The Chicago Livingstons: July tidbits

Thursday, August 9, 2012

July tidbits

Robbie graduated from the kiddie pool to the big pool after the first session of swim lessons. He has learned so much this summer in such a short amount of time, it amazes me. I have loved watching him conquer his own fears of leaving the pool where he could always touch the bottom for the pool where he can only touch in one end, of being in a separate pool from his sister and other buddies, of needing me close by at all times. By the end of the second session of swim lessons, he was:

1) floating completely underwater - "Superman Float"

2) swimming from the side of the pool to his instructor a few feet away by kicking and doggie paddling

3) jumping into the pool and going underwater

4) on his stomach, holding a kickboard and kicking his feet in the water by himself

5) beginning to learn the "Sharkfin-Rainbow" elements of the basic crawl stroke

6) very confident in the pool, actually asking if I would stay by the kiddie pool at observe Ellie's lessons instead of staying by the side of the pool he was in! I totally got kicked out of my son's swim lesson. By my son. {And I loved that.} I still peeked over the fence you can see in the background here, and could watch both kids at the same time. Robbie did not need my constant reassurance - we used to signal to each other with a double thumbs up if everything was going well and he was doing ok. At the beginning of his swim lessons this summer, we would do it every few minutes. By the end, we weren't doing it at all.

We've been making good use of the kids' table and chairs that Mima and Papa gifted to us! After using it to host a dinner party with friends, we left it out in the kitchen and the kids love it. They eat lunch there, and often settle in for coloring or playing. It's the perfect height and size for them!

Maddie is always the first to crawl up into the chair, and the last to leave. She totally thinks she's one of the big kids. Sometimes I forget that she's not, until she goes and does something like this. {eating the crayons}

Are you for real, with that precious smile!?

She's a wealth of cute expressions and adorable faces right now. I cannot get enough of my kids - they make me crazy some days but at the end of each one I still adore all 3 of them and want to eat them up.

Sweet Ellie still struggles with her Bronchiospasms, as the doctor dubbed them.

She's had a particularly bad summer with colds and croup and general respiratory issues, and one episode left her coughing so hard for about a week that she was bursting blood vessels in her face below her eyes.