Dad's Turn

Hi All,
Sorry we've been absentee for a bit. We got hit with a cold. I'm on the mend, but Bree is still battling. We're hoping Drew and Jim can avoid it altogether.

In our latest news, it was Jim's turn to get a 40th birthday surprise this past weekend! He won't turn 40 until next March, but we figured he would be least suspecting to have it on the early side. Jim's mom spearheaded the event. I helped by providing decorations and getting Jim to their home without any questions asked. We had a small family gathering for dinner and a few "age appropriate" gifts. Isn't forty fun?!?

We started the afternoon at the community pool

The decorations in place

The Grim Reaper was in attendance

Jim in his beer goggles

and Old Fart golf balls

Daddy and Bree

Opa and Carter

Oma and Bree

Birthday Boy

The Family

This Is How We Learn To Swim

Hi All,

Drew and Bree successfully completed their first course in swimming lessons. We had four classes at the East Hills Athletic Club that wrapped up a week ago. We got Drew and Bree started as soon as they reached the lower age limit of 6 months. They were the youngest in the class, which included children up to three years of age.
We got some pictures and video of our second lesson, as my parents came along in Jim's absence. Thanks to my mom for doing such a good job documenting the class in pictures!

Getting Ready for Class

There were some common elements of the class that were repeated each time. These included:

• Wheels on the Bus - We sang "Wheels on the Bus" while we hung onto them in the water. We had various motions for each verse of the song, including popping up out of the water and back in, waving hands open and shut, and splashing the water with a free hand.



• I'm a Little Ducky - We sat the kids on the side of the pool while we remained in the water facing them and sang "I'm a little ducky yessiree, I jump in on one, two, three." We placed them in the pool and then pulled them through the water, encouraging them to kick their feet. We did three short laps of this.

I'm a Little Froggy - Same as little ducky, but upon placing them in the water, we then rolled them onto their backs for the laps.

Underwater - The dreaded unterwater exercises! At Drew and Bree's age, we had to dunk them underwater two times each lesson. The older kids did more underwater exercises. We held them in the pool while facing them and started moving backwards, counting down from three. Then, in a smooth motion while still pulling them forward, we pulled them under for a few seconds and then out again. The trick was to attempt to keep them moving smoothly in and out of the water while keeping forward motion so that water did not go up their noses.

Backfloat Practice - The backfloat is an important safety element, so we practiced it often.

Overall, we really enjoyed the lessons. We appreciated that our instructor was very focused on safety and spent a lot of time talking to us about safety techniques. She pointed out that learning the back float is key to safety, since they can breathe if they can get into that position. This is a link to a really interesting video demo of an infant that learned to literally save himself from accidental plunges into the water after a 3 week course - http://www.infantswim.com/isr-experience/Miles.html.

As far as the underwater exercises, it's a nerve wracking thing to dunk your precious little infant into the the water like that. And, boy did they ever hate it! Jim said Drew came up from the water and gave him the worst look he's ever seen the first time they did it. And they cried. Bree actually got the hang of it by the end and could complete it without crying. Drew is still not a fan.

Otherwise, the kids as well as Jim and I enjoyed the time in the water and hope to continue to introduce them to water activities as they grow. I'm sure we'll take more lessons, but probably not for a few months. We can practice the back floating in the tub.

Weddings, Doctors, and Pools, Oh My!

Hi All,

Oh my, people! Here we are, once again. We continued down the path of middle of the night sleep interruptions (as previously mentioned) for the remainder of last week, primarily Bree induced. We are hoping that's behind us for the time being. Here are a few highlights from last week....

Brian and Hillary Get Hitched! - Bree and Drew attended their first wedding, as our cousin Brian and Hillary got married on Saturday. The wedding was beautiful, as were the bride and groom. We enjoyed the day with extended family that we do not get to see often enough. Congrats to the happy couple!


And, here's a fun family shot of us at the wedding photo booth....

Doctor, Doctor Can You Tell? - On top of some general fussiness and sleep interrupted nights, Bree added a cough to the mix on Monday. After consulting with the nurse, I took Bree in for a check on Tuesday. Turns out, her lungs, ears and throat all checked out just fine. The doctor suspected she just picked up a cold bug and suggested over the counter nasal drops before bed if she seemed stuffy. She seems better now. Also, the doctor was not sure if teething was an additional factor, as he could not see or feel any gums swelling. Maybe just another teething false alarm?

Too Cool For The Pool - Our last swimming lesson was on Monday evening. We ended up keeping Bree home, due to her ailments. I took Drew so that he could get a bit more swim practice in. This week was pretty much a repeat of past weeks. The class was enjoyable, with the exception of the required underwater excursion. I thought perhaps this would be the week that Drew got over his angst with the underwater plunge, but alas, no. In no uncertain terms, this was not the week. We are not giving up though!

Happenings

Hi All,

Thought I'd post on a few different topics today so you know what we're up to.

Sleep, Interrupted - I mentioned a few posts back that our doctor recommended we try to get the kiddos 12 hours of sleep every night. We have been working towards that, and for a week or so, it seemed it was actually working. It was an enjoyable stretch to have a few hours at the end of the day to catch up on tasks, blog, or even just relax before falling into bed.

However, starting Saturday, this all changed. We put the kids to bed by 7:30 and Jim was off to a bachelor party. I had the evening to myself, so I thought! (Been a while since that happened.) I went to move Bree out of the pack n play in our bedroom to her crib around 9:30. (We are in the habit of putting one of them down to sleep in the p n p, so they will not keep eachother awake if someone is crying for a few.) Lo and behold, she woke up and wanted to stay up for the next few hours.

Sunday, it was Drew's turn. For reasons unbeknownst to me, he woke up at 3:00 am and then again at 5:00 am and needed some snuggling to get back to sleep. He didn't eat.

Monday, Bree's turn! Bree woke up at 11:30 pm and was uncomfortable. We believe teething is kicking into high gear. It was 1 am before I got her back to sleep.

Tuesday, tag team. Bree is up at 10:30 pm. Jim gave her a bottle and she went back to sleep. Drew is up at 4:30 am. I got up with him, and we rocked for awhile, thinking he would fall back asleep. I gave up on that notion at 5:30 and made him a bottle. He was happy to take a full feeding and go back to bed.

So the intended routine is out the window for now. We'll see how things continue to go. Perhaps we'll try to get more food into Drew during the day in case hunger is his issue.

Our Girl on the Go - Here is Bree exhibiting some of her crawling moves. She uses her right arm to pull the rest of her body along with her. You'll notice I cut the clip off abruptly at the end. She was crawling to the cat, one of her latest fascinations. We are still working on pet/baby relations, so I was nervous of her poking at our least friendly cat.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish - We are currently in the process of taking swimming lessons. All is going well, with the one exception of the infamous underwater excursions. Yes, they have to go underwater two times each session. Drew and Bree's favorite part of lessons is when we all sing "Wheels on the Bus" and they get to pop up out of the water. We'll post more details on swim lessons in the future....

Red Fish Drew and Blue Fish Bree

Makin' A Splash

Hi All,
We got the kiddos out in the lake yesterday. They have dipped their toes in before, and Bree has taken a kayak ride with Daddy, and of course they've been on the pontoon several times. But yesterday, we really got them in the water. We think it got two thumbs up from Drew and Bree. Bree seemed quite comfortable and enjoyed kicking and splashing. And Drew, well he practically fell asleep floating on the water - too funny! Here are our little fishies........