Swimmer!

A year ago,  Jonathan was taking swim lessons from the same teacher the big boys were and he was doing great! She'd let him go and he'd kick and paddle to her under the water. I thought for SURE he'd be swimming unassisted by this summer.

But then that teacher left AND Jonathan's world got rocked by preschool separation issues, which were challenging, to say the least.... when we tried to pick up swim lessons with a new teacher, he was having none of it. We tried again with a third teacher, but he would immediately start screaming, "I WANT MY MOMMY!!" and so we dropped it.

This summer, when we got in the pool, it seemed he had forgotten all those fun things he used to do in the water. He hung out on the step and wouldn't even come out into the shallow end in his floatie. 

Eventually, he did figure out he could do that and all was well. I was content to have him safe in his puddle jumper, paddling around. He was happy. 

And THEN? One day I got in and he decided he wanted to play with me without it. So now that's our thing, we do rides and he jumps to me and mostly he clings like a monkey. He remembered he knows how to swim underwater and has gotten really brave. This is all great except that he no longer wants to wear the puddle jumper EVER. ARGH. 

But yesterday, we may have had a major breakthrough. He figured out that kicking his feet really hard keeps him up and he started doing a a doggie paddle and going short distances from the step this way. (maybe three feet or so) Then he'd swim back to the step and start again. He did this for an hour yesterday back and forth. He was pretending he was on swim team and would even do the "beep!!!" LOL! Now that he has a way to keep his head above water, I think I have a shot at actually teaching him how to swim. And he is SUPER motivated because he does NOT want anything to do with that puddle jumper. 

I'm hoping he is receptive to doing swim lessons in the fall with Simon's teacher. I've been talking it up... how when he learns to really swim he won't ever have to wear the the floatie.... yada yada.... and once he can swim the length of the pool (probably year after next), he can do swim team. (he thinks swim team and big kids and swim caps and goggles are just the most awesome thing ever) 

Here's to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and having three competent swimmers eventually!  Now, if I could just get him to use the potty consistently, my life would be exponentially easier. :)

Again.

Another snow day. On the bright side, we have Tom here today, which is kind of a fun twist.
Ben has taken to yelling at the sky when it snows now. He wants summer back more than anyone.

In other news, Ben's winless basketball team won their last game of the season and THEN won the first game of the playoffs! They play again Wednesday night against the league's #1 team. It likely will be quite ugly, but, at least they got there. :) This is the year they stop giving participation trophies (huzzah!)... only the teams who come in 1st  and 2nd get trophies.... I wonder how that will go over after four years of getting one for just playing?  (stupid participation trophies!)

Simon started with a new swim teacher on Saturday and that went well.  We'll be paying out the nose for two sets of private lessons from now until summer, but it's an investment that is well worth it to have competent swimmers as Jonathan will require at least 95% of my pool attention this summer, for certain.  Would love for him to get back in and do lessons with Simon's new teacher too, but not sure that will happen.

Jonathan.... he spends a lot of time in timeout these days. Oddly, when he is not in timeout or doing something to get himself put there, he is seriously amazingly sweet and wonderful and possibly my most affectionate and effusive kid. No one outside of my house would probably believe this because they hardly ever see this Jonathan. When we leave the house (or bring other people into the house) he becomes crabby, anti-social and contrary.

He is definitely QUITE strong-willed and tests boundaries like no other child of mine ever has. For example, when in timeout, the rule is, he may not get down from his bed. (or move up and down on the steps, depending on where we do the timeout) So instead, he will hover his feet as close to the floor as he possibly can. (or hover himself over the next step) In the picture below, he had thrown his sleeping bag on the floor and was putting his feet on that and saying, "See? My feet are NOT on the floor, they are on the sleeping bag." Yes. He exhausts me and he is way too smart for his own good...  but we are consistent and hoping to work out the really tough stuff in the next months ahead before his 4th birthday. He just needs to know we mean business.... not that he will ever stop testing limits, it's part of who he is.... but at least he'll have begun to really understand consequences and perhaps make better choices.

Simon! He lost his third tooth last weekend. We were out to dinner and he said his tooth hurt. Turned out it was just loose (suddenly!). It came out the next evening before bed, just in time for the tooth fairy to pay a visit. :)  It was a bottom one next to his two new ones.  I'm guessing the one on the other side will not be far behind.

Other things happening --
* working on a possible August Disney trip. I'm kind of meh about the idea, but the rest of the family is into it, so we'll see....

* we've used a new chore chart system for about a month now that has had amazing success, will share about that in a future post!

Summer Can't Come Soon Enough...

Ben is working hard on his dive starts and flipturns! He has the diving down,  hates the flip turns. He has also fine-tuned his breast stroke, freestyle and backstroke... now needs to put some time into his butterfly. Love watching him swim! Can't wait for swim team.... and summer.... and warmth. 

10/10!

Check it out! Ben nailed his first ever perfect dive this morning at swimming lessons! Our new teacher is REALLY pushing him and today they worked hard on this and on flip-turns so he can be faster in races. He's doing SO well!!!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10153364173170541&l=9212957669434939063

Where To Begin?

Sorry for break. I'd like to say I was busy doing whatever people do when they get a little free time from 100% of their children, but alas, that was not the case. Instead, I spent the last week:

- waiting for phone calls to see if I'd need to pick up Jonathan from preschool early
- devising ways to get him excited, or at least tolerant and not screaming, about school
- waiting for phone calls to see if I'd need to get Simon from school early (three-day tummy ache)
- devising ways to help him understand he needs to poop more often and also eat things that are green
- waiting around for Jonathan to pee
- devising ways to make Jonathan understand that peeing on the potty is worth his time

That about sums it up.

But, a week of good, solid, honest work has paid off. Jonathan went to school yesterday with ZERO tears and had a great day, much to everyone's relief. He also pee peed in the potty more times than he didn't and, for the first time ever, told me he needed to go and made it on time.  Crossing my fingers to have this done in a couple weeks so he can start wearing underwear to school instead of a PullUp.

Simon worked things out on his end, though apparently spent some time laying down in the nurse's office on Tuesday.  He was still irked to have to go to school yesterday because he had gym class and apparently he hates gym class now. He also had a substitute. Rough day for him!  It's always something.

