Swimming Lessons

We are heading into week four of "swim lessons" in the "wa-wa" as Max calls it. 

So I figured it was time to give my dedicated blog readers (looking at you Grandpa Tim and Grandpa Jim) an update! The first week was a total fiasco.  Oh man, between the screaming children in the pool, running around like a crazy person trying to get us both dressed in the family dressing room,

and barely making it home carrying the five hundred toddler essentials for swimming...it was a doozey.  But - we got smart and now we go as a team!  And it's lots of fun!

 

 

First things first - I'm in a bathing suit and now it's on the internet.  I must be feeling brave :)

Secondly, though the title of this post is "swimming lessons" - no actual lesson is taking place.

haha! Silly mama...a more appropriate name might be "wear your child out before bedtime class" or "how to make ten toddlers happy by dancing and signing for half and hour" .  Either way...we are having fun.  And Max does seem to enjoy being in the water.  

 

 

We are doing the "lessons" at the Powell YMCA.  And title for the series was "Parent Child Swim Lessons" for children 6 -24 months.  After the first week going by myself fiasco, Papa Rob and myself have been switching on and off who gets in the water with Max.  The funny part is - anytime he sees either of us on the side, he yells "Mama, Mama!" or "Dada!" and wants to be brought over to the edge immediately for a quick little high five or acknowledgment of his awesome-ness. 

 

 

There are about ten children total (plus their adults). 

It's a private pool (that said it was heated but I strongly disagree. It might be a tad warmer than the "big pool" but Mama wouldn't mind if they kicked it up a few degrees".) The other nice part is that they send in a life guard to watch us the whole time. 

 

 

We sing lots of songs with movement built into them. 

For example..."motor boat, motor boat, go so slow" (spin child in a circle....slowly)

"motor boat, motor boat, go so fast" (spin the opposite direction a little faster).

"motor boat, motor boat, step on the gas" (change direction again and pick up the pace).

Max likes this one.

 

 

 

After we are all warmed up....the teacher dumps out a whole basket full of water toys!

Max really perks up when he sees the toys floating by. 

He shouts and points "duck! duck! duck!"...and we float over and he grabs it.

Then, the teacher asks us to sit them on the ledge of the pool and lure them to jump in

by waving around the water toys. Max LOVES doing his.  I think mostly because he gets

the toy back quickly (it's weird...this child of mine seems to have very little patience...no idea where he got that from...)

 

We also do "kicks off the wall" - which is probably the closest thing to a lesson that we actually do.

We place the bottom of Max's feet on the wall....scrunch them up, and push off! 

(like you would when pushing off the wall into a back stroke...or something).

Max seems to like this part too.

 

 

Just a few more laps, kick pushes, and back strokes...and he's practically Michael Phelps :)

 

 

 

Is Max Olympics bound in Summer 2028?

Luckily we have five more weeks of lessons to find out!

Xoxo

 

 

 



Around Here Lately

 

We are soaking up the last of the summer weather...

which means cool mornings with sweatshirts and hot afternoons

calling for an outfit change. Can't complain though...because

Max still loves being outside.  His new thing is side walk chalk.

He loves to pick up all the pieces and gets mad when he can't

fit them all in his hands.  Also, you may a hear a constant

chorus of "we don't put that in our mouth, Max" coming from

myself and Papa Rob. Ahhh toddlerhood.

 

We are also taking swimming lessons.  The word lesson should be used loosely.

It's more like "get ten babies in the water and they all start crying and then we

sing songs and jump off the ledge and take hundreds of pictures".

also, sidebar: I went by myself the first week and that was a huge mistake.

I couldn't carry all of our things, and Max, and get us out of the family

dressing room by myself.  Need proof? Ask the old lady who came running

after me with my polka dot bra (because I left it in the dressing room).

It was certainly one of those times where I wished I had three arms.

 

This weekend was two full days of amazing weather.  We pushed the family fun bar to the max!  haha!  But really, we hit up Fall Fest at the Zoo on Saturday and then Franklin Park Conservatory on Sunday. The Zoo was super crowded and made me want to pull my hair out. It's so hard to maneuver a stroller in crowds of thousands.  But, Max did seem to love all the animals (as usual) and I think we all did a fair amount of people watching. (What is it about the Zoo that attracts all the crazies?)

At the conservatory we ran into an old friend and who hooked us up with a really large butterfly to release!  I think Max's favorite spot was the room with all the windows that you can see the butterflies emerging from their cocoons/chrysalis's.  He would point and run from window to window.  I love the look on his face in the last picture...always full of wonder and excitement.  Sometimes I have to remind myself that often it's his first time experiencing things that might seem like old hat to Papa Rob and me. So many fun firsts to look forward too. :)

 

xoxo



Parenting and Stuff

(Night time cuddles...one of Mama's favorite things)

 

Recently I've been experiencing a lot of mama drama. 

Max has definitely gotten to an age where he is more expressive/opinionated about things...refusing to eat certain foods, crying if he doesn't get exactly what he wants, "throwing fits" at daycare, etc. 

When these things happen or he gets a less than stellar report card for the day at school...I tend to freak out.  Is something wrong? Should I be doing things differently?  Is this normal?

And the truth is - it probably is normal.  As a teacher, I know that as children get older they push boundaries, express themselves in creative ways, and generally like to give you their two cents. 

 

Perhaps also because of this education background I tend to view life from the perspective of a life long student - everything becomes a project, with objectives, deliverables, and a deadline.  I love lists, schedules, and calendars.  I love the feeling of turning in a competed project.

 

I think unknowingly I began to parent in a similar fashion.  Max has become my project and his life a list of deliverables: learn to take a bottle, sleep through the night, self feed, walk, then run, and of course speak words. Every first had to be recorded, every decision fretted over, every skill perfected.  Even our holiday outfits - perfectly coordinated.

 

This madness can be best exemplified in the craziness that was our weekly picture project.  What idiot sets out to take a picture every week for a year? Apparently this one.  And the thing is - I knew it would be insane.  Oh sure - we cruised by in about months one through seven.  And then, Max became less of a lumpy sack of potatoes to position, and more of a mobile, excitable baby.  All I wanted was ONE picture of Max smiling like the angel he is - and it took two people, one shake toy/remote/easter egg/whatever Max wanted to look at, and 50 pictures later we had a semi decent pose.  Still...we slogged through a YEAR's worth of weekly pictures.

 

The week after Max's birthday...I had an epiphany.  The "weekly photo project" was over.  And yet, no one was even there to give me a shining star, or A+.

 

Nope, we are still here.  I'm still making breakfast every morning and dinner every night.  I'm still  buying diapers (albeight generic brand!) and organic whole milk (the DHA...I don't even know what it is and yet I feel compelled to buy the milk that contains it).  I still have to clean the high chair, the sink, and obviously the floor.  But you know what?  When I realized this - it was sort of liberating. 

 

Over the past couple weeks - I've adopted a "good enough" attitude.  Perfectly positioned pictures are a thing of the past.  If Max throws his sippy cup on the floor?  I guess he's not thirsty. He didn't eat a vegetable at lunch?  Guess I'll try at dinner.  It's sheer insanity to ponder the nutritional composition of every meal. Some days I pull out the stops we eat organic steamed broccoli.  But on most days, Max eats a lot of applesauce, bananas, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 

 

Learning how to turn off my inner student/perfectionist and simultaneously resisting the urge to make my parenting experience into a project that I can "pass" or "fail" is honestly, an ongoing battle. It's easy for me to get obsessed with perfect parenting (especially with pinterest around...amiright?) We all want to be the parent with the child who is potty trained at two.  But for me, giving these milestones too much weight means ignoring the important task of finding the joy in parenting. In seeing Max's excitement over his new water bottle. Hearing him say new words.  Having him reach out to me when I get home from work.

 

What I am trying to understand is that this amazing little boy is going to learn things on his own time ...my job is to marvel at his progress (instead of impeding it).

 

(If you made it this far...thanks for listening to my ramblings...sometimes you just need to get it all out there).



16 months

 

Age: 16 months

Stats: Somewhere around 26 pounds (though some days my arm muscles would disagree)...and I'm thinking around 33 or 34 inches long.  He can fully grasp the door knobs now which he didn't used to be able to do...

 

Clothes: Wearing size 18-24 months shirts (in Carters sizes anyway).  If it's a special shirt I purchased from one of the fifty million handmade businesses I'm obsessed with, then I usually by size 2. I think he will fit in size 18 months pants for the fall. Size four diapers.

 

(enjoying some smoothie time with the girls)

 

Favorite Foods: Melon (watermelon, cantaloupe), all dairy (cheese, yogurt), Pears, strawberries, toast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, applesauce, goldfish crackers, eggs, and pizza. 

 

Favorite Words: Uh-oh, bye-bye, No, mama, dada, yeah, outside, hello, ball, open, banana, broccoli, wa-wa (water), all done, gain (train), guck (truck)

 

 (hustling out the door for school)

 

Favorite Activities: This boy loves to be outside!  We are outside from the time he gets home with daddy till bedtime (though we usually come in for dinner :).  He loves bouncing the balls on the sidewalk, using his walker on the sidewalk, putting balls in the basketball hoop, and getting into and out of his cozy coupe car.  When we are inside - the rocking horse that Auntie Stacy got him is quite popular too...he can get on and off it pretty easily now.  Any sort of vehicle (his school bus, all the cars, and trucks etc.) are among his favorites too.  He loves to push them around on the carpet and in the hallway.  I would be remiss if I did not mention his love of blankets too!  He will pull them off the couch and through the crib slats just to play with them. 

 

(Dashing across the yard for his ball)

 

  Least Favorite Activities: Giving up his pacifier (such a love hate relationship with that thing), coming out of the bath, when you don't give him utensils at meal times, and giving up his morning nap (we are transitioning to one afternoon nap at the moment). Also, we let him play in the front seat of the car with all the buttons at one point to keep him occupied.  This was a terrible idea.  Now he just runs over to the car and wants in any door to press all the buttons and screams like a holy terror when you pull him out. #parentfail

 

 (getting braver and braver on the slides)

 

Favorite Things:

 

Looking at himself on any cell phone or mirror available

 

Pilfering pacifiers off the ground.

 

Playing "doctor" at grandmimsy and grandpa's house

 

Being outside and playing with all his balls

 

His Radio Flyer rocking horse

 

Plastic cars, trucks, fisher price school bus....any vehicle.

 

(still loves animals)

 

Signature Moves: using a spoon and feeding himself yogurt, standing in his crib while holding his blankets waiting for you to pick him up, putting things on top of his head, the double finger point at things he is really excited about, chasing after mam and dada on the sidewalk, pointing at something and going "see?", getting really excited about his milk at any mealtime, not lasting very long in the high chair, getting really excited about dogs and trains, and sitting right down when you want to put on his shoes to go outside. 

 

(loving the camera that my friend Rebecca made for him)

 

Mom's Proudest Moment: Max did so great adjusting to all of the new things on vacation...he loved the pool, the beach, and generally just running around the house. His vocabulary is also getting better and better everyday!  I also don't mind that he doesn't seem to be throwing as much food as he used too :)

 

Dad's Proudest Moment: How well Max did on the airplane ride (possibly because he wasn't the one being used as a human jungle gym?) and all of the great beach and pool time.

 

(riding around on the drive)

 

Other Milestones:

 

Walking better and better, and running more too!

 

Can point to his belly and belly button.
 

Transitioning to one nap

 

Working on counting....one, two, three (so far we are just at one ;) 

 

Working on shapes (square and circle)

  

Puts his hand up for "touch down"

 

Says hello when picking up the phone!

 

More fun outings - Alter Fest, Emerald Fields Park, Library Park, Library Story Time, and Grange Audubon Center

 

(hanging at his favorite park!) 

 

(living the Zoo life)

 

 The past month has been so much fun!  We are loving being outside and soaking up the rest of summer.  Max is just so adorable with his facial expressions, and silly personality.  Honestly, I wish I had a Max to share with all of you! 

XoXo

 

 

 

Touch a Truck

 

I considered other alternatives for the title of this post....things such as "the day all Max's transportation dreams came true", "max loves all the vehicles," or really just "the best morning ever". But, I went with Touch a Truck because, well, short and sweet. 

Honestly, I had never heard of touch a truck until maybe a couple years ago (when Max was just a twinkle in my eye)...but oh man - whoever came up with this concept is really just a genius.

 

Here's the down low for all you touch a truck newbies - any kind of truck, bus, semi, paddy wagon, loader, mower, plow, and transporter is welcome!  On Saturday, they gathered at the Dublin Community Pool south lot and the families came out by the dozens! 

 

The noise of a thousand beeps, honks, and vrooms was heard across the city as the kids descended upon all.the.vehicles.  It was kind of adorable to see all these big burly men with their trucks helping little kids steer the wheels, look out the windows, and basically love on their trucks.

 

(Ready to tear up the lawn...call us if you need a mower!)

 

Max was all smiles as we went from vehicle to vehicle. 

For a kid that loves to press buttons, turn wheels, and look out windows it was

total paradise. 

 

(Move over mom - I can totally drive this!)

 

It's funny - I remember being totally paranoid when we found out we were having a boy.  What do boys like?  Can I play with cars and trucks?  Will I be down with camo and dirt? 

Well...turns out, whatever your child likes...you will like too. 

