We had a quick, but great visit from my best friend, Gretchen and her family. It is always so great to see them. Even though the kids span almost 4 years in age, they get along really well...and each visit brings more independent play from all of them, which is very welcome =) (and will of course change when #3 arrives next month!)
We started Monday morning with a maternity photo session at the beach....Gretchen took some great pictures for me and I'll be sharing them soon! We went back to the beach a few hours later with the kids. Chris and Brent are absent from these pictures, but really shouldn't be considering they were awesome and played non-stop with them the whole time we were there, giving Gretchen and I the opportunity to just sit and talk. That night, we had a babysitter and went out for a great dinner...more pics to come!
I really really wish we lived on a street that had more room for riding bikes or at least a big driveway suitable for the job. But, we don't. And we have to make do with going up and down a tiny stretch of road between our house and 2 down. These are from one afternoon last week...the afternoon Juliet finally started to "get" pedaling and steering!
Aidric rides the scooter for a little while...and then he inevitably wants to ride the tricycle with Juliet. I absolutely love watching them go up and down the street like this!
Juliet gets a turn to drive too...and these count as our 28 week pictures for the 52 week project!
I promise I do not conduct a photo session every time I put a bathing suit on Juliet. But once again, this one was too cute not to! I bought it when she was an infant, off the clearance rack..and almost forgot about it this year! She wore it to go swimming at Grandma and Papa's a few weeks ago, and I couldn't resist snapping just a few.
This child LOOOOVES her dance class! She's only gone two weeks now, but every day she wakes up and asks, "Today I go to dance class, mommy?" On the days I say no she gets mad, pouts and screams that she WANTS to go dance class. The day I said, "yes, today you get to go to dance class", she exclaimed, "Thank you mommy!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!"
The studio has windows parents can watch through, so this is taken on my iphone through the window:
The last 10 minutes of the class is tap. Could the hip wiggling be any cuter??? Oh my gosh, I love this girl!!
A few pics, but there are more on facebook! (these were taken the first week)
We were outside playing one morning last week and I noticed the light was absolutely perfect for pictures. The sun was out, sky was blue, and there was the perfect amount of shade over in the driveway by the shrubs. Aidric was wearing a blue shirt that combined with the light made his eyes practically glitter.
All that is to say, my children were incredibly uncooperative despite my offering to bribe them with anything I could think of. Enjoy the "perfect light" in the waaaay less than perfect pictures =)
7 lessons in and I am seriously so impressed with this swim school and the progress both kids are making! Aidric was nervous for his first 2 lessons. Now?? He's jumping into the pool by HIMSELF (teacher out of the water), rolling onto his back and floating on his back! He's also working on his kicks while swimming with his head in the water.
He did his first jump into the pool today and I missed getting it on video. He was getting ready to jump again, and I had the camera ready. His teacher saw me - she asked Aidric to look for me and then told him to wave to me. I was shocked when she then PUSHED him into the water. Without warning! I was so scared for him that he was going to be terrified and never want to go back to swimming. But, it makes sense. After learning the steps, anyone can prepare himself to jump into the pool and float. But, being able to do so under pressure and with fear is a different and more important skill.
As you can see in the video, the first time she pushes him in, he didn't float. He doggy paddled and just tried to keep his head up, which is a natural first instinct. You can see she jumps in to help him and he gets into a float. Then, they both get out and she tells him to jump, but then pushes him before he jumps himself. That time, he turned and did the back float perfectly. Whew! Stressful to be the mom watching this!!
Juliet has been working on the same skill, but again, I missed getting it on tape when she jumped into the pool from the side. She needs a tap on the head 'reminder' to turn, so her teacher then kept her in the pool and just drilled that.