In other news, we've been faithfully plugging away at his reading at night and he is really, REALLY getting it. He's reading at a really good pace! Remembering words, sounding things out really well. I'm super proud of him. :)

Not much to say about Ben lately.... they always take turns with being challenging and its his month off. He's doing well in school, is really enjoying it, though complains that he never gets free time to talk to his friends. I need to get better about setting up playdates outside of school. :( It's hard when everyone has sports commitments! If only he liked soccer, he could see all of his friends every Saturday morning! LOL!  He also reports they have ruined his parent pickup line time by assigning them spots next to their siblings, not with friends, and also making them sit "shoulder to wall" so they can't really talk. What can I say? Elementary school is a dictatorship. I feel sort of bad for him... he really did like that last bit of his day....

He did start fall swim team... we actually moved him down to pre-team where we thought he'd be more comfortable, plus, it's less of a family commitment (only an hour on Saturdays and no swim meets) so really much better for us right now. It took two weeks, but he's back to loving it. Tom has been taking him and said he's so fast, he caught up with a 13-year-old girl he was sharing a lane with the other day. The coach had to tell him to slow down. LOL.

Oh! And Jonathan started swim lessons Tuesday with a new teacher. Our previous teacher left the gym to do other things. (though she still babysits for us... so yay!) He took to "Miss Tara's friend" (that's what I called her so hopefully some of the love for Tara would transfer) quickly and had his first ever lesson all to himself. After it was over, she came over and told me he's such a little fish! She had him swimming a little less than halfway across the pool and working on his back float. Oh, and she tried to teach him to dive, which was pretty hilarious.... I love that he just went with it. ;)

I've been spending lots of time in the library at the elementary school. I love it there! I like to get the kids' books checked in and out and then get to work making the shelves look pretty. I get a little obsessive about it... my years of working retail are all coming back to me. Yesterday, I made it all the way from A-M in fiction. Personal best! I also located some misplaced 39 Clues and Narnia books and took great pleasure in getting them back where they belonged.  Whew. Those poor books would have been misplaced for who knows how long if I hadn't found them! ;) LOL. I try not to think about the fact that four classes come in after I leave and mess it all up again. HA!

So that's what has been going on our world. Now that Jonathan is comfortable with school, I feel like I can start getting some things done on those mornings... I have some painting I want to do. And next week, I need to go get some fall flowers and clean up what's left of the vegetable garden. (Didn't have such a great year with that, but I learned a lot, so there's always next year! My herbs are still doing great though!) :)

My Baby Fish!

This is all he wants to do at the pool now.

At swim lessons, Ms. Tara has been trying to teach him to "look at the sky" to breathe, but no luck... so he can only go short distances until he runs out of breath. ;)  By next summer though, he's going to be all over the pool! He should also be able to touch the bottom by then. :) So funny to watch such a tiny kid swim with no floaty! It makes me laugh!

Also? He was 35 months old on the 25th and I owe him a blog post. I just haven't had time to sit down and write it! This may end up serving as his month-day post. He swims a lot. He also asks "why" incessantly these days... takes it a dozen levels down.

"Why does that sign say caution?"
"Because the floor is wet"
"Why is the floor wet?"
"Because people walked on it with wet feet"
"Why did they have wet feet?"
"Because they were in the pool."
"Why were they in the pool?"
"Because it's hot outside."
"Why is it hot outside?"
"Because it's summer"
"Why is it summer?"
"Because our hemisphere of the earth is closer to the sun right now."

(I usually go with the ultra-scientific answer to end the questioning... in this case, he quit because he couldn't say "hemisphere" so he got distracted and went back to swimming. LOL!!)

Swim Team, Part II....

I took Ben to a tryout for a fall/winter swim team yesterday. I had heard a variety of things about this particular team/tryout -- everything from "Everyone makes it, they just want to make sure they can swim because it's NOT swimming lessons." from other parents at our pool  to "I've sent kids there who can swim two lengths freestyle easily and didn't make it." from our swim teacher.

When I first started looking into this, I emailed his swim coach at our pool club about it and he gave me some info and told me he'd be happy to help get Ben prepared. So I took him up on it yesterday while we were at the pool. He taught Ben how to do flipturns! I was astounded... never in a million years did I think B would attempt that this year. But he did and he practiced his little heart out while we were there. :)

Anyway, so the tryout was in the evening. I could tell Ben was nervous, but I tried not to really acknowledge it or play into it too much because that tends to get him worked up. We got there and there were a handful of other kids... they all got in together and the coach had them do each stroke up and back. Ben plowed through his first length of freestyle and looked awesome! He finished that though and STOPPED instead of turning around and going back... when I looked closely, I realized he was crying. Then he started shaking his head at me to say he couldn't do it.

I was kind of disappointed... I felt like the confidence he had spent 7 weeks building up was suddenly completely lost... and why? He claimed the water was too cold.  Gah.

I decided to let the coach deal with it and just avoided making eye contact because I thought I would just make it worse if I got involved. Eventually, he convinced Ben to go back and he was fine after that... he did his breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly... but at nowhere near the level I've seen him swim in recent days. Backstroke is one of his fastest and best strokes and at the tryout, he grabbed the lane line like five times. Sigh.

Ugh. The tiger mom in me wanted to jump up and say, "He swims WAY better than that!" But, I knew better that to do that... and what would be would be...

They finished up and Ben came running over. He was completely happy, much to my surprise. "What happened out there?" I asked?

"The water was too cold... but it was okay because I got used to it."

"So do you still want to do this?"

"Oh yeah! Why?!"

Uh. LOL.

I went up to talk to the coach because he was telling the parents what group their kids got put in and when the registration deadline was. Ben did not make the Jr. Marlins, which is the youngest/lowest group on the actual swim team. Instead, they put him on Mantas which seems to be like a "preteam" group, though I'm a little unclear on it. Interestingly, when I had read the descriptions of the different groups, I thought the Mantas fit his current skill/comfort level better, but it was for 7-8-year-olds, so I didn't think it was an option.

The Jr. Marlins description said they swim all four strokes, but not necessarily legally yet, which he can do... but he didn't really demonstrate that yesterday and he still needs some work on his stamina. I knew it would be a stretch for him. If he had swam his best, he could have made this group... but I had been a little worried about him keeping up.

For the Mantas group, they only need to be able to freestyle for 25m and will work on perfecting freestyle and backstroke and get introduced to butterfly an breaststroke... so he's a LITTLE ahead of that but really needs a lot of fine tuning on all the strokes.  The coach said he could move up during the season if he did well in the lower group.

