Swimming lessons complete

The boys just loved learning how to swim these last two weeks. Brandon didn't want to miss his last lesson with Kate, so he jumped into the pool even though he wasn't feeling so good. We didn't realize how sick he really was until we saw him shivering in the water. Very weird since the pool is heated. We pulled him from his lesson immediately, and wrapped him in his towel. Poor kid! Turns out he has Hand, Foot and Mouth just like Dylan did a earlier in the week. Dylan finished off his lessons with his usual jumping in the pool and assisted "swimming" under water. Kate was able to get him to kick his legs, but he refused to use his arms if she asked him to. He did do a little arm movement Friday, so that was a good sign that Dylan is understanding what he's supposed to do.

Swimming lesson

Brandon and Dylan started swimming lessons on Monday. Brandon just loves it. He's been reading a book about swimming lessons for the last couple of weeks, so when we got there Monday he was ready to try all the things he read about. He was most excited about getting toys from the bottom of the pool (he did that yesterday). His first lesson was just getting used to the water and learning to trust his instructor. He went under water a few times, too. He was most proud of that. At quiet time that day, I tried to give Brandon his swimming lessons book in his stack of quiet time books. Brandon was convinced he already knew how to swim and no longer needed that book anymore. I thought that was pretty darned cute.

Dylan was the polar opposite. Brandon walked right into the water to learn to swim. Dylan I carried kicking and screaming to the waters edge. I tried sitting next to him with our feet in the pool while Kate, our instructor, talked to him. He didn't want to listen, all he wanted was to be in my arms. Kate eventually carried him into the water, where he continued to scream and cry for half the lesson. Russ and I had to leave the pool and watch from a window, so Dylan couldn't see us. That helped, I think. Once he was done being scared with Kate, she was able to get him to relax and even go under water. The next day Deets couldn't wait to change into his swim diaper and shorts. He was jumping into the water his second day.

Video: Brandon's Gymnastics Dance

Brandon does gymnastics once a week at preschool. He's been doing it for about 2 years now, and this was the first time we'd seen it. Ms. Jennifer organized a gymnastics presentation for us all at the last parent meeting. It was so adorable! Only 4 kids showed up so it only took about 15 minutes. Each child did two bar exercises and a beam routine, followed by this dance. Brandon was awesome!

Preschool Graduation

Brandon "graduated" from preschool tonight. (The academic year is over.) They had a 10 minute ceremony where they performed a song for us and received their certificates. I loved Brandon in his little cap and gown! As far as the kids were concerned, the real fun was in the bounce house and when the ballon twist guy showed up. The icing on the cake: both Grandma and Lola were there to join in the fun.