Growing and Learning

Hayden, Payson and Madison turned 2 1/2 last month and I can see three little preschoolers in the making. Although we are still working on obedience (and probably will be for as long as I'm a Mom), they are not only following directions better, but they are interested in following them.

The kids have been taking private swim lessons this summer and have done quite well. Their behavior and attitude towards the lessons are a little bit hit or miss, sometimes loving it and sometimes resisting instruction. But hey, at least they are consistent little human beings and treat swim lessons as they do everything else: loving it one moment, disliking it the next. Life wouldn't be the same without getting to experience toddler mood swings (times three)!

Hayden has done quite well and, once she commits to the lesson, she stays focused and works hard.

Payson usually doesn't want to leave Mommy at first but I simply tell him, "Afterwards we are going to [fill in the blank]" (such as eat a snack, play at the park, etc.) and then he is happy to swim. He does great during lessons when he is not distracted by the other swimmers, planes, birds, etc. He's such a curious little boy!

Madison showed us physically and verbally that she was not happy to participate in the first few lessons. But their sweet instructor was patient and loving which allowed Madison to finally open up and not only take her lessons, but enjoy them! The instructor is great with the kids and even came up with a game of swimming from pool skimmer to pool skimmer so the kids could see the junebugs, and therefore stay focused on swimming, which the kids love.

It has been amazing to see how comfortable they became in the big pool after just a few lessons. At the beginning of the summer they would cling to us in the deep end but now they can, and prefer to, float on their own!

The kids love crafts and the other day, after lunch, Payson desperately proclaimed, "I want to do a craft." Here the kids are putting dried beans on letters I wrote in glue.

Payson is very observant and detail-oriented so despite it being his first time doing this craft, everything was lined up perfectly! Hayden had more fun playing with the glue and Madison did a little of both.

All of the kids love to help but Payson will drop everything he is doing to help Mommy and Daddy. The other day I asked him to go to my bathroom, get the trashcan and bring it to me so I could empty it. I don't know who was more proud, me or him!

It never ceases to amaze me how the kids interpret everday things, and how they often interpret them differently. I told the kids that we would wrap up their food so they could finish it later and Madison literally wrapped up her plate, folding it into thirds. Too cute!

Last week we took the kids to a Fire Safety Town where they got to explore a miniature-sized neighborhood and check out all of the fireman's gear.

Here they are taking an upclose look of the miniature railway crossing.

Payson asked me the name of nearly every tool displayed on the wall. Uh, I defer to Uncle Barry... ask him!

They had a non-operational firetruck for the kids to explore and they loved the freedom of climbing all around inside.

Back to the growing up thing, things that used to be scary aren't so scary anymore...

Well, at least for a few of the kids. Payson was too fearful to join his sisters on the carousel so he watched from the bench.

I'll leave you with my last two DMN Moms Blog posts:

When parenting moves from imagination to reality

Activities with young children: safety first