The only thing I need to clarify is whether or not he can still swim in meets if he qualifies age and time-wise.  If not, I'm not sure we want to do it because I want him to get more meet experience. We'll have to look into the YMCA instead where they aren't quite as strict about who makes the team.

Otherwise, this is actually perfect. The Mantas group will be WAY less pressure and is really the best place to start for a kid with Ben's makeup...he'll swim with younger kids, which he did at practice all season this year and it seems to help a lot with his confidence... he'll be able to easily hold his own instead of feeling like the one who is trying to keep up... and he'll really get some good practice from the ground up to help him catch up for next summer. Their practices are way less intense too... only 30-45 minutes and only three days a week instead of four. (and they don't have to go to all of them)

He's still really into it! I reiterated that it's HIS decision but he's insistent he wants to do it... so that's awesome!

It's a big commitment.... but if he wants to do it, I'm willing to make it work. :)

Swim Banquet.....

Last night was the big swim banquet/awards dinner to celebrate the end of the season. We'd obviously never been before but had heard it was a ton of fun. And it was!  I just wish I had known that seating would be at such a premium... but apparently, even the veterans were caught off guard by the hoards of people and their guests who showed up at 4:00 and saved all the good tables.  (it technically started at 4:30 with a cocktail hour, but most people I had talked to planned to wander in around 5:15)

We ended up in the very back corner by the emergency exit.... if it had been a wedding reception, it definitely would have been the "leftovers" table.  I didn't feel too badly about it because we were in good company... even some of the veterans of several years were back there with us, along with one of the team's most dedicated parent volunteers. I thought it was REALLY not right that they didn't save her a table somewhere near the front. But whatever.

Most of you know me well enough to know that next year? I'll be there at 4:00, table-saving accoutrements in hand. Don't mess with someone who doesn't mind being early and waiting around for awhile. I have a near-perfect "A" boarding card streak on Southwest Airlines, have secured front row at the preschool Christmas pageant since 2005, and was the first parent in line at parent-pickup for almost all 180 days of the last two consecutive school years. So those other people? They are going to have to up their game next year if they want those good tables. ;) I'm a professional early-bird.

Anyway, so it was fun. The coach gave each child their team trophy and said something personal about each one. They were all funny and touching. He really seems to enjoy coaching them and getting to know the kids.

Ben was giddy after he got his trophy. Also in the little bag they gave each kid was a team photo, a t-shirt and any ribbons they hadn't gotten for whatever reason. Ben had a third-place ribbon in his bag! So that made him even MORE excited.

Oh and when he went up to get his trophy, they asked him to do his move. He happily obliged.

I hadn't realized they were giving out other special awards -- one for Most Improved Swimmer (a boy and a girl) and one for "Screamingist Eagle". Once I found out there was one for most improved it dawned on me that maybe I should get back and and go stand where I could see and take pictures, just in case. I started my camera rolling... the coach started talking about a swimmer who had an interesting start to the season... how at the second practice, he had to pick him up and put him in the water. At this point, I thought this was PROBABLY Ben, but there were a couple other kids who had to be picked up and put in too and who cried, so I wasn't totally sure... then, as he kept talking, I KNEW it was Ben.
The little speech was so funny and cute. Ben ran up to get his award and I have never EVER seen that kid as excited as he was after that. NEVER. Not for ANYTHING.

It was pretty exciting to watch and really, REALLY awesome. :)

On the way out, I stopped and quietly thanked the coach, because, whether he realizes it or not, he  basically signed, sealed and delivered Ben's passion for swimming right there. As we walked out the door, Simon asked, "Will Ben still be doing swim team when I start doing it?" (he wants to swim next year now)

Ben's answer?

"I'm going to do swim team until I'm like, 20!! And next year I'm going to be AWESOME!"

Who Would Have Thought THAT?

Yesterday, the boys had their usual weekly swim lesson, which I had moved to a different time so we could go to the swim team "Fun Friday", which turned out to be not so "fun" because it rained the whole time and the swim coach went MIA to go nap in the pool office. Oh well... the kids all got chocolate chip pancakes and Simon got to play Minecraft and was thrilled because a HOARD of kids surrounded him to watch. When we left he said, "Did you see all those kids watching me play Minecraft? I REALLY liked that!!!" LOL.

Anyway, I digress... (just thought that was a cute Simon story!)  So, we ended up at swimming lessons at noon. Our teacher has been out of town and we were on vacation the week before that so it has been THREE full weeks since we've been. And, as you know from previous posts, a lot has changed with Ben's attitude toward swimming in that time and he was SO excited to show Miss Tara his new stuff!

He immediately butterflied halfway across the lap pool, much to Tara's surprise. (with Simon following and trying to imitate which is great! But also kind of funny...)

Anyway, due to the fact that we were on a different schedule than usual, there were a ton of different teachers there I've never seen before. One of them was in the lane next to where Ben and Simon were practicing, waiting for her student. While I was over there, before Jonathan dragged me away to go back to the warm pool where he could play, Tara was working on fine tuning some things with Ben's stroke and teaching him how to do two sets of arms and then breathe.  I heard the other teacher say, "He's got a natural butterfly!" before I walked away. Thought that was kind of cool!

After the first half of the lesson was over and she brought the boys back to the pool where Jonathan was, she told me the other girl had been going on and on about what a natural swimmer Ben is and how he's built for it. As she was telling me this, the other teacher came up and asked me, "Is that your son?" I said yes and she said, "He's amazing. Seriously... you need to keep him swimming. He's a natural!" She asked a bunch of questions about where he swims and how long... couldn't believe he's only been swimming a year. We talked about swim team a little and it turns out she knows the coach and swam with him in college!  I did say he only just swam in his first meet last week and he has yet to swim without DQ'ing but she said, "That's all good! It's all about the experience!! He'll get the mechanics of the strokes really quickly, just DEFINITELY keep him swimming!!" and she told me about some places I could take him so he could do it year-round.... places that wouldn't be so competitive they would burn him out but where he could just practice and keep competing through fall and winter.  She sat there with us for the longest time just going on and on!

I was SO proud of him... what mom wouldn't be?

But I was also really kind of astounded. I think he looks really natural to me when he swims now and I do think has picked it up amazingly quickly given where we started last year.... but I don't know diddly squat about swimming and what's good and not good. I just know he REALLY loves it. We have mostly been in it for pool survival and confidence. LOL.

