Dude, Where's My Baby?!!

This tiny, cute, sleeping, helpless, creature is starting SCHOOL in a week and a half. (Granted, it is PRE-school, and it is only two days a week, but it is still a milestone in his little 3 and 1/2 year life.) Since this picture of total dependence was taken a tad over 3 years ago, Dylan has learned to walk, talk, feed himself, drink from a glass, play, share, dress himself, put his shoes on, use the toilet on his own, express his desires and dreams, and make us laugh at his sense of humor. He can count to 12 (usually), knows his ABC's, sings Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star among many other favorite songs, and astounds us with his insight. When did this little creature become a person? As I ponder where the time has gone I find myself feeling so proud of everything that he is and will become, and a sense of accomplishment at having produced this little human. Yet here I am in a puddle of tears in the middle of Big Lots making this purchase of some needed school items:

My poor son is going to be so embarrased of me by the time I send him off to college!

Dylan the Diver and Sadie the Swimmer

We finished swimming lessons last week with both of the kids making much more progress in the last 2 weeks than the first two. The community pool where we took lessons has a beach entry, and here are Dylan and Sadie splashing around before class one morning:

Sadie with Daddy in her parent/child class:

Dylan with his teacher, using a kickboard (new skill!) and jumping in from the side (which he could do before taking lessons, but his form is MUCH better now):

This last swimming photo is in our pool at home. I was kind of anti-flotation device before lessons this summer because I had heard that using them can give children a false sense of security in the water. But they had the kids use life vests during lessons to practice some of the kicking and paddling skills that they had worked on. So we don't let Dylan swim with the vest on all the time, but it is really helping him to build his confidence and work on skills. He likes wearing the goggles to keep water out of his eyes and nose. I saw him all decked in his gear and said, "Hey, you look like Scuba Steve!" to which he replied, "No, Silly! I'm Dylan the Diver!" The video shows him doing just that. It is short and cute, so watch it! (And yes, that is a beer in my hand while I am supervising my child in the pool. Don't worry, he's wearing his USCG approved life jacket and there was obviously another adult present. Someone had to be shooting the video, right? Although, said videographer may or may not have been enjoying a beer at the same time!)

Scott is out of town next week, so I may be bored and craving adult-like dialogue enough to actually post again soon! After that, we are off to Kansas and Missouri to visit an aunt, an uncle, a couple of cousins, and grandparents. Check back soon!

Summertime Blues

Well here we are less than 2 entire weeks since I promised to post more consistently and I'm already back again! Not great, but a definite improvement over a 3 month lapse. This really cool photo was taken (by Scott) last Thursday evening, around 7:00pm. We had a wild fire, set off by lightening earlier in the week, burning for several days in the west valley. The sun, about an hour before setting, was covered by black smoke and appeared to be a red ball in the sky. It was an incredible sight and in reality looked quite different than the photo actually turned out. If you live here, you know how coverage of summer wild fires dominates the evening news. This is the closest I can remember hearing of one to Phoenix and being able to see the smoke so clearly the entire time it was burning. In the end, only a few residents voluntarily evacuated and all are now back in their homes safely.

Since it is already July, I thought I would update you for the month of June and let you know how we have been spending our hot Arizona summer. Now that I have only my 2 children to care for on a daily basis, we have really been enjoying getting out and about and taking advantage of activities that our city offers for kids during the summer. We are taking swim lessons every morning for a 30 minute session. Both the kids are gaining confidence in the water and having lots of fun! (Sorry no photos to post right now of swimming.)

We have also been going to the library every week, which I am a little ashamed to say was a place that I had NEVER taken Sadie to, and Dylan hadn't been there since before she was born! There is a great kids' play area and many different story and music times that we have been enjoying. And of course they love picking out new books and videos each visit. Dylan knows right were to look on the shelf for his new obsession, any video having to do with any kind of vehicle, especially fire and construction trucks. Here are a few photos of him dressing up like the guys driving the trucks in the DVDs. He loves to ride his "fire truck" (tricycle) in circles through the house (since it is WAY TOO HOT outside) and make a siren sound, while wearing a helmet and his "big heavy boots." Here he stopped for a little break after a daring rescue of Sadie from some "emergency!" He also likes to put on his construction gear (goggles and gloves and whatever else he can find) and build while he watches the videos of construction crews and their machinery.

Sadie is a little less structured in her imaginative play. Here she had happened to climb into a box and was having the time of her life. If she had more words, she would be able to tell us what she was pretending. But since all she did was climb in and out and laugh for nearly half an hour, I will let the "ha ha!" smile speak for itself!



We will leave you with some yummy summer sweetness because our popsicles are melting faster than we can lick them! We hope your June was this delicious!