Playing it cool

One summer afternoon last month...

Taking the children to this splash pad (new to us, and it's also a new addition to the park), it was a good thing I didn't lose my way, when not knowing the swim lessons were cancelled, I'd driven with all three of them to the pool at first. All was not lost -- the boys' faces went from forlorn to this...



And look at the little girl soaking up all the fun, too!


Like her, I was hopelessly drenched!

Then, you think she's thinking (below): I've got quite enough...


...when she struts off... but only to find herself in a new "comfort" zone!

Aaahhh... SPLASH-TASTIC!

Thought I'll wrap up the season on a lighter note with these fun-in-the-sun (and water) pictures than where I left off. Been busy with the children and their different needs, and the cooking and laundry are always what I tackle first, and am more behind in the housecleaning but trying to be cool about it -- albeit (I know, I know) dust bunnies like dirty clothes pile up with no mercy. Be back later with what we managed to do outdoors on summer's final weekend just before the calendar already had last Wed down as the start of autumn, and the cool weather this week looks set to stay.

Meanwhile, I had my older boy home all day for two days; the fever's gone and he's back to school. And here's why I'm saying I especially enjoyed this young fourth grader's company:

Only last week he was telling me, "Imagine the housework you can get done in the time you walk me (to take the schoolbus)". I gave him more than the eye-roll, but don't say I didn't try to understand his growing need for independence -- so fine, I pretend not to know him, whilst continuing to walk him for safety reasons. Still, you bet I savour every hug and kiss he'll occasionally bestow on me, that the younger two children thankfully do dole out.

The kindergartener will even sign "I love you" and remember the "The Kissing Hand" from the children's story of the same title, once up the schoolbus during my second round of the morning rush, seeing him off later in the day.

And the 1-year-old -- how not to love it -- whenever she goes "Mwwwaaahhh", a recent addition to her vocabulary of "ma ma" and "mum mum" (words that are music to my ears!), and mainly Greek (to us; but the way she jabbers away, I think she knows what she's talking about).

In the pictures, Kait is almost 1 year 1 week old and had about 2 months of walking experience by that time. Still, I was right beside her to keep a really close eye; pictures snapped quickly with the cellphone. How time flies, thinking back when I'd taken the boys to check out a similar splash pad back in St Louis in the summer of 2008, she was still in my tummy. Now she's in on all the splish-splash fun and more!

Car accident... thankful we're OK

Sunday evening, Vern was driving when our car was hit by an SUV going past the red light. The impact caused our vehicle to spin around, and the fender from the SUV had come off and looked like it was flying straight at us, along with some shards of glass (could be from its headlights), at the same time Vern's glasses flew off his face! It was really scary, to say the least!

The children were all crying from being jerked abruptly, and shaken up, too, from everything that had happened so quickly. The door next to Jon would not budge -- it had been rammed in, and the wheel on that side, too. He was slightly dizzy and hurting from a small abrasion and bump on his forehead, otherwise, was alert enough to get out from the other side, together with Ben. Kait was still wailing away when I carried her out of her carseat; good thing Vern had got her this well-padded one before the move, it probably cushioned her from the whiplash. The SUV driver and passenger were not hurt. I found it odd though that the driver did not even stick her head out to ask how we were doing. Her vehicle could still be driven, but not ours -- it had to be towed away.

Just really thank God everyone came out OK from the accident, so thankful for His protection. It was also very nice of complete strangers who stopped to care, and Vern's kind colleague who came and drove us home, then drove Vern and Jon to the hospital to have Jon examined.

After the initial shock...
we talked and prayed over it with the boys, and they are more or less themselves. It helps that there is the schoolbus now we started them taking. And zoom! off they go in the yellow bus -- in the morning for Jon, and after lunch for Ben. The walking with Kait to ferry them to and from the bus-stop is definitely more manageable, compared to the driving between home and school several times a day I had to do these last few years, that does drive me quite crazy! I know, better enjoy the bus service and break from chauffeur duty while we still have not started the boys on some afterschool activities. And I'm going to avoid driving on that busy road.