To hear someone else who is a swimmer say it was a huge confirmation that I need to keep him going in this. (I have been thinking about it since he really took off with it and I noticed he seems to be self-motivated to be REALLY good at something for almost the first time in his entire life... he's like that with basketball too, but not to the same extent....)

Anyway, so I called one of the places she mentioned (Merritt Athletic Club) and it sounds like it will be a great fit commitment-wise. Runs quarterly, so he can swim September - December and then take a break for basketball December - March.  Four different practice times two of which are on weekends and they can come to as few or as many as they want.

When I first brought it up with Ben, he immediately said he didn't want to do it, because that's what he does. Everything is always "NO way!" at first. LOL.  But we talked about what the other teacher had said (much of which he heard) and how if he worked at it, this is something he could REALLY be great at.. we talked about gifts and talents that God gives people and how neat that is that this is something he can do so well even though he hasn't been doing it that long. Then I showed him the brochure online and he wants to do it! They actually have to try out, but based on the description of the team that would be his level,  I don't think there will be a problem with him getting in.  And they'll work on fine-tuning the four strokes and learning racing starts and turn-arounds. So cool!

There's actually a younger team Simon could do too if we wanted to do that. He only needs to be able to swim 25 yards freestyle to make it and I think he could do that.  We'll see if he has any interest... it would be double the practice times but the two groups are back to back, so it's really only like an hour and a half total we'd be there.  And if we joined the club as a family (you don't have to join to do swim team, but it's cheaper if you do), I think Jonathan and I could swim while the big boys practice!

So we'll see where this goes.... two more meets left in the regular season and then there is a little banquet. Ben's pretty excited. :)  He REALLY wants a ribbon... I hope he manages to get one soon! It will help keep him interested!

Dark, Rainy Morning and Another Swim Meet...

A dark rainy morning is actually just what we need. I hope it stays this way until afternoon at least. We need a good excuse for some downtime.

So Ben swam in his second meet last night. They gave him 50-meter freestyle again and (jaw drop) 25-meter butterfly.

He did great in freestyle, and again, was holding his own going down but hesitated going back. GAH! Have to get him to stop doing this. He is already at a distinct disadvantage because he is swimming 9-10 and most of the other 9-10 boys are SO much taller/bigger/faster than him.  Skill-level and size-wise, he is really 7-8, and that's who he practices with this year. But, obviously, it wouldn't be legal to let him swim in the meets with the 7-8s.  Kind of a shame though. I wish he could get a taste of coming in first or second but it's just not going to happen in 9-10.

Hopefully next year being on the 10 side of 9-10 and having a year of practice under his belt will help.

At any rate, he did REALLY great except for the hesitating and didn't touch the bottom this time when he turned. After that, he was swimming SO hard trying to keep up that he swam into the corner wall that divides the shallow and from the deep end/swim lanes. Poor kid. He grabbed that wall, so guessing that means he DQed that one, but then finished and not too badly for having had two giant "oops" moments. LOL.

I hadn't gotten to talk to him at ALL since we had arrived, so I finally wrangled him after that event for some dinner and to catch up. Standing in line for food I looked at the writing on his hand...  "Wait... you don't swim again until event 50?!"

"Yeah... and I don't know what stroke I'm swimming."

"Oh?"

"No."

"Hm. Do you want me to tell you? I think maybe you should go ask Coach Doug." (I really was afraid to tell him)

"TELL ME."

I told him he was swimming butterfly and he was surprisingly okay with that, especially when I told him it was only one length. "Whew!!" he said. ;)

So anyway, we got some dinner and hung out for the next HOUR AND A HALF or so waiting for event 50, which actually turned out to be the next to last event before relays. I am still learning all this. When I texted Beth with a "WTH?!" about this she replied, "Welcome to the butterfly!" LOL.   Gah. And he really likes it too, so I guess I better get used to staying at these things for hours!

Ben spent some time attempting to practice butterfly in the baby pool, which is the only open pool while the meet is going on and is a 10-foot circle with about six inches of water in it. You can imagine how well that went.

Finally, they got into the upper 40s and I sent Ben over.  His race came up and? There was a false start. The timers weren't ready. Ben had already gotten in a groove though and got about halfway across the pool before they finally managed to get his attention to get him back to the start. Ugh.

They started again, but I think the false start threw him a little, plus he had worn himself out some...  he still swam well. Butterfly is HARD! He got tired about 8 feet from the finish and grabbed the lane line... (thought it was closer but when I saw the video, I realized it was closer to 8 feet or so)  He did finish though after that but I'm sure DQed for grabbing the line, plus his feet came apart while he was swimming and so he probably DQed long before the lane line thing.

But OMG. The kid swam butterfly! And didn't freak! I'm amazed and so impressed! It was a long night though. We got home around 8:45 after having been there since 4:30.  Tom took the little boys home around 7:30. What good sports they are. Both of them just splashed around in the baby pool for a few hours after they closed the big pool around 5. Hopefully next year, Simon will do swim team too and then I only have to worry about one child being entertained during these things. I felt bad for S! He seemed happy though.

Needless to say, we are not doing morning practice this morning plus it's raining so great excuse. If it stops raining, we'll go to the afternoon one. :)

Anyway, so happy for a rainy morning... waiting around for the Terminix guy to come wipe out my cicada killers so we can use our front door again. That will be nice!!

UPDATE: With the wet weather, the Terminix guy could not rain death upon my cicada killers. He says he'll come back on the next sunny day. UGH. Meanwhile, even the rain, these awful creatures continue to fly around my front porch. HATE THEM!

Ben's First Swim Meet...

To say swim team has transformed Ben would be an understatement.

Interestingly, I saw a similar transformation his second year of playing basketball. Both sports have been THE best "medicine" for his lack of confidence and high-level anxiety. It seems that knowing when and how much to carefully push him has been key... also having the right people around to push him when it can't be me doing the pushing and the encouraging. (You know how sometimes if it's you, they think they have an out? If it's someone else, they don't always feel that way....)

So last night was the first of the final stretch of swim meets... a series of four at our home pool. I decided at the beginning of the season that the goal would be that Ben would start competing then. Until then, the plan was just take him to the practices. It worked for him because it was very low-pressure and he could ease into it as he felt more comfortable.... and it worked for me because this is NOT the summer I was ready to tackle meets at unfamiliar swim clubs with Jonathan still being so little.

Tom was not happy about this at first. He thought I needed to be taking him to all the meets. He lost that battle though because he is not the one who has to deal with three kids at strange pools.  I told him to trust me on this... that Ben needed the time to build his confidence.

