My Little Fish, Home Improvements & Kindergarten

I can't believe July is over! Daniel finished his swim lessons and passed his jellyfish class. He couldn't pass last year because he wouldn't swim on his back. This year the instructor used him to teach the other children (who were mostly older!!) how to swim on their backs. Daniel was also the only one to propel himself down in 4-5 feet of water to pick up toys from the bottom. He's really gained in strength this year and the instructor said she would like to see him next year on the swim team. He'll fall into the youngest category and she said they needed "strong swimmers" like him in that category!!

A couple of weekends ago we did some minor home improvements that had major impact on my housekeeping skills! First we pulled up Daniel's carpet and laid wood laminate in his room. He LOVES it. It's the same as our room and the morning he woke up he ran to us saying "Thank you for making my floor like yours!" Who knew it would mean that much to him!

Troy also finally cut me a laundry chute after I did much begging!! Our laundry is in our basement and we have this perfect little half closet in our hallway that Troy cut a nice circle in and built up the chute. It drops right down in the basement into a nice laundry basket and since then all laundry is out of our main living level. We were woried that Daniel would throw toys (or himself) down the chute, but instead as I was sorting laundry I found fishing items and realized it was my husband who had "accidentally" dropped a few things down! It hasn't happened since!! I don't have any pictures of the final product, but Troy faced the front and put a nice top on it. This was when it first went through the floor - we couldn't resist trying it out!

In Kindergarten news, we didn't get the school we were hoping for due to student/teacher ratio and we knew up front this was a high possibility in our area. We're allowed to call back August 8th and see if there are any changes, but for now we're preparing for the other school. I have to go in soon to make appointments to talk to the school nurse about Daniel's medical condition and I need to speak to the principal about his teacher and about a certain little boy who is also attending Kindergarten this year and who you may remember from this post a long time ago. I'm afraid if they get put in the same class, similar things may happen to Daniel and it isn't going to fly. As for his teacher - I don't want him to have the teacher he did his assessment with. I have my reasons! I know I'm picky, but I can't help it!!

Daniel's doing great at his summer camp. He's been roller skating, bowling, to Lowe's, to more parks than I can name and he's having a blast. He gets karate lessons as part of his day and while I don't think he's thrilled with them, I do think he's gaining a lot from them. He's learning to pay more attention and when he and his dad wrestle, I've seen Troy look at him in surprise!! He seems stronger, more sure of himself and he likes the interaction with all the boys. He's making friends, which he wasn't really doing (except for a few) at his previous daycare, and he's talking to his counselors like he actually likes them! He even told me he "loved camp" the other morning when I sang him the "Good Morning" song!!

All in all things are well in the Williams household!

Water World

This summer looks like it's going to be a busy one - that is if we ever get summer time weather to stay around here. It's been in the 40's at night with occasional frost and today the high is only in the 50's. Please, please bring on summer!!

I signed Daniel up for swimming lessons starting in June. It's a two week course with 1/2 an hour swim time each day. I'm really looking forward to it! I don't have to be in the water which I think will be fun for Daniel! He loves to assert his independance! The class may be a little below him as he already goes underwater and swims with floaties, but the next class up jumped straight into jumping into the deed end, which I would have a heart attack over at this point. Next year, I promise I'll be able to handle it!

We also signed up for tickets to a mobile aquarium at our local library. We're really excited that. It's completely free and a large aquarium brings an aquarium truck to the library. They have several large tanks with different habitats in each. They also have a movie and lots of "touch tanks". Daniel is so into the water world right now. He wants to see dolphins so bad, I think he can taste it. The only issue is that the closest aquarium with dolphins is in Baltimore and almost 4 hours away. If anyone knows where we can go see some, let me know.

Check out my Mother's Day gifts! The plant Daniel planted at daycare and took care of it until he gave it to me!! I LOVE it!! The other flowers are beautiful too and I was so surprised to receive these also! I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!

Holiday Weekend

I hope everyone had a fantastic Fourth of July! We had a busy weekend (a recurring theme around our house these days) with Troy's parents visiting, a trip to the indoor waterpark at Massanutten, fireworks and a picnic.