Afternote: Thanks all for your concern. There's the follow-up and red tape with the insurance to deal with, that good Vern sees to amidst his busy week of meetings and deadlines. He subsequently also found the clinic (more red tape there) that would look at his stiff neck and muscles. I'm easing my way back to driving. Even with him behind the wheel of the rental car, I'm keeping a constant lookout -- much more than is necessary -- for any vehicle that may suddenly swerve into our path! Kait also is waking up many more times crying away in the nights and much harder soothe; hopefully it's just plain old clinginess she'll eventually grow out of.

Write from the start

Kait discovers the joy of doodling...
These pictures are from last month, three days after she turned 1, in the parents' room of the church we're attending. She'll be 13 months old come Sunday.

And it was really funny, before that, when she already showed an interest in doodling, running off with my cellphone and using her index finger to make those swirly and draggy movements on it. The way she'd seen the brothers do that on their dad's phone; they can never get enough of those games that are great for erm boosting their finger-eye coordination. The little girl is at the watch-and-learn stage, pretty quick in grasping the meaning and function of more things now. E.g. she grabs a toy drum and places it next to the stool, then goes sit on the drum (meaning: my drum can be a stool, too), though sometimes, I don't know whether to laugh or cry!

Since then, Kait's also got a better grip of the spoon, and now must feed herself. Except she'll squish the peas, and scoop out all the meat, only to catapult them to the floor, and maybe she'll at least eat the macaroni. On a good day when the food or the bowl isn't flying, I have a better chance of gradually transiting her to our more "grown-up" food, without having to separate out hers or cook it separately. A basic seasoning like salt and pepper with olive oil makes for some nice oven-roasted chicken for her, without trying to overwhelm her yet with too much flavour, and still holding off stuff that's not eczema-friendly. The same old tricks in the kitchen I used with two kids before, I continue to rely on them, including cooking more for dinner to roll over to lunch, to save some food preparation time during these busier back-to-school days.

But while the boys are quick to place their "orders" with me for what they want to eat, or pack to go (for lunch, for Jon who eats his in school), they are slower to warm up to writing (for Ben; trying to encourage him to write his lowercase letters through fun ways) and more homework again (for Jon). There are, of course, also all the other basic things needing "training" and "re-training". And now, just to share what I learned from another mom, I'm trying this out as a consequence with the boys: writing sentences.

Some of our moms and teachers might have asked us to write lines when we were little, too, but I've not done it with Jon and Ben until now. There's the additional benefit of it being good practice for handwriting. But does it work?

Today itself, Ben has written (5 lines each):
I will listen.
I will not throw.

Jon, humoring me, followed suit and wrote in his "best ever" handwriting:
I will obey mom.

He was supposed to have written:
I will not climb the banister to scale the wall.
I will not slam-dunk in the house (because I will break a hole in the floor and fall right through).

Frankly, I don't know if I'll have the patience to keep this up. But thinking instead of "I will not", maybe the sentences could have a more positive ring? E.g. write "I will take good care of our things" rather than "I will not throw our things around", unless it's super important to be specific about what NOT to do.

Anyway, if you've done this or will be trying it out, tell me about it! The things we try and grin and bear it. Glad it's Friday already, and Vern was back much quicker this time after his out-of-town trip earlier in the week.

Water babies

At the different pool the boys ended their swim lessons, Kait got a chance at the water, too!

This is how Kait will bring me for a walk in the shallowest part...

Am holding her with one hand, while my other hand clicks the cellphone for these quick shots (couldn't resist; it was Kait's first time wading in the pool).

Kait's thinking: Hmm... which way shall I go?


Or does it really matter? You tell me, mommy!


And here's why it may not be a good idea to just go with the flow all the time. While I do give in (and my problem could be giving in too easily), I'm learning that children in fact need us parents to set limits for them. Besides that this mom also needs to make better judgment calls!