I told Ben all along that if he didn't feel comfortable at the first meet, he didn't HAVE to swim. No one would care. But I told him we were absolutely going. He needed to watch it and get a feel for how it all worked. (he's like me in that he needs to know very clearly how things are going to go before he's willing to give something a try) He insisted he wasn't going to swim and I said that was FINE but he needed to warm up with the team and then decide.

I wasn't being dishonest with him. No one was going to make him jump in that water when his turn came if he truly didn't want to or was too afraid, but I knew how this would go. I had been warned that the meets are sort of chaotic and I had a feeling if he went with them during warm-ups, he'd sort of get swept up in it all. I also had two really wonderful mom friends who took him under their wing so that I could stay on the periphery. I knew I had peer pressure and excitement on my side.

After warm-ups, Beth snagged him out of the deep and and brought him over to my other friend Christa, who was writing the kids' events on their hands. The next thing he knew, he was in line for that getting his hand written on. Boys 9-10, Heat 2, Event 8, 50 meter freestyle....lane 3. I could tell he thought this was kind of awesome and was starting to get into it.  He was actually kind of disappointed he was only swimming once and all the other kids had two. I was relieved though... one event  (and an easy one) was a great way to get his feet wet. (haha)

His turn came pretty early on and before I knew it, he was standing in the front of the line. They called his name and lane.... and.... that's when things got interesting.

The kid who was afraid to even get in the water with the team a few short weeks ago, the one I had to drag CRYING over to the swim coach... THAT kid... he threw his arms up and pumped his fists in the the air like a prize fighter. Uhhhhh....?

And he swam like I have never seen him swim before. He pretty easily kept up with the other two swimmers. Things went awry when he hesitated at the turn-around. Had he not done that, he very well may have placed second. As it was, he actually DQed because he touched the bottom at the turn-around. And, also because he hesitated, he came in third, but not by a lot!

But it didn't matter. The Ben that came out on the other side of the pool was a new Ben! I went to go congratulate him and his first question was, "Can I swim another race? I'm going to ask if I can swim another race!!" The races had already been set though and he was only in the one. It didn't dampen his spirits though and he rode his race high the rest of the evening. Every time he walked by, me I would hear him saying to whoever he was with things like, "I was beating that one kid! I swam so fast!!"

Awhile later, he caught wind of the fact that there were relays at the end. "Well, I want to swim in those!" he said. I knew he probably wouldn't be put in any last night because it was his first meet and someone told me the relays are for the best swimmers. But, taking a cue from "Dance Moms" of all things (C'mon Katie, I know you'll get this reference!! ;) ) , I said, "If you want that, you need to go to Coach Doug and ask for it."

Thought he'd balk at that. An hour before, he would have!

Nope.

He said, "Okay!" Stood up and marched right up to the coach, waited for the race that was going on to end, tapped him on the leg, and told him he wanted to swim relays.

My jaw dropped.

I heard the coach explain that this meet was kind of his try-out/practice one and maybe Wednesday he could do that, but not tonight.

Ben came back and told me what the coach had said and then said, "So I'll DEFINITELY race in them on Wednesday. AND? I'm going to swim TWO events on Wednesday."

OMG.

Okay then!

I now maintain that swim team, as nightmarishly as it started out, is the absolute best thing I could have done for this kid. I wish he could do it all year. How can I make that happen?!

This was when they called his name. I REALLY wish you could see his fist pump in the video because it was HILARIOUS and so awesome.

And here's a snippet of his race. He's second from the right. Not that you can see anything really... but still pretty cool. :) 

Here he is after he swam. :) So proud!

Big Deal...

We were at the pool really early today and there was hardly anyone else there. I could tell Ben was itching to take the deep-end test (he has been working up to it for a few days now, ever since the Fourth of July party at Uncle Marc and Aunt Krystyna's where he figured out he could manage deep water and diving boards), but was worried he wouldn't be able to tread water long enough.

My friend Beth graciously took him out to the deep and, practiced for a minute or two with him, and then flagged the lifeguard down before Ben could change his mind. He took the test and passed it in about a minute like it was no big deal!!!

He was SO proud of himself and spent the rest of the day going off the diving board with his friends. :)

He has grown up so much just since summer started... so proud of him. :)

I snapped the pic right after he passed and after his first jump off the diving board. :) He was euphoric!!

Leaps and Bounds....

The kids' weekly swimming lesson is now on Fridays because the teacher really wanted to be able to give Ben some extra attention and a half hour for all three kids wasn't cutting it for that. So she moved us to Fridays and gave us a one-hour time-slot.

It was DIVINE. First off, there was NO ONE ELSE THERE. Saturdays are usually crazy and the pool is so crowded. Yesterday... just us.

I got in with Jonathan in the lessons pool and we played for a half hour while she took the big boys over to the lane pool to practice strokes.

Simon is really coming along too! He is determined to do swim team next year too and I think that's fantastic! So he's working REALLY hard to keep up with Ben.

Ben has now decided he wants to be AWESOME at swimming and has really upped his game. He swam the entire length of the pool twice and got halfway across doing backstroke. He also asked Tara to show him how to squat and dive in to start swimming, like he has seen the other kids on the team do and something that has previously caused much angst. It took about four tries and he got it. YAY!

Simon worked hard on back-floating on his own, something that has freaked HIM out a ton in the past. With the help of a noodle, he started to finally get really comfortable. He worked on this later at our pool too!

Swimming would be a great sport for both of them to really take up and stick with as they get older because, althougb Ben is into and pretty good at basketball, the odds of him being able to play for say, a high school basketball team, are probably pretty slim. But he could DEFINITELY swim all the way through college! And Simon isn't particularly drawn to athletic endeavors in general and isn't that coordinated (though I know it's still early) with throwing/catching/kicking... nor is he particularly competitive (at all)... but swimming for fun or for a team would be good for him.

Maybe we've stumbled onto our "thing"? :)

REALLY glad we stuck with it. The confidence is morphing Ben into a kid I hardly recognize.

Example? He came running in from outside last night, "I had a splinter but I pulled it out myself!"

You have NO idea how ridiculously awesome that is. I know it sounds so silly... but even a few months ago, he would have FREAKED OUT at this and there would have been tears.

I said to him, "Hi there! I'm Erin, but you can call me mommy. I don't know who you are but welcome to our family!" ;)

Swim Team....

