Friday, May 31, 2013

Cool in the Pool

Corbin has been continuing his swim lessons for several months now and loves them!

He’s always so excited to come out and tell me what he did by himself that day in lessons.

The instructors have been great and I know that Corbin is learning a valuable skill in becoming a proficient swimmer.

So here’s a peek into some of his swim lesson:

(These pictures are taken through a window since parents aren’t allowed in during lessons, so they aren’t the best but it works.)

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Kicked back and floating!

 

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Arms up for that perfect form.

 

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Kicking, kicking, kicking!

 

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It’s all good on the yellow mat! 

(This is how they practice breathing.  They have them blow bubbles in the water and then turn their head to the side on their ear.)

 

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Chillin’ with the girls!

This is my favorite.  His class is all girls so it’s so cute when they all pile on this big foam hippo and float around.  On it they practice kicking, breathing, and bubbles.  It’s SO cute (which is why I have dedicated the most pictures to this of course)!

We love swim lessons!

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Stomp Rocket

I have been waiting and waiting to open one of Corbin’s birthday gifts because I thought I needed Chris to help me.  But every time Chris was around it was raining, very windy, or we were busy.

So yesterday morning it was beautiful and I decided to put my “big girl panties” on and try this gift  out myself.

The gift is a stomp rocket and just that name alone suggested that Chris would be helpful.  But nevertheless, I bravely grabbed the box and went outside to put this thing together.

I didn’t know what to expect, but to my great and utter relief it was super easy to put together and use!  There were only 3 steps and they were all basically pushing pieces together….no tools, no complicated diagrams…yea! 

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So, if I had just read the box and looked at the instructions earlier I really would have saved myself some worry and trepidation about this whole toy and done it way sooner.  But oh well:)

After putting it together I tried it out.  It’s really as the name sounds.  You stomp on a pad and the rocket flies….really high actually.  It was fun!

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Corbin and I had a blast stomping and watching the rocket fly.  Well, most of the time we watched it fly.  Corbin did have some less then stellar stomps that resulted in less then desired heights;)IMG_8109

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I believe Corbin’s face captures the joy he had of watching the rocket launch up into the air!

This is an excellent toy that I would highly recommend.  I’m sure if you are all into science you could probably have a wonderful lesson on what science properties are being exhibited…but I’m not so much into that….I need Chris for that;)

If you’re looking for a great summer activity try the Stomp Rocket…it’s a blast!

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Friday, May 17, 2013

Standing Up

Sorry Corbin. I’m apologizing in advance for this post. This might be one, that as you get older you think I did not have to document, but I did.

We took the next step in potty training. I’d been putting it off because….I am a girl, I hadn’t thought about it, he’s always done it this way, why change?? 

For whatever the reason Corbin has never stood up to pee. I taught him how to go sitting down when the whole potty training experience started and it’s never changed from that.

Last week we visited Corbin’s preschool that he’ll be attending next year and we got onto the topic of bathrooms. Basically, the teachers don’t help the kids. No pulling down pants, no pulling up pants, no wiping…no help at all. Yikes! This mommy has been doing all of that.

So this led to operation “bathroom school ready”! That’s right, we have goals and missions in this house:)  I knew we had these summer months to get this kid trained and ready to use the bathroom all by himself.

I began with the pant pulling issue. After a little resistance – because hey, who wants to do the work when it’s always been done for you – he got that down fairly well.

Then we moved to the second phase: standing while peeing.  I handed this one off to Chris…I figured he was the expert in the house;) 

This new concept was met with crying and great resistance.  However, after a few days Corbin now can pee standing up.

Now I have another problem…he wants to pee ALL. THE. TIME.  He loves it!  Heck, I love it!  It’s SOOOO convenient and easy to have him standing.  Being a boy seems pretty good;)

So I’m happy to announce that I now have a 3 year old who can fully potty himself and stand while peeing.  I know, people….it’s amazing.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Warmer Days

The weather is finally warming up and we can walk out of the house without a coat.  The sun has been shining for several days in a row and the smell of summer is in the air.

So we took advantage of the nice weather and met some friends at a local garden.

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The kids had a great time running around, playing, and soaking up the sunshine.

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After our morning of adventures we loaded up the crew and had lunch together.  Let’s just say it’s never dull eating with 4 kids 3 and under….it really was fun:)

It was a wonderful day of spending time outside with friends.  I’m ready for summer and more days like this one!

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