Drew is Moving Up in the Swimming World

Last week Drew completed his third time in the introductory swim class "Starfish." Since the class is designed for children 6 months - 3 years, many children take it multiple times. Anyhow, Drew first took the class last fall right after his 2nd birthday, and while he was quite happy to be in the water, he wasn't so interested in blowing bubbles, floating, or even kicking for the most part. He did love to jump in the water though and never seemed to mind when we dunked him all the way underneath (first picture). Since I don't have any pictures to accompany his latest round of swim lessons I thought I'd post some from this class last fall.

During the winter and early spring, we took a little hiatus from lessons and just brought Drew to open swim or splashtime a couple times a month. Then in April we tried the class for a second time. Drew picked up on more of the skills this time, learning how to blow bubbles, not open his mouth when he goes under water, and becoming more comfortable putting his face and eyes in the water. He still was very opposed to floating on his back, however.

A couple of weeks ago we started Starfish for what we assumed would be our last time. As I mentioned in the post about Bill's family's visit, Drew finally showed some willingness to go in the big, slightly cooler pool and that is where the next level of swim class is taught. So off we headed to the warm pool for one last round of Starfish. Amazingly, the first day we were in the pool he was suddenly willing to float on his back. No kicking, no screaming, just willing to lay there. It helped if we had a fish or boat toy to put on his tummy, but it was like someone just flipped a "willing to float" switch on him. Drew also started asserting his independence during this round of swim lessons, frequently saying "Leave me lone!" (I think he figured out that since he could stand with his head fully over the top of the water, he didn't need Mommy to hang on to anymore.) I guess I didn't need to be worried about separation anxiety for the next level of swim class where the kids go in the water with just the instructor and no parents. Drew is getting the hang of kicking and has started to show some interest in paddling his arms. He gets quite a charge out of watching Mommy dog paddle! So yesterday and today Bill and I each took him to a morning of Splashtime to encourage his willingness to stay in the big pool, and he seems to be on track. So "Otters" here we come! I should be able to get some action shots of him this time around since I'll be on the sidelines watching.

Drew's take on Southern Arizona's Monsoon Season

For those who have never lived in Arizona and think it's all dry heat and sunshine, allow me to introduce you to Monsoon Season. From late June to usually early September, the Southern Arizona skies can turn in what seems like an instant from clear blue and sunny to dark and menacing with some of the most fantastic displays of lightning and ear-shattering thunder you can imagine. It can be a difficult time to get any errands done as you can walk into a store without a drop of rain in sight and exit to pelting downpours of raindrops and hail. It makes for unpredictable traveling too, as it can frequently be just lovely at home and a 5 mile drive to post or Drew's daycare can put me in the eye of the storm within minutes. It can be nice too though because a storm typically drops the temperature by anywhere from 10-30 degrees, which is often a welcome relief in the summer.

Oh, and the wind, I almost forgot about the wind that shakes the house and makes you feel like you could be transported to Oz at any moment. Last summer the wind was powerful enough to frequently blow anything on our patio (Drew's playset, our patio furniture, etc.) up against the outside wall. This also happens to be the wall that the head of our bed is on the other side of. That was a fun way to wake up on more than one night!

Anyway, if any of you are meteorological nerds and want to know why this happens, check out: http://www.arizona-vacation-planner.com/monsoon-season.html


As always, it's entertaining to see how Drew makes sense of things. So here are Drew's observations and comments about monsoon season:

1) Drew's either unclear about what hearing and seeing mean or what the difference between thunder and lightning is, because he frequently states:

"I hear thunder Mama. I hear lightning too. I hear big lightning."

OR...

"I see thunder Mama. I see lightning too."

We've tried explaining that you hear thunder and see lightning but I think the distinction is lost on him.

2) "Thunder goes Boom! Boom! Boom!" (This comment is usually accompanied by giggles as it reminds him of some of the lines in the Dr. Seuss book Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? Incidentally the lightning in this book goes "Splat Splat Splat, so maybe this has contributed to his confusion over being able to hear lightning.)

3) As we're riding in the car...

Drew: It's raining on my window Mama.
Me: Yes it is Drew.
Drew: It's raining on your window too Mama?
Me: Yes it is Drew. It's raining all over the place.
Drew: RAIN ALL OVER THE PLACE!


4) After I've pointed out a bolt of lightning, Drew patiently waits for the next one, whispering and pointing in that general area "Watch. Watch."

5) Most of the time Drew seems to think the thunder and lightning is more interesting than scary, loudly proclaiming when he hears thunder, running to the windows to check out the lightning, and even telling us "Thunder's not so scary". The other night as we were sitting down to dinner, however, Drew looked out the window after hearing a clap of thunder and pointed his finger saying "No no thunder. I no want you! I eat my sagna (lasagna)!" Apparently he wanted no disruptions during dinner time. I had to laugh at his scolding of the thunder though.

