From One Thing To The Next

In our family, we never stop. Jeremy was off work on Friday so we decided to go for a hike at Silver Falls. We bought a new backpack for the kids because they have both outgrown our old one. We packed the backpacks full of water-bottles, extra diapers and wipes, and a picnic lunch. Jeremy carried Declan on his back on our way downhill while Maya walked on the trails beside me. We stopped to have our lunch and then we made our way back uphill - both of us carrying the kids in the backpacks. I am not sure if it is that I am totally out of shape or that Declan is just super heavy but I was dying when we got halfway up the hill. It was a fun hike but I was thrilled to see the end of the trail. Thankfully, I wasn't sore the next day!

(Stopping for a 60 second rest halfway up the trail)

On Saturday we took the kids to the local pool to get them used to the water again. We took them swimming a lot last year but when we stopped, their eagerness to get wet came to a screeching halt. This summer has been a constant battle between parent and child because all we wanted was for them to cool down in their kiddie pool or sprinkler and neither of them would go near the water. So we are making it our ambition to get Maya and Declan used to the water again. We discovered while we were swimming on Saturday that Declan is a FISH! He went down the kiddie slide by himself and even went about a foot underwater before Jeremy had rescued him. He loved the rush and immediately wanted to go down the slide again. Maya on the other hand was a little too protective of her space. She stayed on the 3-foot-wide ledge moving her arms around as she pretended she was swimming. At one point she lost her footing and fell underwater. I pulled her above water and knew she would be alright but you could hear from her gasps and cries that it was as if the world was about to end at that very moment. She was scared for a few minutes but when it came time to leave, she wanted to stay longer. Children will always keep you guessing!

Last week we witnessed Maya doing some tricks on the rings on the play structure at her grandparents house so we have decided to put her in gymnastics this year. She has to be 3 yrs old to start so we are going to wait until October to enroll her in the 3 week program. She is so excited, especially now that she has a new gymnastics suit (thanks to grandma). I know Maya will do really well because she has the body of a gymnast. I like to call her our little Shawn Johnson....no pressure though:)

Like most mothers, I am struggling with which stage of toddler hood to tackle next. I really wanted to wait until after our vacation to take Declan's sleep-time Binky away but after trying a couple of times, I have decided to give it some more time. I was hoping to wait until after his second birthday to start potty training him but I have already found him taking his diaper off (TWICE) and peeing on the carpet. This to me is unacceptable. Maya was almost entirely potty-trained by the time she was Declan's age, so maybe it is time that I just bite the bullet and try to work on Declan's training. It just seems a little scary and foreign training a boy. Where do you start? Sitting him down doesn't work - we've tried that. Should I try having him stand? There is just so much to think about. The technique is certainly not the same as training a girl.

Maya still wears a pull-up when she sleeps so if we train Declan now, we could end up dealing with their sleep time training at the same time, and do we want that? It would be double-duty potty training.

All of this will have to be put on hold for a little while because I am due to have oral surgery on Thursday. I have the wonderful opportunity to get 2 wisdom teeth and a molar extracted. (Sense the sarcasm?) My wonderful, gracious, and loving husband will be taking Thursday and Friday off to help take care of the kids while I recover over the weekend. I have had oral surgery before and I know the pain that comes along with it so I am hoping to be back to normal by Monday. I'm sure the drugs will help too.

So if you don't hear from me until next week, you know where I am.