Only one mom of all the moms I solicited opinions from on the topic thought I should absolutely bail on swim team, save it for next year and just enjoy the summer. I was right there with her and so tempted...but my gut feeling really was that he would like it once he got comfortable with it. So, I regrouped, took a deep breath and we went back after that first horribly awful attempt.

Tom actually was the one to take him the second time and it went better than the first time, but still not well.

 The third time, he cried and I walked him over to the coach and after that he was okay, until they made him try the backstroke and then he hung onto the wall and cried, but eventually hung onto the lane line and tried it. Also, I was more organized this time and had a better handle on Simon and Jonathan. So it was 100 times better in that respect. PLUS, school was out and so we didn't have that to figure in and make things more chaotic.

 The fourth time, he went right over and did everything they asked him to do as best he could. No tears. Success?

 The fifth time, which was last night, he balked when it was time for his age group to swim, and I had to walk him over, but once he was there he did AWESOME and apparently, although somehow I missed this, swam the length of the pool freestyle for the first time without holding onto the lane line at all.  Plus, another little boy on the team actually cried through half the practice and, though I felt badly for him, I think it helped Ben realize that he's not the only one on the team who has fears.

 The thing every attempt has had in common? When it's over? He's SUPER happy. SO proud of himself.

On Wednesday, he begged to go back to the pool after Simon's nap and spent two solid hours practicing the backstroke and swimming freestyle across the shallow end. So he definitely WANTS to do this, which makes me feel better about all the tears.

The coach is teaching them the butterfly. (honestly, I wish they'd spend more time just getting the fearful ones to swim the full length of the pool in whatever way they are comfortable... but whatever) Ben LOVES it. They do just the leg part using kickboards and he's always at the front of the pack, which the coach keeps pointing out to him and I KNOW makes him feel good and boosts his confidence.

He keeps reminding me of my original promise that he can quit after two full weeks if he doesn't like it. I just keep putting him off, telling him two full weeks is really 14 practices. (by that time, the season will almost be over... LOL) And I know he doesn't *really* want to quit...

 When we get back from vacation, I think all the rest of the meets are at home, except one. So he's going to (hopefully) try his first one on July 8th and swim in three more after that before the season is over. :)

 Oh and his team suit came the other day and he LOVES it. He would sleep in it if I let him. I HAVE to get a picture... it's too funny. Here he is "secretly" practicing in the afternoon after Wedesday's  practice... he cracks me up. :)

Well That Did NOT GO Swimmingly...

Last night was Ben's first swim team practice.

Let me preface by saying that my expectations for this year are really very, very low.

I don't really even expect him to compete in the meets and it would be a pleasant surprise if he did. They have to be able to swim the length of the pool without touching the rope/side to be able to compete and although I know he actually IS capable of this, he doesn't *think* he is and so right now, he won't even try.

That's fine and SO Ben. He'll do it, like everything else, when he feels 100% ready.  BUT, I really want him in it for the daily extra swimming lessons it provides and because I think he'll feel SO good about himself if he makes a ton of progress over the summer.

Plus, ALL, and I mean ALL of his friends at the pool are doing it. Most parents try to convince their kids to NOT do things because all the other kids are. I'm almost always on the opposite side of this... BEGGING him to follow the crowd.

Ben needs a t-shirt that says, "If all my friends are jumping off a cliff, I'll just wait for them at the bottom because I'm not going up there anyway and you can't make me." (but that's okay... because I need the same t-shirt... I really don't have any room to talk)

I have tried to make it as low-stress as possible for him. I told him if he just wanted to watch yesterday, that was fine. I have reassured him over and over that he is a really good swimmer (because he IS and he is SO fast!) and that is reinforced to him EVERY Saturday at swim lessons. But, outside of the comfort zone that is the swim lessons pool and his very capable and patience-of-a-saint swim teacher, his confidence is just not there.

So he was kind of resigned to it and even seemed like he was a LITTLE excited. That is, until we pulled into the parking lot and he refused to get out of the car and burst into tears.

I got him out by explaining he could just watch if he wanted but that he HAD to go in and be with the team. I said I wasn't taking no for an answer. (the reality was, if he had outright refused, I don't know what I would have done because he's too big for me to drag out of the car and carry in and, even if I could do that, I have the other two to contend with)

Thankfully, he didn't call my bluff and he agreed.

We determined pretty quickly that he needed to swim with the 8 and under group, so we had 45 minutes to kill, which was good (I thought)  because it gave him a chance to relax and just swim with his friends. ALL of his pool friends are in the younger group, so I was thrilled.

When they called them all over, he immediately looked over and started shaking his head at me. This is Ben speak for "I'm going to make this as difficult and ugly as possible until you give up."

I sighed heavily, readied myself for battle, and scooped Jonathan out of the pool. I told Simon to stay near the step and proceeded to drag/push Ben over to the deep end where the kids were lining up.

Things are worse in these situations when I hang around, so I put him one of the lines, firmly told him to stay there and listen to the coach and walked back over to the shallow end to watch from a distance to see how this would go down.

It went okay at first... they all got kickboards and one by one, jumped in and kicked the length of the pool while holding onto their kickboard.

After that pass, they were supposed to flip over onto their backs and hold the kickboard over their heads to go back the other way. That's when things took a turn for the worse.

I saw him arguing with the lifeguard/assistant, who clearly had no idea what to do with him. He sobbed and sobbed and refused to go back across. Finally, he went back across, but not on his back.

I figured it had all worked out, so I went back to tending to the other two, who were getting more high-maintenance by the second.  I realized things were tanking QUICKLY because I had both hunger and cold working against me.

The pool was freezing, so Simon was crying that he was cold. He couldn't stop shivering and his lips were blue. So I got him out and wrapped him in a towel.

Jonathan, who is impervious to cold apparently, wanted to keep swimming, but Simon was so hysterical, I couldn't keep my eyes on Jonathan, so I had no choice but to drag him out of the pool kicking and screaming. He sprawled himself out flat on a deck chair and wailed.

Then I realized it was past dinner time, so I hauled the little boys over to the snack bar and ordered them grilled cheese. When I turned back around, Ben was walking toward me wrapped in his towel.

"WHAT are you doing out of the pool?!" I asked.

"She told me I could get out. I was cold."

Sigh. No offense to the well-meaning teenage lifeguard girl, but she obviously has no experience with anxious/challenging kids. Rule number one with Ben: You can NOT GIVE HIM AN INCH in these kinds of situations.