I'd love to get some photos of the lightning that literally lights up the sky, but I'm not sure our camera is fast enough. If I'm successful I'll post them...I'm sure I'll have lots of opportunities over the next few months.

All dressed up...

Friday night Bill and I were able to enjoy that unfortunately rare event known as "Date Night." The occasion: the NETCOM Signal Ball. Drew went to child care on post at the Child Development Center and, after considerable reluctance to even walk through the door and some shrieking that must have upset all the dogs within a 5 mile radius, eventually calmed down to have a good time with the other kids. He was sleeping soundly when we arrived and barely even fluttered an eye walking to the car or into the house.

The ball itself was nice with an above average meal (sometimes a rarity at the on-post banquet facility) and good company at our table and the other Charlie Company table next to ours. After the formalities, we also enjoyed Bill's battalion commander putting on quite a show on the dance floor. Here's a picture of the two of us. Nothing like a man in uniform. Fortunately since my dress was dark you can't really see where I spilled red wine down the front of it. I swear you can dress me up but you can't take me anywhere without my inner klutz shining through.

The Indecision of a Toddler

So you know how the parenting books say to give your children choices so they learn about making decisions and they feel like they're in charge, even just a little bit, I'm beginning to wonder if following this advice might be the end of our sanity. Here's some examples...

As I'm preparing Drew's breakfast of a waffle with fruit on the side, I ask Drew whether he wants strawberries or blueberries. He replies "Blueberries Mama." So I rinse off the blueberries and put them in a bowl and deliver them with the waffle on the plate. As I set them down Drew looks at them and says "I no want blueberries Mama." Then he trys to give the bowl back to me. I say "No no Drew you don't have to eat them but we're going to leave them on the table." Less than ten minutes later, every single blueberry is gone.


Getting dressed in the morning and getting pajamas on, I generally try to give Drew two choices. So I hold up two shirts or two sets of pajamas and ask which one he wants to wear, he points to one and says "that one," but not two seconds later he points to the other and says "that one." We generally go back and forth between the two at least 2 or 3 times.

Drew's indecision was on full display while Bill's family was visiting as he had many more options for people to help him with things.

"Pop Pop wash hands." Halfway to the bathroom..."I want my mommy."
"Ry Ry take me potty." As he's sitting on the potty, "Ry Ry go away."

And the prime example of Drew's indecision that is the epitome of our frustration: taking Drew to the bathroom in public. We are huge fans of the family bathrooms they have some places because there is only one potty and no choices involved. You bring Drew into the men's or women's bathroom and the boy takes 10 minutes to even decide what stall he wants to go in. The kicker: it's almost always the larger handicapped stall he selects in the end, which of course is the one we try to get him to go into initially.

And on and on and on...over who to hold hands with when walking outside, who's going to read stories or sing songs, what cup he's going to drink out of, who he's going to sit next to at dinner...

To paraphrase the President, Drew is apparently not "the decider."

Megapost recapping Bill's family's visit...

We just said goodbye to Bill's family on Saturday morning after an 11 day visit that started with some flight woes and delayed luggage but turned out to be a great trip. So after a major blogging break (I've missed you all...), here's all the stories and smiles from the last two weeks.

Before everyone arrived and we were trying to figure out sleeping arrangements we tried to convince Drew that he really wanted to sleep on his new inflatable Cars bed so that Aunt Jalene and Aunt Elizabeth could sleep in Drew's full bed and Uncle Ryan could sleep on the air bed in my office. No such luck...Drew had it all figured out and his plans were slightly contrary to ours.

Us: Drew, where are Grandma & Pop Pop sleeping?
Drew: In guest room.
Us: Drew, where are you going to sleep?
Drew: In my bed.
Us: No no honey. Drew's going to sleep on car bed.
Drew: No, I sleep MY bed. Elizabeth sleep on car bed.
Us: Okay. Where's Ryan going to sleep?
Drew: Ry Ry sleep in my bed.
Us: What about Jalene?
Drew: Jean (he has trouble with the L) sleep on air bed in Mommy's office.
Us: Alrighty then...so much for our plan.

During the visit though, there was considerable traffic through Drew's room as many people were directed by Drew to "Get in my bed," "Sing songs," and "Read books." Below is Elizabeth, Drew, Ryan and Grandma.




After watching one of his favorite Sesame Street episodes (thank God for DVR) where Big Bird sits on Elmo's tricycle, Drew decided that Uncle Ryan should try out Drew's tricycle. Ryan and his very long legs obliged but was eventually able to get Drew back on. Have to say Drew looks a little more comfortable on it than Ryan did.



