Nicholas showing off his Apple Jack bracelet
Nicholas
Ah, my sweet Nicholas!! Luckily, he went down for his nap on a good note, so I have happy thoughts in my head!! Nicholas is such a handful, but I'm happy to report that there are signs of maturity popping up every now and again!! We went to Williams Sonoma today (well, it was today about 2 weeks ago when I started trying to write this update!) to buy a wedding gift and I was certain that I would regret bringing the boys into such a "delicate" store, but Nicholas shocked me! He walked in quietly and didn't try to touch a thing, as he was advised in the car. An employee offered him a sample cup of grilled peaches and he replied, "Yes! I would like some grilled peaches, please!" He walked with me around the store while happily nibbling at his peaches. I was very fast and the gift was chosen within a few minutes. We weren't taking any chances! Then, he stood with me at the register chatting up another employee as we waited for gift wrapping. He told her about his upcoming birthday, the lady at the YMCA who lied to us, and his Daddy who eats lots of junk food that makes him chubby. Finally, we had our wrapped purchase and we were ready to go. Halfway to the door, Nicholas declares, "Wait! I forgot to tell the lady something!" He ran (yes, ran...nobody's perfect!) back to the employee and said, "Thank you for my peaches!" She smiled and mumbled something about peaches to Nicholas. He returned with a big smile on his face and he marched straight to the car. What a big boy!
A big boy on his big boy bike!
Nicholas had quite a fun summer, even though all but the weather felt like a continuation of the spring! With Daddy working, no family vacation, very few summer visitors, and Nicholas enrolled in summer school, the older kids taking over our usual daytime haunts and the lovely summer sun were the only tip-offs that summer was in full swing. To top it off, we went swimming outdoors maybe a total of 10-12 times all summer. The lack of swimming is kind of sad, in retrospect. What's summer without swimming? The problem was that I didn't trust myself to take both boys to the swimming pool alone, so the only daytime trip to the pool that the boys made was when Uncle Tony came to visit. Occasionally, Nick and I did take the boys to the neighborhood pool in the evening. Even that was interesting! Nicholas spent all summer afraid to put his head underwater and Zachary refused to ride in his baby float, so swimming consisted of Nick & I wading in the pool, each holding one of the boys while trying to entertain them. That just wasn't something I wanted to tackle alone. When Uncle Tony visited and helped out with a swimming playdate, I watched all of Nicholas's friends splashing and playing in the pool by themselves (with their parents watching of course!) They would jump in the pool, play underwater, and swim a little, too! Finally, as August finally came around, I signed Nicholas up for swim lessons at the YMCA despite his protests.
Playing in the summer rain
Nicholas was a little wary of his swim class, but agreed to give it a try. On the first day, he arrived for his Pike A swim class for 3-5 year olds who can't swim at all and/or are scared of the water. He ended up being the only kid enrolled in that particular group, so he was going to have a one-on-one session with the teenage instructor. So, of course, the instructor immediately grabs Nicholas off of the edge of the pool, wades a little ways into the pool, and takes him underwater. ?!?!? Who does that in a beginner swim class?! Nicholas couldn't function after that incident. He was screaming and crying and he couldn't even bear to be in the water. So that class was a bust. A kind lifeguard that watched the whole crazy scene suggested that I try switching Nicholas into a class that had other kids in it as kids are often more confident when surrounded by peers. So, I took his sage advice and switched Nicholas into the Pike B class at the same time. It was a slightly more advanced class (these kids weren't scared of the water and could perform some very basic swimming skills), but there were two girls already enrolled.
So, we tried again the next day! (The swim classes ran Monday through Thursday for 2 weeks.) I had a talk with Nicholas about telling the instructor when he felt uncomfortable with anything. We also talked about how it was okay to get water on his face and even to go underwater! (I'm still not exactly sure why he developed such a fear of water on his head.) Nicholas was reluctant to return to his swim class. I promised him that if he did a good job swimming and listening to his instructor, we could go play on the huge playscape they have in the YMCA building. He was satisfied with the deal and gave it a shot! He met his new teenage instructor, Garrett, and immediately told him, "I don't want to go underwater!" Garrett kindly told him that he didn't have to go underwater if he didn't want to. Nicholas was satisfied with the response and managed to whine his way through the class.
Over the course of the two weeks, Nicholas showed huge improvement!! He would try to kick using a "floatie boat" all by himself. He would let the other kids splash him...a little. And he would scoot along the edge of the pool all by himself. But, most importantly, he finished up each class happy and proud of himself!! :o) On the day of his last class, he was so excited to thank Garrett for being his teacher. Nicholas still talks about Garrett and laments the fact that Garrett can't teach him swim lessons anymore since he had to go back to high school!
Guess who wants to be a firefighter now!