After their swim lessons, the boys come over and tell me to let go of the little girl, so they can "swim" with her for a bit. I do (since I'm in t-shirt and shorts, and can't really take her for a dip), Jon has a nice grip on her, and...

Away they go!


Then, less than a minute later...

UH-OH!

No, wasn't trying to be the cool mommy, and the whole time, I'd stayed in the water with them. Still, almost dropped my phone in when Kait got dunked! She had swallowed more than she bargained for, but was a pretty good sport about it! Wat-er relief!

(The phone camera takes pictures a sec or two after you hit the button, so everything actually still looked fine when I last clicked on it. Hadn't known till downloading the shots that this very moment had been captured, as it was happening)!

Swim here, swim there...
After over a month of swim lessons, I'm glad it's more serious swimming Jon got to do this summer than all previous ones, and Ben is also more comfy in the water. At this last pool, Kait being able to get in on the act, albeit get very wet, is a bonus and nice change from having to steer her away from the water!

Pictures are from last month when Kait was 1 year 1 week old. Since then, the children have done more splish-splashing around, and Kait is always in on the fun, too.

Zooooom... school starts = summer's flown by (almost)!

"Zooooom!" go Jon and Ben and the other children in the neighbourhood, as they fly down the steep slope at the end of the street on their bikes and skate scooters!

No matter how many times they've done that, and Ben had flipped in the air when his bike tipped over, I still hold my breath and pray everyone's being careful as they ride!

I get that these are fun things they can't do on grass in the backyard, and that bumps and bruises (we're not spared, and Jon was also stung by a bee) make us tougher. But am I the only parent not completely comfortable with them playing in the street, let alone play there unsupervised? I've compromised, though not without setting reasonable limits for their safety. There are other considerations, like each other to think about, and each one's needs can be very different. And incidents before and after our move have seen the boys in sticky situations with older children.

Big picture: What's really nice, being new kids on the block, is having other children in the neighbourhood to play with. That helps Jon and Ben settle in after our move here, and it helps them, too, to already know some faces when school started a week ago now.

Meanwhile, before more homework will eat into at least one child's playtime, you bet they are asking to ride their bikes a lot still. Ben, on a two-wheeler sans training wheels (being able to balance on the skate scooter eventually did the trick for him), and Jon, who happily graduated to a mountain bike. This mom's not quite as thrilled as them though, over those stunts -- the "popper wheelies" and "bunny hops", and more -- that have my heart skip a beat, no, make that many a beat!

What's good for me: Going after them whilst pushing Kait in the umbrella stroller (if she'll sit in it), means I get a bit of exercise in the form of a power walk. And if we make it to the nearest playground, she'll also get to run around some!

And "Zooooom!", down the slide goes Kait with some help from the brothers!



Now what's always hard is getting them to call it a day. But yes, seize the day and seize the warm sunshine before the season will really be over soon!

A quick update and thank you for your support...
Vern's defence went well, and he's zooming in on the revisions so he can be all done. And before work will whisk him off again -- he'll be out of town next week for a couple of days, it's really great to have his help with the children, and the boys simply love it when he can go cycling with them! My week alone with the three kids weren't without our usual challenges, and more, when I sprained/pulled something (?) in my left hip after the first few days. Good thing I wasn't immobile and could still function, though the pain was bad for two days and two nights. Very grateful for God's grace and the bonus strength that saw us through it all!

Last week when I took the children for Ben's kindergarten open house, and it's back to half-day school for him...

Jon also got a sneak peek at the 4th grade classrooms. And see Kait? She was busy helping them check out the place, too.

(The outdoor pictures are from early August just before Kait turned 1; the weather did warm up again after some cooler days. More pictures when I can get round to them... the fun "splashing around" ones deserve a post of their own. More house stuff to try and get organized, and already inundated with the usual school stuff... that's just life, busy!).