Friday night we took Troy's parents to the Blue Ridge Buffet at Massanutten for all you can eat crab legs! Ian, our nephew, also came and he and I ate everything but crab legs, while Troy, his parents and Daniel got in on the action of eating crab legs. It was delicious and Daniel I think had more fun stealing olives and cherry tomatos off of my plate throughout the dinner! You can also overlook the indoor waterpark which Daniel loved watching.

Saturday Troy's mom, Ian, Troy, Daniel and I hit the indoor waterpark and we had a blast!! We tried hitting the outdoor portion as well but the water was still too cold! I can't believe in July I'm even saying that! I only have a couple of photos from my mother in law's camera, since all of mine are on an underwater disposable camera, but imagine some very soaked people going down lots of kiddie slides and there you have it. I don't think I've ever seen Daniel laugh as much as I did on the lazy river!! He would flop from one side of the innertube to another and just laugh and splash and laugh some more!

He CRASHED hard on the way home and I had to drag him out of bed at 6 pm!! We were glad he slept though so he could stay awake for the fireworks! This was his first time as last year he was sound asleep for the celebration. When the fireworks started going off, Daniel jumped off my lap and pointed, back arched, and yelled at the top of his lungs "LIGHTS!" every time a firework lit the sky for about the first 20. It was hysterical and he has several families in stitches!

Yesterday we took a picnic lunch to a local park and picked up my mom and had a nice time. Daniel played hard and we ate lunch, then came home. I even jumped off a moving swing - something I haven't done in ages!!

Enjoy some pictures from our weekend!

I Have a Confession To Make...

Well, actually several confessions to make.

1. I dreaded the day Daniel would no longer take a nap. I loved my two hours each afternoon to sit outside by myself, work on the computer (otherwise known as reading blogs), or take a nap myself. I really thought that when he quit naps, I might go crazy. I was wrong. Daniel has been not been taking a nap lately and I love it!! We noticed about amonth ago that he was not sleeping during nap time anymore so we decided to keep him up. While he is still at that in between time where he doesn't nap and is exhausted at the dinner table, but if he naps he's up until 1o in his crib and then won't wake up for school, he's actually doing well without naps. We simply put him to bed a little earlier and he sleeps a little later - a real plus for mommy and papa if you ask me!! Plus, the best part - he falls asleep on my shoulder again like he used too because he's so tired. I feel a little evil tiring him out so much, but I absolutely love it when he falls asleep in my arms!!

2. I really thought he would never get potty trained, partially due to his age (still not quite 3 but will be in two weeks, and partially due to his medical issues. Yet here we are on night 8 (knock on wood) sleeping in big boy underwear and not an accident yet. I have noticed that he tends to have his accidents in the evenings (when he's tired from not napping) or when he's outside. But we're managing through that and have mostly accident free days now!! I should have believed in him from the beginning!!

3. I wanted my child to be a fish in the swimming pool, because I could live in one, but I was a little afraid of Troy when last year he looked at me with Daniel n his arms and said, "Don't worry it's instinctual - he'll hold his breath." And then I let Troy dunk him under at the ripe old age of barely 2. The result - he came up not sputtering once, and now this child of mine is a fish! He can jump in and go under and come up like nothing happened. He is swimming with his arm bands on to beat the band. I had to catch up to him in the pool this weekend!! (Enjoy the photos below of our pool time)

4. I tend to burst into song alot. Like tonight when Daniel was jumping around his bedroom naked after his bath and I plopped on the floor with his pjs and commenced with "Wild Thing"...insert music sounds here...and Daniel runs over to me grabs both my shoulders, and belts out plain as day "You make my heart sing". I truly thought I was going to fall over (from a sitting position) from laughter. Obviously I sing that ALOT around him!!

Lastly, this isn't a confession, but just an update - we have Daniel's MRI appointment next Tuesday. It's yucky sedation, but I'll be glad to get it over with. Please pray for it to go well.