Swimming Lessons

Ian is in the middle of his 2 weeks of swimming lessons. We are taking them from a college girl, Abby, who happens to live just around the corner from us. They are one-on-one lessons in a private pool, so as far as I'm concerned, it's ideal! Ian is absolutely loving it. Aside from a BRIEF (I'm talking 30 seconds) bout of cold feet on day one, he has been so excited to go every day. In fact, even though our lesson isn't until 11:30 each day, he is ready for his swim trunks first thing in the morning.

He is making lots of progress. He is doing great on the kick board, can swim by himself with the noodle (pictured below), jumps off the side into Abby's arms, and has learned to blow bubbles out of his nose under the water. Today's new skill was floating on his back: first with help, then for a few seconds on his own. He seems to do much better when he doesn't realize Abby has let go of him!



Overall, he is very cautious, but excited and willing to try new things. When Abby says, "Can we try..." he responds with a very excited "Of course!" He's definitely not a dare devil (which I find comforting), but I love that he is getting comfortable in the water.

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Tree...

We have three mulberry trees along our treeline in our backyard. Last summer, they didn't really produce much, but this summer they are completely filled with berries! As nice as this sounds, it does cause a few problems: berries on the ground, berry stains on the playset, Ian's clothing, and Ian's hands, feet and crocs, and stains from the birds, who are obviously enjoying eating them, too! Yuck! On the bright side, Ian is completely loving the fact that he can pick them, eat them, and even has plans to "smash them for my peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

Sorry for the dark pictures, but these were taken just before bedtime last night. He is so proud of his cup full of mulberries!

We Took the Plunge

We did it. We actually did it. We bought a minivan. Holy cow. Actually, we are totally fine with it. Neither of us has ever vowed, "I will never drive a minivan." And for those of you that have, you should rethink your vow. Let me tell you, minivans have come a LONG way since 1990!



A few comparisons for you:

1990: One sliding door that had to be SLAMMED as hard as you could in order for it to close. 2008: Two sliding doors that open and close slowly and quietly at the push of a button.

1990: The people in the front are suffering from hypothermia while the people in the back are sweating through their shirts. 2008: Driver, passenger and rear digital climate control, each with their own set of vents.

1990: Rear windows that opened enough to "vent," but actually just made the drive really noisy. 2008: Rear windows that roll down like normal windows.

1990: Bench seats, while removable, weigh a minimum of 75 pounds each, requiring two strong men to remove them. And once they were out, where did you put them? 2008: Rear bench that folds easily (with one hand), and hides in the floor.

1990: Color choices include blue, burgundy or brown. 2008: Color choices include: baltic blue pearl, nighthawl black pearl, nimbus gray metallic, or silver pearl metallic, among others. (Our's is silver pearl.)

The three of us spent the entire morning at the dealership, and Ian was such a trooper. He was an absolute angel, and actually made the process very fun. He is on a first name basis with our salesman, and the main selling point for him was the "treasure chest" next to the cupholder in the back seat. I'm pretty sure it's already filled with Lightning McQueen and his friends. I guess we're officially ready to become a family of five, or at least we know we can all travel together!

A Trip to the Zoo

Daddy and Ian made a trip to the zoo earlier this week (Mommy is no longer up for a day walking around in the heat). Although we have been before, you would think that his top story about the day would have been touching a shark, or seeing an elephant get a bath, or even feeding a giraffe!! Wrong. He was most fascinated by seeing a pig on a leash! A zookeeper was walking the pig from one part of the zoo to another, and happened to walk by Ian. At the time, Daddy and Ian were sitting down eating a popsicle, and I'm told Ian's first response was to lift his treat high in the air so that the pig "couldn't get it." I guess the zookeeper got a pretty big kick out it, and it's a zoo experience that Ian won't soon forget!

Bush confusion

Ian and I were inside reading a Curious George book, when Daddy came inside requesting a little help. He said to Ian, "I need a little help giving a bush a haircut." (He helped with some bush trimming over the weekend, and enjoyed it very much.) Ian responded very seriously, "The President?" Oh, what a smart little boy. Can you tell he's the son of a social studies teacher?

Another Ultrasound

We had our 24-week ultrasound today. We were lucky enough to be "guinea pigs" for the office's new ultrasound machine, so we even got a couple of 4-D images! (I also had her verify the genders again, just to be sure. There is definitely no mistaking it... boys they are!) In general, Baby A is not nearly as photogenic as Baby B, probably because he is squished on the bottom and has less room to move around. I included some of the best pictures (Baby A is the first one, other two are Baby B).

The Morning

"Daddy, the morning is here! It came from behind my curtain and into my room!"