Jack the Swimmer

I am so impressed with Jack's swimming this year that I am dedicating an entire blog post to it! At the beginning of the summer, Jack was very timid in the water. Even though he swam often last year, it had just been awhile and he was cautious. He did not want to put his face in the water and wasn't interested in jumping of the diving board (or off of anything for that matter!). But throughout the summer he has just amazed me. We signed up for one on one swimming lessons with a really great teacher. After just one session, he was already putting his face in the water, swimming without floaties, and jumping off the board. After two sessions he was starting to get braver even without Ms. Denise present. He was showing off his tricks to us and by now he was doing cannonballs and even trying to dive off the board. After four lessons, it was like he'd been swimming his whole life. He now jumps into the deep end without floaties and swims to the side all by himself. He likes to go to the bottom of the pool and touch the drain. He also loves trying new tricks like jumping backward off the board. Even his technique is improving, as he sees the benefits of using big arms and keeping his body up on the surface of the water to kick more effectively. He is our little fish and I'm so proud of him!!

Fun with Sidewalk Chalk

Graham's New Lovey

Graham has never been much of a cuddler. He is very sweet but very active so his hugs come and go quickly! When he does snuggle though, he usually snuggles up with Mommy or Daddy along with blankie. I've tried to put a couple other things in his bed thinking he might get attached to something that might be good for him when he needs comfort but he hadn't taken to anything. Until about a week ago. All of the sudden he decided he was in love with Elmo! This is surprising to me seeing as Graham hardly ever gets to watch Elmo's World. Jack watched it all the time when he was younger but Graham usually gets stuck watching what Jack chooses, so he hasn't had much exposure. Anyway, the heart wants what the heart wants, I guess! It's very cute to see him love on his sweet Elmo doll.





And here he is playing with the other Elmo doll:

Jack's Half Birthday

In case you weren't aware, last Tuesday, August 9th, was a big day. A day we had been counting down to for a month or so. Jack's HALF BIRTHDAY!!! I think I am responsible for the fact that we made such a big deal out of this day. A month or two ago, I made an offhand remark to Jack about the fact that he was almost 4 1/2. He didn't understand what that even meant so I explained that in August, he will be halfway between four and five years old and so that will be his half birthday. He got very excited about this and asked me if there would be a party, cake, balloons, etc. Of course I said no, but I did say that we would celebrate somehow. It turned out that Randy needed to use some vacation days that week anyway, so he stayed home and we took the kids to Bouncin' Craze and then to Chick-fil-a for lunch. And at dinner Jack got a brownie complete with four and a half candles. What a day it was! Somehow over the course of the next year I'll have to make sure Jack knows that Daddy doesn't take off work every year for half birthdays... and there is no way I'm taking the boys to Bouncin' Craze by myself!!

Graham Growing!

We took Graham in to see Dr. Garrison today for his 18 month checkup. I had been putting it off because I knew he had to get one shot, but now that he's almost 19 months, I figured we better just get it over with. His visit went well! He was very brave and was easily comforted after the shot by Elmo, blankie, Mommy, and big brother. Graham is ahead of schedule in the verbal department and is advanced in his motor skills (that wasn't news to us!). He looks perfectly healthy and is growing well. He weighs 29 pounds 4 ounces, which is in the 80th percentile. He's 75% for height, measuring 33 1/2 inches. What a big boy!!

Playdate!

Last weekend, we had our monthly playdate with the Barkers and the Spurgeons at my mom and dad's pool. The boys had such a great time together as always. I'm so glad the boys have such good friends to spend time with. Next month... Thomas the Tank Engine!!

Graham Singing

Graham just loves to sing. One of the sweetest moments of my day is when I put Graham to bed at night. He drinks his milk while I read Goodnight Moon. Then I sing to him and cuddle before putting him in bed. In the past few weeks, he's started singing along with me and it is just so precious. I don't have a video of that, but we did get him to help Randy sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star the other night: