What a Kid

Pictures taken in the alley one night while Joseph was snacking and hamming it up for the photographer.

Water Babes

That's what all the kids have turned into....a bunch of fun lovin water babes. I thought I would be less nervous once Joseph knew how to swim.....but I was wrong. He now has no fear, and jumps in without his vest, goes all the way under, swims a few feet with his head down to get back to the side, or hops around on one foot to get to where he's going. Once he has the actual skills to go with the confidence he's developed, then I'll stop being nervous. For now there's a fine line between his version of swimming and my version of drowning. ;) The girls seem to be motivated by all the cool stuff Joseph is doing in the water too, and they have decided they like the pool enough to go in it and stay in it for more than a few minutes. Jay had Hannah kicking and blowing bubbles the other day! And of course once Leah saw this she tried it too. Now they are both crazy kickers and like to also float on their backs.....in the pool and in the bathtub. Today they both even laid on their bellies in the tub and stuck their faces in, and Leah dumped a cup of water over her own head! The three of them have been having a lot of fun together as you can see, and apparently Hannah had a little too much fun with one of the noodles. We're gonna have to keep an eye on that girl!

Smiley Faces

Scenes from School

The girl's teachers take lots of pictures of their activities during the week, and have started sending us smileboxes (picture shows) that show off their skills. Looks like Hannah and Leah are doing a lot of cooking along with their art projects and and playing. And they've even learned how to vote! We're amazed at all the fun and creative things that all the kids have been exposed to...most of which I would never think to do at home. They've all had fun with different "flannels", which are laminated pictures of things that they are learning for the week or month. Joseph was a huge fan of these, and the girls have had them in their classrooms too. Hannah and Leah have taken a few outings to parks that are in walking distance to school, and Joseph has been taking buses all over the place to go to water parks, plays, the zoo, and next week he gets to take a trip to a farm. On Joseph's field trip last week, he actually managed to loose his sandals. The director called that afternoon to apologize and say that they were doing everything they could do to locate the shoes, but I've already been broken into daycare and realize some things do get lost (though it did take me two years to feel this way) and I was just glad they hadn't lost him! (every phone call should start with "everyone is OK") Besides, for the most part their shoes are all bargains from Kohls clearance rack with coupons and out of coincidence I had just stopped there over lunch and bought him a new pair of perfectly priced sandals. I suspect the old ones that were falling apart were chucked off his feet on the bus ride back to school. He sometimes does this in the minivan too. We can loose shoes....but we absolutely cannot loose our most favorite stuffed animals. Joseph has grover at home, and a tiger at school. Both are key to happiness. And Leah like her brother, has a bear at home and a lion at school. We would be in huge trouble if either were to go missing. Hannah on the other hand, has bunny at home, and just her pacifier at school. The goal is to get rid of the pacifier by the time she turns 2, so we may have to substitute another favorite stuffed friend at some point. Joseph continues to work on his letters and numbers, and writing his name. He even brought home a piece of paper with all of our names that his teacher helped him with. And the girls are learning their colors and shapes, and apparently are each others best friends. They tend to play with each other most of the time and will only hold hands with each other on the playground. But when they are separated into different classrooms they play well with the other kids, so I don't think we need to worry about anything now. Just a big decision for when they go to kindergarten but we have some time to figure that one out. A more recent milestone, is that we are to the point that we can walk all three kids in and out of daycare at the same time? (if parked close enough to the door, in order to avoid any chance sprints out into the street) We used to take multiple trips in and out, and sometimes still do depending on how much stuff there is to carry. By fall we'll be pros.

4th of July Fun

It was a hot one this 4th of July, so we spent at least a little time each day in the pool at Grandma's house. Joseph is still taking swim lessons and as of last week turned a pretty big corner by coming to terms with swimming with his face in the water. It took him a day to get up his courage (he convinced us all to count to 20 for him to jump in and then stood there smiling as he kept on going with 21....22....) but by the last day he was jumping in all on is own (no counting daddy, I don't need it), kicking himself to the ladder, and starting all over again. It was pretty cool....maybe next summer no vest! The girls aren't quite as bold, but they are getting more used to pools and have stopped screaming in the bathtub. Hannah isn't a big fan but she doesn't cling to you for dear life anymore and she can be convinced to splash and squeal while watching her brother have fun. Leah likes to go on her belly and reach for balls and do little kicks, or sit on the stairs and try to climb out (though really she doesn't want out because then she starts to cry if you take her out of the water). Joseph was splashing Jay and apparently Jay asked Joseph to stop and told him that he would pour his drink over his head if he didn't. Joseph said (without pause) "Well then I will pour my apple juice all over your head, and then you will have apple juice in your eyes. Would you like that daddy?" The splashing did stop, and no one poured their drink on anyone. Tonight there were more amusing words from Joseph. He gets out of bed just about every night within the first 20 minutes, either to go potty or get covered up. Tonight it was both, but he needed covered up after going potty. Jay tried to explain that he needs to learn how to cover himself up and that his 5 year old friends can do this, and doesn't he want to be 5? (sounds logical to me, as I frequently use similar tactics). But Joseph said "No daddy, I don't want to be 5, I want to be 13." Where did that come from?!?!??!