Thursday the fam took Drew to Tombstone (I wasn't able to join in some of the fun activities since I still have work to do!) where Daddy was able to get away to meet them for lunch. Bill claims that he finally taught Drew to drink out of a straw at that lunch, but the jury is still out as to whether this is a permanent skill yet or not. (As an aside, Drew drank out of a straw very well when he was about 10 months old and hasn't consistently done it since.) Anyhow, Drew loved seeing the cowboys and even got a cowboy hat himself (thanks Grandma & Pop Pop). He was also treated to ice cream and these magnetic rocks that are big amusement in a small package. He tries to separate them all so he can count them but if he lays them too close they snap together and Drew either laughs or says "No no!" No pictures of this adventure because they digital camera they brought with them had dead batteries, but by all accounts it was a very fun morning and early afternoon.

Trips to the Pool

Many afternoons of the visit were spent at Open Swim at the pool where Drew has his swim lessons. I must say that either Drew was feeling particularly adventurous or Bill's family just had the right touch because Drew was willing to leave the comforts of the warm pool and braved the big wave pool, the falling water from the mushroom and not just the blue tube slide (which is lit), but also the green tuble slide which is dark inside ("It's not scary Mommy," he said). He also made numerous trips down the smaller slide which he sometimes is even reluctant to do. Here are some pics of all the wet and wild adventures. I wasn't there the day he went down the dark tube slide with Pop Pop, so no pics of that, but Drew's still talking about it!











Tempe/Phoenix

Bill worked, as usual, very long hours during his family's visit so we thought we would take advantage of the weekend and head up to the Tempe/Phoenix area for the only weekend that the fam was here. We were able to get adjoining rooms and had a hotel very near to the airport which thrilled Drew because he could look out the window and see planes pretty much any time he wanted. He was especially happy to see the planes flying right above his head when we played in the pool one afternoon. At night time we had to tell a little white lie that the planes were sleeping so we could get him away from the window and into bed.

On Saturday morning we went to the downtown Copper Square district in Phoenix and spent some time checking out the exhibits at the Science Center. Drew was particularly impressed by the Forces of Nature exhibit (first picture) that allowed you to experience the heat of the desert, hurricanes, wind storms, earthquakes, and monsoon season (glad I didn't have my camera out for that part).








Saturday afternoon was spent at the pool by most of us (the mall for Bill and his mom) and that evening we walked and shopped around Mill Avenue in Tempe (adjacent to the Arizona State University campus), before enjoying dinner at the Gordon Biersch Brewing Company and dessert at Cookiez on Mill where they make their own ice cream sandwiches with a variety of extremely yummy cookies (I don't think that was part of my pre-Signal Ball healthy eating).

Sunday morning we headed for a walk in the Tempe Town Lake area, though the heat was a little much to bear, so we didn't stay too long. Just long enough to see the fishies and to take a picture in the shade...

Group shot minus the photographer (Pop Pop)

We parted ways temporarily on Sunday, as Grandma, Pop Pop and Elizabeth headed to the Grand Canyon for the night, while Jalene and Ryan (who had been last year during their visit and were not interested in a return visit) came back to Sierra Vista with Bill, Drew and me. Before we left Tempe we hit a Toys R Us for some early birthday shopping for Drew (we told him the toys were for Daddy and he seemed fine with that) and the Arizona Mills Mall for a dress for Signal Ball for me. After a lunch at Joe's Crab Shack we were sure Drew would have a nice nap on the drive home. We didn't realize Aunt Jalene & Uncle Ryan would join him...how cute are they?

Once back in Sierra Vista after their trip to the Grand Canyon, Pop Pop decided that the car needed to be washed to remove the bugs and dust. And pretty much everyone got in on the act (I stayed on the sidelines and took pictures). As you can see in the pictures, Drew thoroughly enjoyed and really participated in his first real car washing experience. He was, as you might have expected, soaking wet (but still smiling from ear to ear) by the end.

The last night everyone was here we took them to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner (can't come to Arizona and not have Mexican), and were treated to authentic Mariachi singers while we dined. When we returned home we took one picture, the only group shot of all 8 of us that we managed. Fortunately their return travels on Saturday were much smoother than their flights here and all returned home safe and sound Saturday evening.

Family, thanks for coming. We hope you had fun. See you all in November!

Been on a blogging break...

Sorry, Bill's family has been here visiting for the last week or so and we were out of town for the weekend and when you add five people to a household of 3 things get a little crazy. There's all kinds of adventures to post about (with pictures of course), but it may be a few days before I can get any of them up. Just wanted to let people know we're here and having fun and you'll hear all about it soon!