Now, remember the promise I made to Nicholas about playing on the YMCA playscape after his swim class? Well, here's how that went. I was very proud of Nicholas for making it through his second class, so we were definitely headed to the playscape! He changed into regular clothes and a pull-up since I was told that the kids had to be potty-trained to play there. (It's really a little child watch center for kids to use while their parents work-out at the Y.) At that point, Nicholas was pretty good about peeing in the potty by himself, but he still needed help with number two and he still had occasional pee accidents!! I told Nicholas that I would be waiting just outside of the playscape so that he could call to me if he had to do his business! (Parents are not allowed in the play area...ever.) The woman in charge of the sign-in sheet overheard me reminding Nicholas about his pull-up responsibilities and she said, "He can't come in here with a pull-up. You have to be potty-trained to play in here. He can play in the baby/toddler room down the hall." I told her that I would be waiting for him outside, so there shouldn't be any potty issues since the pull-up would cover any possible accidents. She insisted that it is their policy to have no pull-ups in the playscape at all (I suppose they enjoy cleaning urine off their equipment on occasion. If I had underwear with me, I would have switched him right then and there and sent him in. But alas, we had none!) Nicholas left the playscape area crying. True crying. It wasn't whining, screaming, or fussing. It was true tears of sadness and disappointment. They broke my heart. :o( I was very sad for my poor, sweet Nicholas, but I figured the potty-training policy was fair. We sat down on a bench outside the play area so that Nicholas could cry it out and calm down. Once he was calm, he asked, "Why did they say that I can't play in there?" I explained that they only allow kids who are potty trained and wearing underwear to play there. He looked up at me with his sad, teary eyes and declared, "I want to be potty trained. I want to be a big boy." And he was. We haven't looked back since that sad day. We stopped at the store on the way home, picked up some little boy underwear, and began REAL potty training. After one day of proving to Mommy that he was serious by keeping a dry pull-up all day long, Nicholas put on his first pair of underwear. The pride glowing on his little face was amazing. My big boy. He was so excited to go back to the YMCA playscape and finally play!!
So, back we went after his next swim lesson. He proudly stood at the entrance as I signed him in. Then, I made a huge mistake. I asked the very same sign-in sheet monitor if there was anything we should know since it was Nicholas's first time in the play area. She said, "How old is he?" I was taken aback and answered, "Almost 3." And she replied, "I'm sorry. You have to be 3 to come in here." OH NO SHE DIDN'T!!! I was furious! I explained to her all the effort Nicholas put into potty training to come and play after our last disappointment...and the fact that an age restriction wasn't mentioned last time or on our original facility tour! Plus, he was a little over a week away from actually being 3 years old!! (Apparently it's a safety issue if you're under 3 years old. It's a huge hazard if you're only 2 years and 11.5 months old! But, wait 2 weeks and you're golden!) A man dropping off his 3 year old overheard the whole affair and backed me up saying that he was never informed of an age requirement either, just the potty training rule. Amazingly, Nicholas wasn't crying this time, but I was crying for him. The last thing I wanted after such hard, quick work of potty training was for Nicholas to be disappointed. We ended up back on the bench outside the playscape and Nicholas questioned me, "Why did they say I couldn't play again?" I explained the age requirement and how the lady had lied to us and omitted that rule before. Nicholas grabbed onto that and said, "Why did the YMCA lady lie to us?!" And he repeats that question all the time. We haven't gone back to the YMCA since he's turned 3. Nicholas seems to have given up on it and so have I. I'm certain that if we try to go in again, there will be a new rule that only girls can enter. :o/
Nicholas is big enough to mow the lawn!
On a happier note, Nicholas enjoyed his summer of Mommy school and summer preschool. His regular church preschool did not offer summer classes, but I was still hoping for some one on one time with Zachary. We found a nearby secular preschool that did have a summer session. So, on Tuesdays and Thursday from 9am to 1pm in June and July, Nicholas went to preschool. He had a fun time meeting new kids and doing some fun crafts, but he really didn't like it as much as his regular preschool. Everyday, his teacher had some issue to report. Eventually, I determined that Nicholas was bored and didn't appreciate the tiny classroom. His regular church preschool classrooms were much larger, so there wasn't as much of a chance of arms running into his mouth for him to chomp on or girls close enough to bear hug. Nicholas was wonderful in Mommy preschool, though!! We focused on our letters and numbers. Nicholas worked on learning how to recognize upper and lowercase letters, make the letter sounds, and write letters and numbers. Nicholas learned how to write his name...the short version, Nick. Nicholas even completed the very same "lesson" worksheets that I did when I was his age!! :o)
Dinosaurs!!! Scary and fun!!
Nicholas spent a good part of his summer just having fun!! He had play dates with friends, visits to grandparents, and a few "field trips". He visited a museum with a really neat dinosaur exhibit, a fire station, and a children's museum.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Cheesy Smile!
And now our little baby boy is 3 years old!! He had an awesome birthday party with a bunch of his friends and neighbors and Grandparents S. in attendance. And boy did he make a killing on birthday presents this year. I may have gone a bit overboard. I suppose that can happen when you slowly collect birthday gifts over the course of the summer... Oops. Nicholas and Zachary are both thrilled to live in Toyland, though!! :o)
Shaving already! Ah, they grow up so fast!
And so ended our summer!! Nicholas is a big boy now - 3 years old, potty-trained, and working on being a good listener!! Zachary is a toddler now - 1 year old, independent, and working on reaching the terrible twos ahead of schedule! I wonder what the fall will bring.... :o)
