A Big Day for 2 Kids

Today was Sara's first day back at preschool. Last year when she had her first day I felt like it was HUGE and that my little girl was getting so big. This year it just feels like another thing we do. Kind of weird. But I'm happy to get back to a routine and it's great for Sara to spend sometime out of the house and without me. She loved her teacher last year, so I hope she feels the same way about her new one.

I took the obligatory first day of school photos and this one was my favorite. She's at the stage where if the camera comes out she has to make some crazy (most often unflattering) face. When I snapped this one she was trying to look behind me as her neighbor-friend was talking to her.

check out her new 'do

And now for Aaron: He just turned 14 months old the other day, but he still seems like such a little baby to me. I think that he looks small for his age, even though he's sometimes bigger than other kids that are a few months older than him. He still has all that chubby babyness and that's probably because he's not walking. I used to be stressed that he seems to hit those baby "milestones" later than most kids, but now I take it in stride. Well, I think I take it in stride, but Than would probably disagree. Anyway, Aaron was born a whole month early, so he can take as long as he wants to turn into a toddler. And now back to today. This afternoon while Aaron was supposed to be napping I heard some super-happy noises coming from his room. When I opened the door I found that he had pulled himself up to standing for the first time. And he was so proud of himself. I had to run and get the camera and he immediately began screaming, but lucky for me, he didn't plop down and had a huge smile on his face when I returned. Man, I love that kid so much!

He just melts my heart.

Doughnuts and A Book

So most of you probably know what this is. I read the first 3 and thought they were alright--pretty fun to read, but I had serious problems with Bella. I wanted to read Breaking Dawn, and knew I'd buy it sometime this week.

On Saturday morning, Than got up with the kids (as usual) and let me sleep in for awhile. A little later he came in and told me he was going to take the kids to the store and get some doughnuts for breakfast and for me to sleep more. After what seemed like hours, they returned and found me still in bed. Sara hopped in and yelled, "Suprise!!!!" And then she handed me the book. Turns out that was Than's whole plan--to get out early and buy me the book. What a sweetheart!

I'm 100 pages in and so far, so good.

What's goin' on?

Really, not so much. Or so it seems. This summer is passing in a flash. I feel so busy, but I don't know what I've been doing. And every moment that I get to myself, I just want to lay on the couch, watch TV and eat bon-bons.

I get on the computer almost every day, but I never post anything because I'm too lazy to download my pictures from my camera. But not today. . .



The last 2 weeks Sara's been taking swimming lessons over at the AF pool. Day #1 was great. She did everything her teacher asked and was so happy and excited to be in the water.

Day #2--Still great, although her teacher asked her to put her head under water and she wasn't too keen on that.

Day #3--Wouldn't get in the water. I had to threaten that we wouldn't go swimming for the rest of the summer if she didn't get in the pool. And then, after she was in the water, she refused flat out, with tears, to to anything that involved getting her face wet.

Day #4--Yikes!!! I had bought her some gum before we went to the pool as a little bribe, because I knew I was in for a hard time with her on this day. So she was all excited to get a piece of cotton candy bubble gum if she had no crying, got in the water, and did everything her teacher asked. No biggie, right? We went over the requirements several times and she was willing to do it all. Until we got right next to the pool and it was time for her to hop in. Oh, the tears, and the screams, and the horribleness of my sweet child! I was upset, no, UPSET!! I told her if she didn't get in the water, we would leave. I asked if she wanted to get in. She shook her head no, so we headed out. Me, pushing an angry Aaron in his stroller, and her chasing behind, screaming as loud as she could. We finally got to the parking lot and I asked her again about getting in the water. She said, "I want to learn how to swim!!" Then we walked all the way back through the rec center, through the ladies locker room and up to the side of the pool, and again the tears and the screams. I was done. I marched us out of there as fast as I could. I felt like every mom (and dad) who was in the place was staring at me. When we got back to the car, I had some very angry words and I was not at all sympathetic to her plight. Oh yeah, when she asked what I was going to do with the gum, I took it out of my bag and gave it to some other kids. I was determined that we would NOT be coming back and trying again.

Thanks to my wise sister, I calmed down a bit and decided to try back the next day. Than, Sara, and I even practiced bobbing our heads under the water in our hot tub that night. I had to get more treats for bribes, but days 5 through 8 of swimming lessons went so much better. On day #5 there were still a few tears at the beginning, but by the end of the class, she was beaming.

Today was the last day, day #8, and as she skipped to the pool she said, "I am so excited!!" She still doesn't want to bob her head under the water, but she did everything else that her teacher wanted. I am so happy that it's all over for this summer.

Today, as I think about the whole ordeal, I realize that I was all wrong. I should have been understanding of her fear and used less angry words and more sympathy. At the end, she learned how to face her fear, but it was also a learning experience for me. This parenting stuff is hard work. I think I've got such a sweet little girl, but we have these days where we fight like two 4-year-olds. But I can say the bad days are really few and far between. I'm glad that each day is a new opportunity for us to make some good memories.