Something fishy...

Last Saturday we started swim lessons. I was a little (okay, REALLY) apprehensive about this. Last summer when Nate was taking swim lessons, he freaked out and wouldn't get in the pool the first day, the second day I had to sit next to the side and literally talk him off the wall each time they wanted him to do something. So I was expecting the worst. Plus, I wasn't sure how Mr. Cranky (a.k.a. Nile) would do in the water - the last time we had tried this class at the indoor pool he had cried throughout it. The summer class was in the 1 foot deep baby pool and much less intimidating.

Turns out my fears were unfounded! Nile's "Mom/Dad and me" swim class went first, Nate got to watch Nile have fun in the water, (which he did! A lot of fun!), and then when his name was called he stuck his chest out and tried to march into the pool. I had to stop him, because they were just taking attendance and it wasn't time to get in yet.

This morning I was a little surprised when Nile said he wanted to swim with Daddy, but I was also very excited. We packed up and headed to the pool, and I did not bring a swimsuit. Turns out, I didn't need it either. Nile did great! And, so did Nate.

I may have two little fish on my hands this summer... :)

Nile and Tom waiting for class to start.

Nate, watching Nile's class.

Nile on the kickboard.

Nate waiting patiently to jump in.

Is he still my little baby boy...?

My baby boy Nile turned 3 on Friday. We spent most of the day at home. Cousin Emily came over for the day, so we didn't plan on doing much of anything. Nile didn't want to get dressed in the morning. I figured, "what the heck? It's his birthday!" - so I told him he could stay in his PJ's as long as he wanted. So here he is at 3:30 pm, eating a snack with Emily, still in his frog jammies.

We had been asking Nile what he wanted to do for his birthday for the last several weeks. It was always one of two things: Stay home and have his friends come over, or go to Monkey Joe's. The one consistent statement? "With Andrew, Alex, and Emma!" Since Tom didn't feel like hosting a party, Monkey Joe's became the plan.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Monkey Joe's, it's basically a large room full of inflatable bouncy things and slides. It's loud, crazy, and at least 50% of the times we've been there, absolutely packed with sweaty kids. But, the kids love it. They claim to cater to the parents - if you read on their website this is the statement they have: "While your kids monkey around, you take advantage of our adult area, which features comfortable seating, free high-speed wireless Internet, flat screen televisions, and computer stations."

This "adult area?" It consists of about four chairs in the middle of this room of craziness. Not really what we pictured. But, we're talking about preschoolers and toddlers. We know when we go there, that we aren't going to be sitting down and relaxing any time soon.

So, last night, as soon as Tom got home, we headed out to dinner at Old Chicago, then off to Monkey Joe's for an hour or so of running, jumping, climbing, and bouncing. (With Andrew, Alex, and Emma of course!). We only stayed an hour because that's all the time we had, they close at 8 pm, and dinner took until 6:45!

Nile got to open one present at dinner - from Andrew, and Alex. It was, in his words, a "rock guitar!" - when he opened it, this is exactly what came out of his mouth. I quote: "No way, Jose!" Here he is this morning (he had to get it out right after breakfast). Emma got him some new books - a Mater (from Cars) book, and "Where the Wild Things Are" - we've already read them at least once.

Tom and I had also bought Nile a guitar. But we got him (again in his words) a "John Denver guitar." These two guitars haven't left his sight all day. Guess we did okay, huh?


Back to what I said at the beginning. My baby boy Nile turned 3 yesterday. I told him I probably couldn't call him my "baby boy" any more. So I asked him what I should call him. He told me, "You can call me baby boy." So I guess I'm off the hook. He's still my baby! :)

a grand finale

I was sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee when the boys started making a huge amount of noise. It turns out they were playing "rock and roll." They had pulled out all the musical instruments in the house and were switching around, each time playing a different instrument (and occasionally "singing" with the microphone, which is what was making the most noise!).

I took a few videos of them (the first before they knew I was doing so), but this grand finale has to be the best one. I hope you enjoy it.



You'd think that all we listen to in this house is heavy metal. (not true!)

From the mouths of babes...

Heard this morning (this is an actual quote):

Nile: "Mom, when are you going to let me do the dishes?"

Bunk bed update: after the dawn

I woke abruptly this morning, for reasons I couldn't quite determine.
My first thought was to the boys in the bunk bed. Were they up?
Lying in bed, I couldn't hear anything going on. I checked the clock,
it was 6:30 am. Wide awake, I went to the bathroom and climbed back in
bed.

That's when I heard it. The voices of two little boys, from the other
end of the house. I didn't know what they were doing. But they
weren't arguing.

So I went to check out the situation. Nile's bedroom door was open,
and the bathroom light was on. I walked into the bathroom to see...

Nate was helping Nile out of his PJ's. He had already helped Nile get
the potty seat out, helped him climb up on the seat, and clean up
afterward. He had also put a sticker on Nile's new potty chart (which
we made yesterday). It was the cutest, nicest thing I think I have
seen him do ever for Nile.

So I think the first night of sharing the bunk beds was a huge success!

Sent from my iPhone

bunk bed, part 2

A little over a month ago, we got Nile a bunk bed. Nate has been asking to sleep on the top bunk every day since then.

Finally tonight was the night. The requests had turned around: Nile has been asking us for the last few days if Nate could sleep on the top bunk. So we finally gave in and decided to go ahead and let them do it. Don't they look happy? ;)

Funny thing is, Nile has refused to sleep with a blanket or quilt over him for his entire life. The moment he found out Nate was sleeping under his comforter, Nile had to also.

Now all I am hoping is that we don't hear a crash in the middle of the night if Nate decides he needs to go to the bathroom. He has sworn that he knows how to get down, but in a sleepy stupor, I don't know how well that will work... I guess I'm also hoping that they sleep in. I do not want both of them in our room at 6 am (which is when Nate has been getting up). Maybe they will play together in their room. Wishful thinking? Probably.

rock band

Tom bought the family Rock Band 2. We promised the boys that we would set it up today. You can see by the photo how excited they were (you can see in the background that the program was still downloading updates).

Nate already had the "drummer wink" going.
Nile and Tom were rocking out.

But the best performance, by far, has to be Nile on the drums. We had turned them off because he kept hitting the buttons on the unit and shutting off the game. So he was free to rock out without consequences. :)