Simply because it puts a smile on their face. 

I love seeing Max's face light up when he sees a "guck" (truck) or "gain" (train) -

I would do whatever it took to be the one who put the smile on his face.

Even if it means going to a hundred more touch a trucks.

 

(This was a mini truck...perfect size for our mini man)

 

(Max appears to be running from the snow plow!)

 

 

The parking lot was noisy...the lines were long - but we persevered for moments like the above photo.  He would crawl right up in the driver seat, push his little legs out, and put his chubby little hands on the wheel.  This series of events would also be followed with "ooooohhh" :)

 

 

The fire fighters were giving out hats...which Max took, put on his head for ten seconds and then promptly took off.

 

(This was the biggest tractor!)

 

In the above photo, Rob is about ten feet off the ground.  The wheels on this tractor (?) were insanely big. Max did not appear to be scared at all as daddy hoisted him in the air and sat him in the seat! 

Move over....Max is coming through!

 

 

The smile on his face was this big all morning long! 

The school bus was his favorite (we think).  He loves to stick his face through windows ....

so it was just perfect.

 

Touch A Truck was the perfect morning activity as we are trying to transition Max from two naps to one.  He stayed awake all morning long...even enough to have a quick lunch before going down for a long afternoon nap.  It's exciting to see how Max's interest have evolved over the last couple months. He is definitely all boy - preferring cars, trucks, trains, dirt, balls, and being outside to most others. 

Personally, I love it! :) Stay tuned for round two of Touch a Truck this weekend!

 



Labor Day

It was a three day weekend of glorious fun!

Of course I went down to Dayton...but you probably saw that coming.  Papa Rob stayed home. (probably traveling with the whole Cloud family the previous week had something to do with that decision.  Can't say I blame him.  We are a pretty crazy bunch!)

I don't know why, but it always seems like there are so many fun things to do in Dayton.  I realize this sounds crazy because we live in Columbus (which happens to be full of museums, a science center, the number one Zoo in America, a festival practically every weekend, and an amazing Metro Parks community but I suppose you always have some sort of allegiance to your home town).  Oh Dayton, you get me every time.

Some highlights from our weekend include...

1.) The Grape Festival at Hidden Valley Farms.  This was actually kind of a bust.  We went there after Max's first nap on Saturday morning.  They had fresh produce, a barnyard area, musician, bounce house, and train (but he wasn't big enough to ride). Max did seem to enjoy looking at all the animals (the llamas were insane...such huge teeth with a big over bite).  They also had a giant plastic play house with windows, and a door, and pretend phone that he loved.  We may have to upgrade some things in our backyard next summer :) We also got to see some legitimate purple grapes growing on the vine...WOW!

2.)  The Sunflower Fields.  This is one of those things every year that my mom and dad go back and forth on.  Did they plant them?  Or did they plant soy beans?  Are they blooming...etc. etc.  So, ultimately we end up driving over there to check it out.  Turns out, they were blooming.  I just love sunflowers!  They always seems like the happiest flower to me. We did the obligatory family photos (minus Papa Rob...insert sad face).  Max looked like such a big boy when standing in front of all he flowers....and those red Toms?  I love em!

3.)  Alter Fest.  Is there an event that can be so much fun while simultaneously making you feel old?  If so, this was it for me.  The festival is held in the parking lot of my old high school....a place I had not been to for 10+ years.  But, our family has been going to this festival for a LONG time (what can I say...we like a good chicken dinner!)

Holy moly - things have changed but also not. I was surprised to see lots of kiddie, carnival style rides.  Max was actually able to ride a few of them with an adult...and it was so much fun.  He loved pushing the horn on the car ride.  And, the elephant ride...he held onto the bar the whole time and looked genuinely surprised when it started to lift off into the air (as did mama...I have a weak stomach). On the midway he played a few games..."You've Got Mail (opening a mailbox of his choosing for a prize), "Duck Pond" (pick a duck and the number on the bottom corresponds to a prize), "Goldfish Tank (which we did not win, even though I really thought a fish would be fun!), "Slam Dunk" (though he would not take the ball from the kid running it...even though it was the same hoop as at our house!), and "Plinko" (where we won a giant inflable duck!)  Oh man...good times!  Can't wait to go back next year!! 

4.)  Family Fun - on the screened in porch at my parents (Max likes the slide and pushing things down the slide)....cookout with my grandparents...watering Grandmim's flowers....swimming in the pool....and extra grandparent time as Mama left on Sunday and Max stayed in Dayton. 

I think this smile says it all.... love that he is always up for an adventure!
xo