAY all over the glass doors. I do think that's better than drawing on them with his crayons though!
I'm very excited about Springs' arrival because he will LOVE that water table we got him last year! Now, he did love it last year but this year, whoa, I think the roof will be blown off his head.
And also speaking of water - I signed him up for swim lessons! We start on the 24th and go for 8 lessons every Monday & Wednesday from 5:30-6pm :) I sure hope he loves being in it as much as he loves playing with it!
Now, our favorite game in the house is now pouring of the water. It can be from one cup to another, from a cup to a pot/pan, from a cup into the cup holder on his highchair tray, watering plants (has his own watering can), dumping water into his duckie in the shower. If it's not being pouring, this miraculous water is cleaning something; water on his chupies, water rinsing out his yogurt/apple sauce containers, water rinsing off the dishes. You get the picture, I hope. Also, I hope you understand that we do these things multiple times a day. Every day. All day long.
Let's not forget flushing the toilet - he just likes to stand there & flush signing WATER over and over, frantically saying WATER WATER. He now says ByeByeWater when we drain the tub - which is cute, so I'll give him that one. And since Mama NEVER gets to go potty by herself, he's started tearing off some toilet paper and pushing me aside so that he can put it in the toilet & flush. I've jumped on that wagon though & when I change his diaper, I tell him I am wiping him & then let him toss his diaper into the bin & he says ByeBye to his dirty diaper - I'm hoping this makes potty training a little easier since I'm working in the ByeBye aspect of it early and he won't freak when he's peepee goes ByeBye. He's trying to get me to turn the shower on for him (if I happen to be going potty in our bathroom) so that he can play in that water. He has mastered turning on the tub water in our bathroom & throws as many things in there as possible - the big issue now is that he can reach the hot water tap & also the flow of the water so I actually have to watch him now.
This love of water though has brought us our FIRST REAL TWO WORD SENTENCE though! He now says "more water" whenever his stash is running low - which is often. I do appease him though & let him play with little containers of water and watch him dump them from one to the other because I'm amazed at his ability to do this without very minimal spillage. He's very good at it & I think that's a hard skill to accomplish, there's very little mess & I've taken to putting a kitchen towel under his "toys" so that it's easy to clean up and he's now taken to sitting & waiting for the towel or even going over to it when he wants to play Dump the Water; More Water. I also gave him this tiny mustard condiment container that he loves to fill up (please, when I say "fill up" I mean three-five dribbles, I'm not crazy) and SPRAY all over the glass doors. I do think that's better than drawing on them with his crayons though!
I'm very excited about Springs' arrival because he will LOVE that water table we got him last year! Now, he did love it last year but this year, whoa, I think the roof will be blown off his head.
And also speaking of water - I signed him up for swim lessons! We start on the 24th and go for 8 lessons every Monday & Wednesday from 5:30-6pm :) I sure hope he loves being in it as much as he loves playing with it!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Friday, November 16, 2007
Water, Water Everywhere!
Two new tricks courtesy of the Liam Fellow!
Everyone have a great Friday & a fantastic weekend :)
- He now attempts to drink from the cat water bowls. While meowing.
- Last night in the tub, he leaned over and dunked his face AND BLEW BUBBLES! We have NOT taught him this & he did it more than once with no care in the world!
Everyone have a great Friday & a fantastic weekend :)
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