I didn't care if his lips were three shades of purple, if I had been over there, he wouldn't have gotten out of the pool until it was over.  I knew it was a lost cause at that point, but felt like I had to figure out a way to win, so I made him go sit on the side of the pool near the swim team and watch the rest of the practice, which he did.

The little boys continued to whine and cry about various things.

I was trapped in pool club hell. I just wanted to leave, but now we'd ordered dinner AND I wanted Ben to stick out the full practice.

FInally it was over and the little boys ate their dinner while I ordered something to go for Ben. While we waited, he complained about the cold, insisted everyone had been "looking at him", and that he didn't know anyone. (um... he knows and likes like 15 of those kids....wth?)

I was just so annoyed at the whole situation. SO annoyed and SO frustrated and just. so. tired.

I didn't even bother making anyone change out of their bathing suits at that point, I just loaded everyone in the car and sped off toward home.

On the way home, I mentally argued with myself. Here I have a kid I REALLY need to push and not let him quit and I KNOW this is what I need to do. But I also have two other kids I have to supervise and manage at the same time, which makes dealing with Ben next to impossible, since the "coaching" situation doesn't really help me any. Neither the coach, nor the assistant have the time to deal with a kid who is different or difficult... Ben REALLY needs a lot of individual attention and encouragement in these situations and it's not going to happen. And the other two... they are going to drive me to drink if it's like this every practice. (and practices are DAILY... )

So what do I do? Do I bag it for this year in hopes that next year Ben has gained more swimming confidence, Jonathan is more manageable, and Simon will do swim team too so I will only have Jonathan to deal with during practice?  Or do I stick with it, which is a HUGE stress and commitment for me, but ultimately might be good for Ben?

I seriously wanted to cry when I left there yesterday. Either my kids are all much more challenging than everyone else's there or I simply don't deal with having three kids as well as everyone else does.

Sigh. Parenting is hard.

What would you do?

Weekend...

Busy weekend!

Saturday morning, all the boys had swimming, as usual.  Their teacher has started taking Ben in the big pool the last few weeks and he is none too pleased about it. Part of it is that it's much colder than the therapy pool, where he has done all of his lessons up until this point. But the other part is purely Ben being Ben. It's only 3-1/2 feet deep in the lane they use, but he's convinced he can't touch the bottom. The logic of, "Well, even if you couldn't touch, you can SWIM now." or "The pool you've been swimming in is 5 feet deep in parts and you've been okay with that!", not to mention, "You are four feet tall, the water is not." is all lost on my otherwise very logical, analytical child.  I don't really have a leg to stand on since, although not pool-related, my fears as a kid were equally irrational. (still are?)

We ignore it though, knowing he'll come around eventually. I don't even get involved, I just give him his goggles, remind him he's NINE, and send him off with the teacher. I know he cries some, but I also know he does eventually swim when he's over there.

(I will say I can tell he does secretly like the fact that being taken over to the big pool by himself means he has surpassed Simon's level.)

Simon is coming along well too! He did panic after jumping a few weeks ago and suddenly forgot he could swim. It shook him a little, but he got back on the horse.  He's also doing much better with his back float, which freaked him out for awhile.

I do think both Ben and Simon, though their skills are vastly beyond where they were last summer, will still hang out in the shallow end of the pool again this year and actually, given that their confidence level is still not all that wonderful, that's a-okay with me. I'll force them over to the deep end when I have Tom there to help me child wrangle. Otherwise, they can stay where they feel comfortable.

Jonathan, this week, started full-on swimming underwater to Tara and to the steps!! He goes further and further every week. I can't get over it! Weirdest and coolest thing ever to see in action.  He may give me grey hair with his fearlessness sometimes, but it's SO different than Ben and Simon in (and me) that it just continually fascinates and surprises me what he can do and wants to do and isn't intimidated by at his age that I never would have even considered for Ben or Simon.  I'm glad I don't have THREE Jonathans though... one is plenty.

In other news this weekend, Ben had a sleepover at grandmom and poppy's. The rest of us got sushi and Tutti Frutti. :)

We also finished our garden box (sans dirt... maybe next weekend) and Ben went to another rock-climbing party where he mastered going to the top of the wall.  :) I posted the video yesterday... so proud of that kid!

I'm proud of Simon too because is working REALLY, really hard on his reading lately!! He got a new Star Wars early reader book at the bookstore yesterday and read us a bunch of pages from it last night.  He is making great strides in that department and is doing a much better job with sight words these days too. He remembers almost all of them now! He and I have definitely put in some serious time on the reading front lately  and will continue all summer. :)  He's my project. It has been a different experience from Ben learning to read. They went about it in totally different ways and on different timetables. Kids are a constant learning experience, aren't they?

And today is Monday... ahhh... my favorite. :) Quiet. Routine. Put things back in order. Happy day!

Waterbug....

Today at swimming, Jonathan took off! He swam about three feet under water on his own! I caught it a few times on video and this was the best version. It was the only time coughed at the end, I swear!! ;)  He really wasn't drowning. She has been teaching him to swim toward the step, her, or the bar the goes around the side of the pool where there is no step, find one of those things, grab and pull himself up. Pretty cool!

Jonathan is 31 Months Old...

Dear Jonathan,

You are 31 months old!

There is not much to say this month except that you are a joy! You are happy, chatty and agreeable the majority of the time lately. You are silly and love to laugh and you even make your own little jokes.
You really are quite the hybrid of your brothers. But mostly, you are just you... one of a kind, for sure!

Our biggest issue lately is that you don't want to go to bed. Daddy puts you in (and it must be daddy... mommy isn't allowed to be involved lately!) and you get out at least five times. You like to sleep with your light on lately, so daddy tells you if you get out, he'll have to turn the light off. Let's just say you almost never actually get to sleep with the light on.

The next day, you will reenact bedtime. "And this is how I cried.... wahhh!!! And den Daddy comed in and turned dah light OFF!"   Cracks us up.

You still don't like when we clean up your spot at mealtime. The poor waiter at the restaurant we went to the other night got an earful when he came by and thought he'd remove some things from the table, including your plate. HA!  We had to explain that it wasn't his fault... you just have a thing about your plate... LOL. Only one of my kids.... seriously....

