Amelia Takes the Leap!

We just wrapped up four weeks of almost continous swim lessons.  The kids have both made great progress this summer in their skills.  It was also great to have a reason to get out of the house for a few minutes every day for the kids to have some physical activity in such hot weather conditions.  During the last week, another student in Amelia's swim class asked if she could go off the diving board and Amelia begged (not kidding!!) to tag along.  I was sure she wouldn't do it.....I'm still not sure she would have done it on her own without any help.  She sure was proud of herself though!  A few thoughts on this:

1.  You can't see it in this video, but there weren't any other kids in the pool at this time as it was inbetween swimming lessons.  Yet, there were at least 3 lifeguards on duty in addition to the swim instructor in the pool and the swim instructor on the diving board behind Amelia (Fun fact: 3 out of the 5 lifeguards/instructors are former students of mine).  Despite all of the supervision AND having given my permission, I was still extremely nervous to see my little girl standing on the end of the diving board at the deep end of the swimming pool a good 20-30 feet away from me.

2.  The swim instructor came back with both girls by the hand after they both jumped off the diving board.  She handed both girls off to their mothers (we were sitting right next to each other), and said "I never thought I would see the day when two four year old girls were brave enough to jump off the diving board.  This is an awesome day!"  Her jaw hit the pavement when I informed her Amelia is only 3.  She was assuming Amelia was the same age because she is a full head taller than the 4 year old in the class.

3.  William was positively green with envy.  He couldn't believe his younger sister got to do something before he did.  Before we left the pool, William insisted we find his swim instructor and demand to be allowed to jump off the diving board the following day.  He had to promise to listen for the entire swim lesson the next day (this has been a problem for us this year, unfortunately).

Conversation

In the car this morning on the way to swimming lessons


William: Do you know any old people mom?
Mama: Whhhaaa?  (I was up waaaay to late last night trying to get stuff done.  Like surfing Facebook)

William: Do you know any really old people?  Who do we know who is old?
Mama: Ummmm.....I don't know?
William: I only know four really old people.
Mama: (uh oh....who is he going to proclaim as old?) Really?
William: Great Grandpa Tom......Great Grandma Gerry.....Grandpa Budd and Grandma Nona.  Those are all the old people I know.

Whew!  I know you all are as relieved as I am to not be included on this list! Sorry Grandpas and Grandmas (the greats)!


**He then went on to wonder if his body could be a fossil when he dies and about how long that would take...and then if any person's body had ever become a fossil in the history of ever....and where that fossil would be located and if anyone had one in a museum.  He then wanted to know why all immunizations aren't the kind that go up your nose (he had a nasal flu shot last winter), what kinds of sicknesses were prevented by the immunizations and how many more shots he will need before he dies (when I was non commital about this one, he pressed on.  He would like a precise number, please), if kids in the future will have shots or a "better" kind of medicine, if people who live in space will need the same shots, and why people walk in the street when there is a sidewalk for them to use.

*** We live roughly 3-7 miles from the swimming pool.  When I say it takes us less than 10 minutes to get there, I am not exaggerating.

****This boy is exhausting with the questions.  I admit to being overly anxious about him going to kindergarten.  I will also admit I am totally looking forward to handing over responsibility for his never ending questions to someone else for a few hours a day....

Fun for the whole family!

Part of the fun with a new baby is pulling out the baby gear and remembering how cute and precious our little babies were.

It is hard to take the time to remember when you feel like your new baby is not safe using it....because the older siblings are so excited to play with it. Those big, giant, heavy, gigantic kids that are not careful enough around he new baby!

Here is the baby gym all three kids enjoyed playing with. I could hardly get the big kids out of it to safely take this picture!

The Hair

I thought both William and Amelia had similar hair histories.

Not so.  (are you on the edge of your seat?  this could be big)

It appears William's baby hair all fell out early - around 2 -3 months (see here and here and here) and was showing blonde hair before he turned one.

Amelia, on the other hand lost her dark newborn hair as well.  Hers hung on a little longer until she was roughly six months old. (see here and here and here)

What will Gemma do?  I'm excited to wait and see (no, really!).  It isn't really front page news, but still fun to watch!

Cousins!

Gemma got to meet my sister's baby, her cousin while we were at the anniversary weekend. The girls are just 3 weeks apart in age! So cute!

8 weeks!

Our sweet girl is 8 week old!

We were out of town last weekend helping my grandparents celebrate their 60th weddin anniversary a little early. Gemma got to meet tons of family members and checked 3 states off her list (Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota) as well. Since coming home, I've just been fighting to keep ahead of the game. We have some big milestones coming up:
Next Friday William will go to KINDERGARTEN for his "practice" day and then school starts officially the following Wednesday. I am so confident William is ready, so ready. However, this mama is not quite ready. This is another huge change for our family.

I will be going back to work 2 days a week in another 4 weeks, Amelia starts a new preschool program in 5 weeks. Between now and then we have more traveling to do and a list a mile long. I hope to keep things up around here, but it is going to be a challenge!

Here is a quick lowdown on our little monkey:

Size 1 dipes, size 2 at night. Cloth diapers finally fit! We have been able to use our old supply when we're home for the last week or so.

Size 0-3 clothes are still fitting, but many outfits are now retired. The 3-6 month stuff is starting to fit- particularly one piece outfits.

We are rewarded with smiles all day long from our sunshine, Gemma. She is starting to giggle, which I could just eat up because it is so delicious. Video I suspect will come soon.

We've seen some rolling from her belly to her back, but it is still pretty inconsistent.

Gemma's personality is just so sunny. She loves her siblings, even when they are less than gentle. She is delighted by having anyone talk to her and coos, smiles and "talks" back. She is a delight to have in our family!

7 weeks

Gemma is 7 weeks old. We had to get a little creative as we weren't at home today. Where are we? Stay tuned. I'll tell you tomorrow. Probably.