Uncle John the Swim Whisperer

As you know, Kaya finished swim lessons a few weeks ago.  And although she was successful, she has been afraid still to go into the pool without her swim vest on.  So we've been using that which is fine because if she gets tired then I dont worry because the swim vest is a backup.  Anyway, Uncle John is home for the 4th of July and was able to visit Friday night.  Kaya was in the pool and was suddenly MORE than happy to show him (minus the vest) everything she learned in swimming! Seriously, she had that vest off so fast it was incredible.  Uncle John must have a special type of magic because she would never do this for us.  :)
(Looks like she remembers everything she learned too - bobs, face in water with eyes open, superman, taking arm strokes, roll overs, etc). 

Water

 

We opened the pool on Sunday, and Kaya and Brandon had a fabulous time in the water! Brandon is so crazy - chadd held him very tightly while he stood on the steps, but the kid got a face full of water many times!

Also the kid is a bit of a daredevil.  here is a picture of him pulling up on the oven handle.  He actually gets his feet higher up on the glass, but we have been too afraid to get a picture of that yet!  On Tuesday, he did a chin up like this on the door handle of the fridge at school.  It's just a mini fridge so it doesn't even have a real handle, just a little indentation that is used to open the door. I think we have a climber on our hands.

Haircut for Kaya

I cut several inches off of Kaya's hair this morning (at her request - I gave her the option of going out to get it cut professionally or by Mommy and she chose Mommy) and it looks so great! Lots of compliments on it from family, friends, and school.  Not only is she super cute, but it has all these added benefits: doesn't get caught in clothes while getting dressed, doesn't get caught in car seat straps, no more tangles/knots to brush out and scream over, plus she likes it.  Too bad Baby Brother still wants to pull it!

Abigale's 5th Birthday

We went to Abigale's 5th birthday party on Saturday, and both kids had a great time.  Kaya especially loved playing dress up with Morgan in the basement.  The girls were too funny with all the stuff they put on, plus they were walking around in these plastic play heels that I bet I couldn't even walk in, given the opportunity. 

She also hurt her right wrist a little bit on the big bouncey slide.  She walked around the rest of the day calling it her "ankle" and then informed me later that she knew it was really her wrist, but that she liked saying ankle better. 

Brandon had a good time playing with Alex's toys and biting whatever he could. ha ha.

Earlier in the morning we visited the grandparents and great grandparents for lunch in Reading.  A very nice Saturday!

Giving it a shot

In October, a month after her 4th birthday, Kaya had to go to the doctor and get her 4 year old shots.  She got two shots - one in each arm.  She was so upset at the doctors office and was screaming and crying and carrying on, and at one point she stated that she "didn't want holes in her arms" and why did "they put holes in my arms".  The doctor and nurse actually had to turn away so she wouldn't see them starting to crack up, because they had never heard that one before. 

She was fine by the time we got to the car by the way. 

However she worried about shots for weeks after that.  And then at Momo's house one day, Momo was saying they would go do something, and said something to the effect "Let's give it a shot!" and Kaya was completely shocked - like "shots?!".

Update in June 2012 - Kaya informed me that she wants to go to the doctor so that she can get two shots, and get two band aids - one with scooby doo, and one with garfield.  kids are funny.

In the car with the kids

I spend alot of time in the car with these two kids, since their school is across the street from my job, which is about 45 minutes from home.  So Kaya and I do alot of talking.  Mr. B. doesn't talk yet, but he does try to speak/scream while he tries to abuse his toy squeaky book.  He's so destructive!  Another post on that topic later.

So in the car Kaya and I have some good conversations.  Lately she's been really interested in driving.  For example, a few weeks ago she told me that she knew how to drive already, but her legs just weren't long enough.  She also knows what the pedestrian crossing sign looks like, all of the traffic signals, and today was asking me about brake lights. She always wants me to speed up so that we can make it through green lights! I am pretty sure I will hire a professional when it comes time for her to get her learner's permit.

First Field Trip / Bus Ride

Kaya went on her first school field trip today.  They went to the Upper Merion Township park.  It was her first ride on a bus too.  And she got to share a seat with Ryan.  Thank goodness!!!

 These kids were only too happy to pose for pictures.  Jasper has a great smile.  I love this picture of Ryan and Kaya alone at the table having snack.  It seems like they are having a serious discussion about those blueberries!