You love your books and will sit by your bookshelf in your room and read when you are supposed to be napping. Your favorites lately are the Pigeon Books (Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, The Pigeon Gets a Hot Dog, The Duckling Gets a Cookie?!) and the Dinosaur Books (How Does a Dinosaur Say Goodnight, How Does a Dinosaur Go to School, and How Does a Dinosaur Get Well Soon) What can I say? You like series... next up... Hardy Boys? ;)

You love to play light sabers with your big brothers, or really, whoever happens into the room. You'll hand them a light saber, saying, "Here! Let's play!" and with no other warning, you start battling. Yikes! You even took down one of your teachers from Infants and Toddlers a few weeks ago. LOL!

In general, you just adore and want to be like your big brothers. You want to be where they are, you want to be doing what they're doing and, mostly importantly (and annoying to them): you want to be playing with all their stuff. Sigh.

Always my quirky little dude, you are still obsessed with opening and closing the CD and DVD player and insist that Miss Sally let you "help" her with this at music time at school. The whole time we are singing songs, you have your eye on it.  You can operate any CD or DVD player, anytime, anyplace, anywhere, even when adults can't figure it out. It's both hilarious and super annoying.

You are doing great with swimming lessons and have learned to go under and kick your way back up to Miss Tara and also to go under and kick your way up to find the bar on the side of the pool and pull yourself up! Jumping in and going under is also a huge favorite. It won't be long before you are really swimming and it is quite something to watch! When we go to lessons, the lifeguards and pool management people come and watch you and laugh every. single. week. The one lady always goes and gets other people so they can watch. "You have to see this one! Look! No fear! It's amazing!"  Yeah... it IS amazing... but also kind of scary! My little Evil Knievil.

Anyway, mostly this month has been a complete joy. You've turned all kinds of corners with language and meltdowns and you've just gotten a little easier. You are funny and fun to take places and play with. We have our little routines during the day while your brothers are at school and you are my little tagalong buddy. :) You'll do just about anything for a donut at Safeway! ;)

Happy 32 months, JJ! I love you!

Love,
Mommy

Fishie....

I was at swim lessons with the big boys a couple weeks ago and happened to notice a very small girl taking lessons with another teacher. She looked to be about three or so. She was diving down to get things off the bottom and swimming all over the place. 

"How old is she?" I asked her teacher. 

"She just turned three, " she replied. "But I've had her since she was one... she's ALWAYS been fearless though!"

Later that week, I texted the boys' teacher. "When can Jonathan start lessons with you?" 

Generally with the little ones, they do a mommy and me class or a private lesson with mommy in the water to help out, so I wasn't optimistic that she would take him without me and I have ZERO desire to get in the pool right now and deal with getting Jonathan and myself dressed and dried off enough to go back out into the cold winter air. 

She replied that we could try it and see how it went. The next week, Ben couldn't take his lesson because basketball conflicted (the time moves around every week), so I asked if we could sub in Jonathan to swim with Simon. She was okay with that, so off we went. 

Now, in stark contrast to Ben at this age, who freaked his freak out upon even ENTERING a building with an indoor pool, Jonathan was PSYCHED. "Do you want to swim today?"  "YES!!!" was his enthusiastic reply. He waited patiently (kinda) for his turn. 

When it was his turn, he didn't even look back. He went right with Miss Tara. She looked over and asked, "Is he going to get upset about going under water?"  

"Uh... no." I answered, laughing... thinking back to summertime and all the "More! More!" when he would jump in and go under.

She promptly dunked him and up he popped, giggling. 

Then she put him on the little step in the shallow and backed up so he could jump and "swim" to her. I'm pretty sure she didn't even get to three before he lunged forward and went under... she pulled him up and he giggled some more. 

"I think this will work!" she yelled from across the pool. 

I did have to sit on the side and hold him while he sat on the wall when it was Simon's turn. (she alternates the kids' turns during their lesson. But I'll certainly take getting my jeans a little wet over getting completely in!)

I'm hoping to have a tiny swimmer by June. Do'able? We'll see. LOL!

Threefer---

Haven't updated in awhile... so here's a three-fer! :)

Let's see...

Ben -- Ben started a little one-week camp on Monday at his school run by the gym teacher. It's like little boy heaven. I suppose it's heaven for some little girls too, and there are plenty of them there, but mostly, it looks like little boy heaven.  You see, it's the Whittle equipment. Not sure if schools outside of our county have this or not, but it's this massive, room-sized climbing/rope swing/cargo net/monkey bar/gym mat/structure. Ben says they played some organized games, but mostly they are just allowed to go nuts on it the entire three hours. It's his idea of a perfect camp. His quote at the end of yesterday? "There was NOTHING that was boring... NOTHING!"  LOL. It helps that a lot of his old neighborhood friends are participating too and a kid or two from his class and some from our pool.

In other Ben news, there is no clear-cut obsession right now. Yes, we are in that heavenly place called "obsession limbo" where we anxiously await what's next. I spend a lot of time trying to keep video games out of the running...  HATE the video game obsessions. The science-y ones are way more fun for the rest of us... ;)



Simon -- Simon has truly been the angel-child lately. I don't know what else to say... he's obedient and pleasant.  My only issue with him lately has been getting him to clean up his Legos.

He says he will definitely go to the camp Ben is going to when he is old enough (next summer).  I have felt bad for him this summer... not old enough to do any of the special things I found for Ben to do and I didn't find anything interesting that just he could do, other than swimming lessons. Speaking of swimming lessons, he made HUGE progress just this past Saturday, which was our last one until fall. He swam halfway across the pool AND stopped to breathe without being reminded. He was pretty proud of himself, and rightly so. I'm pretty sure next summer, I will have two kids ready to take the deep-end test. Not sure I'm ready for that though. It's so easy to watch them in the shallow end! ;)


Jonathan -- Jonathan has been relatively easy lately too.... by Jonathan standards, anyway. Learning some consistent words has definitely cut down on the all out screaming fits. He even woke up in the middle of the night two nights ago, REALLY upset and when Tom went in to help, I heard him say over the monitor that he was cold. Tom covered him up and that was that. WOOHOO!

I think there is possibly some two-year-molar action though because he's been gnawing on his hands like a fiend and sometimes waking up upset and asking for medicine. (by pointing to his bathroom where we keep it) I can't feel anything back there but that doesn't mean anything....

Trying to decide what to get him for his birthday and leaning toward a little Casio full keyboard piano. He really doesn't need any toys, honestly... and I think he would love the piano and maybe eventually learn to play...  the other boys might like it too? We'll see... still undecided...

So that's my update. Off to get everyone ready to take Ben to camp and figure out how to spend the day!