Once upon a time he was scared and now look at him go!

Fun Times at the Park

There is a park not too far away that has an old railway car that the kids can climb up on and look through the windows.  My boys love to get up there and pretend they are railway conductors.

S climbing up to go to "work"

Checking the equipment

Calling the passengers, "All Aboard!"

Once S climbed down (and ran off to the front of the car to do it all over again there), B climbed up for his ritual--first thing he has to do every time is knock on the door and see if anyone is home:

Anyone home? 

This was Iz's first time at the railway car and she wasted no time letting me know that she could do it herself.  She was irritated that I hovered but she climbed up on her own!

It was a stretch but she made it

Once she got both feet up, it was easier

She was so proud of herself when she made it to the top.  She clapped and told herself "yay!"  Then she looked down and went "WOAH!"  Ha!

WOAH!

Of course, now that she was up, I had to hold her hand and help her down because both her brothers had run off to the front of the car and she could not be left behind!  So up she climbed again and had to check out the ground before playing for a bit with B.

Next came some time at the play scape (a big wooden one with lots of bridges and tunnels and spires and fun things) but I have no pictures--she kept me on my toes chasing her around ;)

Swim Lessons

I think out of all three of the kids, my busy little B is the one who most enjoys his swim lessons.  He is (most of the time) very eager to participate and will volunteer for everything.  He is fearless when it comes to jumping in and will get up and move down the line to try to sneak in an extra jump when the instructors are having everyone jump in one at a time :p  He is so enthusiastic about everything that they usually give him extra turns ;-)  And when he is waiting his turn "hanging onto the wall", he usually is practicing his skills. 

Practicing his kicks under water

 

Sometimes, he gets overwhelmed by all the kids and noise and instructions and chaos.  Poor little bub completely shuts down and ends up missing most of the lesson :\  He will just put his arms up on the side of the pool and put his head down and just doesn't respond to anything.  He just hangs there, head buried in arms, still and silent.  His instructors are great, though.  When it happened the first time, we talked about how when it happens, I check in with him but just let him be and once he pulls himself together, he will pop  up and act as though nothing has happened.  So when he gets overwhelmed, they will offer him the chance to rejoin the group whenever it is his turn and will leave him be if he is not ready.  Eventually, his little head will pop up and he will start volunteering to be first for everything.  One of the instructors usually gives him a little extra attention so he can practice everything he missed out on real quick while the second instructor is putting the other kids through their paces.  I really like the system they have going of two instructors because there is usually at least one kid struggling in some way and when the kid is comfortable enough to try something, they can give them that attention.  In another year, though, he will be out of the preschool class and the system changes and if you don't participate, you don't get a makeup session later.  He hasn't had a shut down at swim in a while so maybe by the time the Polliwog lessons begin, he will be okay :)

Looking for us so he can say "hi"

HI!!!!!!

Trying out Sandals

Hi Mom!

Checking out the tic-tac-toe game

Tentative walking

Not so long ago, we actually had a day warm enough to be outside with no coat and Iz got to try out some sandals :)  She wasn't so sure what she thought of them at first LOL  They were B's sandals and a bit snug (her feet are much wider/taller than the boys ever were) but she liked the no sock thing :)  She has her own little pair, too, but they were still in winter storage and they are a bit wider so a much better fit.  Her feet have slimmed down a lot in the past few months so those little brown sandals may still hit the rotation this summer.  She ran all around the deck and then went with me to the end of the driveway to pick up B from the bus :)  She had tons of fun--it is amazing how much the little tiny things we see as inconsequential can really make the day of a toddler!

Making a run for it

Dancing :)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!