Kaya's Swim Lessons at West Chester

For the second year in a row, Kaya is taking the intense lessons at West Chester university.  This year she is learning how to take arm strokes and kick while on her belly, and then roll over and swim on her back.  It's really a great program!  Getting her there has been a little dramatic.  It went something like this..
Day 1: lots of whining about going, crying, and having to be torn from Nanae when it was time to go in.  Mommy hid outside with Brandon.  The funny thing was that JJ was the teacher who got to lead her down to her class.  JJ was a great teacher last year in Nanae's pool, but the poor kid always gets the blame from Kaya for being the first person to teach her how to swim this way.  She had a phobia about swimming for so long - anyway it is ironic that of the 20 or so teachers that are leading the kids down, she gets JJ.  Too funny!!!
Day 2: More screaming, big fit in the locker room to get her in her suit, which gets stretched out during the process.  the process being that both Mommy and Nanae have to physically stuff her into the suit while she trying to Karate kick us.  Meanwhile, Brandon looks on from his stroller wearing his best (and much practiced "what the %#>! is wrong with my big sister" expression.
Day 3:.  Less whining and more cooperation.  Still many tears.
Day 4:  Less whining, less tears.
Day 5.  NO WHINING.  Calm kid.  very odd.
Day 6.  Kaya informs us that she "likes swim lessons now".  Has H8ll frozen over?  Kaya has been talking about how she likes her teacher and her classmates, who are named John and Chris. They all like to burp at each other from what I can see.   Also Momo came to watch today.
Day 7: Kaya states that she wants to sign up for another 10 lesson session.  Pretty sure I have mixed up kids somehow.  Momo and Papa came to watch today.   They started practicing jumping in from the side of the pool.
Day 8: Still happy to go, no whining, no drama.  I have almost stopped dreading this routine!!
Day 9:  Kaya is ready to be done with lessons, but is taking big arm strokes now.  She also jumped off the driving board!!! I have it on video.  I am so proud of this kid.

Day 10: swim lessons ended well! She loved Devon as a teacher and was proud to be done.

Bright Horizons and Ms. Elizabeth and Infant 1

Kaya loves, loves, loves Ms. Elizabeth, who was her preschool teacher from January though the beginning of April.   Then Ms. Elizabeth moved into the infant room to be Brandon's teacher!  Every single day, Kaya has to go and hug her hello in the morning, and goodbye in the afternoon (and sometimes she gets to hug her at other points throughout the day too!).  She just loves her so much.  Kaya is very behaved when visiting the infant room and loves to play with the baby toys and to crawl through their tunnel.  She gets so excited to see Ms. Elizabeth when she gets to the door that she gets up on her tiptoes and does this crazy little dance, and then shakes and acts like a status (with this crazy smile included). 

Brandon is doing great in school!  The first few weeks in the infant room he would get a head bump every day because he was always pulling up on something, or trying to rip something off the wall, and he wasn't very stable with standing yet.   he has falled from pulling up on the mini book shelves, he has falled after crawling on top of the drum, and he has tried to climb up on one shelf, then onto another shelf, in order to get at a radio.  He's so crazy.  We call him the Bruiser now.   I was joking that I should get a stamp for signing my name since I have had to sign so many of his incident reports.  After a few weeks that stopped and now he is very very stable! he started to take his first steps at the end of May and is taking even more now in June.



We also got a very funny school picture taken of Brandon where he looks like this giant baby growing out of a flower patch! It doesn't look like him at all, but it is hysterical.

Swim lessons and the diving board

Kaya jumps off the diving board about 40 seconds into this movie.  :)

Brandon the climber

Brandon has started using toys to climb up on other things - so a few toys have been retired!  and he has been trying to swing from the oven and can get his feet above the glass! what a crazy boy.  I immediately purchased yet another baby gate from amazon.

Hershey Park Trip

Kaya has had an awesome month!  On Saturday Jun 9, we went to Hershey Park with Momo and Papa.  Kaya got to ride her first roller coaster that went upside down with Papa, and later with Mommy.  She rode the Super Duper Looper and loved it!  Papa bought her an "I survived the super duper looper tshirt" to document the experience.  She also loved riding this spinny ride called the falcon.  Mommy and Papa thought it was scary, Daddy thought it was ok, but Kaya insists this is her favorite ride ever!  Kaya also was able to ride the Trailblazer, the Whip, the Kissing tower with Mommy and Brandon, and so many other rides at Hershey.  And then she got to eat cotton candy at the end of the night.  What a great park!  She also went home to spend the night with Momo and Papa.  What a great day.   Good thing we have season passes this year.
Brandon seemed to enjoy Hershey too, although he was stuck in the stroller most of the day and was very patient!  he did like trying to eat the grass near the trailblazer when Mommy took him there for a little break.  Poor guy didn't get to ride anything but the kissing tower, but next year he'll be ready for more!

Brandon is 9 months!

Big Sister Helpfulness

One of the nice things about having a kid 4 years older, is that the big kid can help feed the little kid! Too bad she won't help with diapers.

I also love this picture of them on opposite sides of the door. Pretty sure Kaya is pretending to be either a mean dragon or a mean dog. Not sure why the dragon and/or dog can't be nice for a change.