Swimming Lessons!

This past Tuesday-Friday the boys took another round of swimming lessons at Rhonda's Swim Academy.  They average around three sets of lessons a year.  This was Ralph's first time in level 5; Henry's first time in level 4.  Luckily there was a class of 4/5's that met at the same time; it wasn't the most convenient time being from 2:15-3 pm but with the grandma and grandpa's assistance we made it work. . . .ok, they made it work; I just had to pick the boys up.

Henry barely swam without a belt on in level 3 - level 4's have no belt so that was probably his biggest adjustment. He did pretty good swimming without a belt on during the crawlstroke.  His backstroke needs some work as his lower half kept sinking.  He went from a kneeling dive in level 3 to a standing dive in level 4 - along with a standing dive off the board.  I could see much improvement in his dives.  Last time he needed much help to get in his hands into the water before his feet; this time his hands were the first to enter the water!  He treaded for roughly a minute.

  

The biggest change for Ralph was swimming 4 lengths of each stroke rather than just 2 lengths.  His strokes were much improved.  His diving needs some work.  He did swim underwater the length of the pool and kept up with the 2 minute tread though his head dip underwater a few times.

 

Have I mentioned how nice it is having them in the same class?  The last time they were in separate classes Henry was in level 2 and level in level 3.  Since parents/siblings can't stay to watch it turns into a time waster waiting for one get done and then the other one.  There can be some friendly sibling competition when they are in the same class too!

Christmas Card 2016

Until I can scan the card in . . .these are the photos used in the Christmas card this year -

Christmas 2016

Christmas and the holiday season is certainly a busy time.  The four of us went to the holiday laser light show at Morrill Hall; the boys went to look at Christmas lights with Grandma and Grandpa, and the boys and I along with Grandma went to see Elf Jr at the Lincoln Community Playhouse - a 1st for the Ralph and Henry.  Smiley the elf visited again this year.    Two tradition that may have fell by the way side are making/decorating candyhouses (seemed like I was doing it for me; they weren't really into it this year) and the wooden ornaments grandma and grandpa paint that included a current photo of Ralph and Henry along with the year (I think they ran out of ornament choices).  The cub scouts were supposed to go Christmas caroling one Friday night but Mother Nature had other ideas and it was cancelled.

The boys were excited on Christmas Eve - Ralph really wanted to know if a certain gift was under the tree but wait for Christmas he must!

The obligatory photo Christmas morning with the tree.  They were supposed to be holding their stockings which turned out to be a craft project the day before as I couldn't find their stockings so we made stockings with construction paper and they decorated/labeled them.   Noticed the gifts behind them.  Santa didn't label their gifts this year but left notes with clues to decipher what wrap to look for.  Santa may need to work on his creativity a bit but he is a busy guy -

Ralph's note - I am black and white and red all over.  Waddle over to the tree and to find gift that have no name but belong to you.  Be sure you are nice and kind and leave the ones that are for the others.

Henry's note - What can you build with 3 balls of me?  There may be snow but there is lot of green.  Come over to the tree and take a look-see.  Be sure to be nice and not too mean.  Solve the mystery to find your gifts from me!

This is the one gift Ralph was asking about on Christmas Eve.  Whew, good thing he was on Santa's nice list!

The photos below are the gifts 1st played with . . .Ralph wanted to check out the Nintendo 3ds while Henry checked out a lego building/design book.

Christmas at grandpa and grandma's!

With these two handing out gifts, one had to be sure they were opening the right gifts!  Gift opening was over faster than you could say "We Wish you a Merry Christmas!"  We have come a long ways from a few years ago when we operated at a snail's pace.

In the week since Christmas, the Magformers and magnetic building blocks along with the Nerf Stratobows, Bladebuilders Lightsabors, and Lego sets that are still not quite put together along with the Nintendo 3ds have been popular toys.  Ralph has read the "Diary of a Minecraft Zombie" series books 1-9.  He received the Harry Potter collection and will start it soon.

Henry: Celebrating 7 years!

Seven years of Henry . . Seven years of the highs and lows of Henry.  

The "highs" of Henry include his hugs and kisses at bedtime (they are the sweetest), his love of reading (I would have never pegged him for a reader as much as he'd write letter backwards while learning to write - and even sometimes still questioning certain letters on occasion though reading and writing are different concepts), his independent play with legos and sometimes coloring/drawing.  His unique personality can be a high when he is freestyle dancing and showing his moves.

The "lows" of Henry are his anxiety and uncertainty in new (and sometimes even familiar) situations, his lack of listening skills, his some what stubborn attitude, his defiant attitude, and his laissez faire attitude when it comes to his hand writing.

The transition back to school in August was a tough one for Henry.  It took a good 3 weeks for him to adjust at school and a bit longer until his "tummy aches" at night and in the morning subsided enough though they still pop up occasionally at home.  At the end of 1st quarter in October Henry passed a level 28 on the DRA testing - in comparison all 1st graders should pass a level 12 by the end of 2nd quarter before Christmas break (ie. he is a reading above grade level!).  The "low" on his report card was his handwriting which came in at a "2" meaning there is much room for improvement.  All in all, school seems to be going well.

The transition back to CCD in August was a tough one for Henry.  It took 3-4 weeks to get over the hump even though he has the same teacher as last year and most of the other kids in his class should seem familiar since he was with most of them last year as well.

We keep hoping he'll come out of his shell sooner than later.

Henry stepped on scale the other night - 44.4 pounds.  He is like "The Little Engine that Could" - slowly but surely he'll gain weight.  He is in still in a 5-point harness car seat.  I'm close to switching him to converting it to a booster seat.  Henry needs to start becoming a bit more independent and having to be buckled in and out is just another way hindering his independence.  He has been 5-point harnessed much longer than many peers though they also are bigger than he is.  As much as I want to convert him we are just entering winter and changing road conditions.

He is wearing size S (5/6) or 6 pants, and S (5/6) shirts.  New pants or shirts are still too long and fit better if either hand me downs or have been washed enough to shrink some.  Shoe size is 11.5.

His eating habits have not changed too much over the past six months.

His health remains good so far this winter.  He does the daily inhaler of Qvar twice in the morning and a chewable singular at supper.

Henry's first quarter reporter was mostly field with 3's and 4's except for a "2" for his handwriting.  A 3 and 4 are good, with a 4 being "exceeds expectations".  A 2 indicates the student is "approaching expectations" or could be doing better.  He passed a DRA level of 28 which is the end of a 2nd grade level.

Henry celebrated his birthday with a trip to Lost in Fun with Ralph and a opening gifts back at home.

Ralph: Lost his 1st tooth (finally)

Three months and three days after little bro lost his 1st tooth, 8.5 year old Ralph finally lost his 1st tooth!    About 3-4 weeks ago we noticed the adult tooth was making its way up behind the baby tooth but wasn't loosening up.  Last Tuesday we took him into the dentist since Mike had a check-up.  When I told Ralph the night before he was going to the dentist in the morning he seemed motivated to start wiggling the tooth.  He loosened it up quite a bit by morning.  The dentist wasn't too worried about the adult tooth being behind vs coming from under th baby tooth though we have been put on notice we will need to find an orthodontist when the time comes.  For now, we will celebrate this victory!

Anyhow, sometime around 2:45 while at school it came out.  Ralph described the process some but the bottom line is he has one less tooth in his mouth tonight which isn't technically true since the adult tooth is 3/4 the way up.