Swim Lessons

Grif finished up swim lessons last week and got his certificate.  According to the certificate, he can:

1.  Enter the water by jumping in...  Check.  He could do this before he started.  This is going to be easy.
2. Submerge and hold breath for 5 seconds...  I think so.  I guess I never timed him.
3.  Bobbing, 5-times in chest deep water...  If they mean splashing around like you are drowning but not being in any serious danger, just being a goober... Check.
4. Front float, 5 seconds...  Front sink straight to the bottom, 5 seconds?  Check
5. Jellyfish float, 5 seconds... What?
6. Tuck float, 5 seconds... Huh? Truck float, like sink?  Check.
7. Recover from a front float or glide to a vertical position...  Griffin glides like a bulldozer hopped up on amphetamines.
8. Back float, 5 seconds... back sink straight to the bottom, 5 seconds?  Check
9. Back glide, 2 body lengths... Ref #7
10. Recover from a back float or glide to a vertical position... Lunge forward awkwardly and get back to his feet?  Check
11. Change direction of travel while swimming on front or back... He actually does this pretty well when looking for the dive sticks underwater.
12. Treading using arm and leg actions, 15 seconds (in shoulder deep water)... Jumping up and down with his feet on the bottom??  Check.
13. Combined arm and leg actions on front, 5 body lengths... Thrashing like he's being attacked by a shark while moving in some kind of general direction.  Check.
14. Finning arm action on back, 5 body lengths... grifFin?  Part of the word is in his name, he must be good at it.  Check.
15. Combined arm and leg actions on back, 5 body lengths...  Ref #13
16. Step from side into chest-deep water, move into a front float for 5 seconds, roll to back, float for 5 seconds then return to a vertical position... Wait, step, then what?
17. Move into a back float for 5 seconds, roll to front, then recover to a vertical position...  Other than the 5 seconds thing, I think he has this one.
18. Push off and swim using combined arm and leg actions on front for 5 body lengths, roll to back, float for 15 seconds, roll to front, then continue swimming for 5 body lengths...  Push, huh?  Then what?

In all reality, I never expected him to be able to swim coming out of this class.  He does fairly well maneuvering underwater, holds his breath and is certainly far more comfortable splashing around in the pool.  Which makes pool visits much more relaxing for mom and dad.  As long as he can touch, he's pretty much okay.  Not to say we don't keep a close eye on him, but we don't have to be hovering over him any more.  So, although the pool's checklist seems to exaggerate his abilities, he meets the biggest check-box:

19. Meeting Mom and Dad's expectations... Big ole fat CHECK!

Extra Credit:
20. Swimmers ear...  check.  
BOOO.  His left ear is really hurting him.  He was screaming and crying today when we took his shirt off.  We got some drops from the Doc and gave him some Tylenol.  Hopefully he gets over it soon.

Hot Box

Code Brown

Grif and Leyton were in the tub last night together and Grif had him going again. 

In fact had him laughing so hard Leyton pooped himself.  That water he's pouring on his face, etc. is laced with Leyton feces.

Me: STEPH! CODE BROWN!  EVACUATE THE TUB!

Swim Lessons Redux

Griffin got some exciting news at his swim class this past Friday.  His instructor brought him over to Steph after class and asked if she was Griffin's mom.  Steph couldn't catch herself from saying, "what did he do?"  Turns out nothing, except be awesome!  They have two level 2 preschool classes and there are two-three kids in each class that are far more advanced than the rest, so they want to make a level 3 class for these kids and combine the others into one level 2 class.  I'm already having visions of a Mark Spitz/Michael Phelps combo (board shorts or one of those cool full body suit things, no speedo) with like 18 gold medals around his neck.  Anything less and I'll be disappointed.

On a separate note, the pool Nazi was back in action yesterday.  There were some pretty dark clouds hovering as swim lessons started and somebody spotted lighting.  Out of the office she came, bull horn in hand (I'm not sure why she needs a bull horn to address the parents that she has quarantined in a 10x20 area).

Pool Nazi: We have spotted lighting.  Everyone must get out of the pool, collect your things and disperse. Swimming lessons are canceled for the evening.
Me: Ah, the rare SPOTTED lighting.  Much more deadly than your every day zig-zag variety.
Steph: (laughing)  You are stupid.
Me:  You are the one laughing.

Reds v Jays

Steph and I got to take Griffin to the Reds game this weekend and had a really good time.  We got there early to get our rally hair:

And see the mascots.  We went right down by the field.  Grif got a high five from Mr Redlegs, Rosie, and Gapper.  Steph got a kiss from Gapper and he did a little dance after and then blew raspberries at me.  Grif got a kick out of that.  I think he enjoyed watching the mascots and jumbo-tron more than the game.

The game wrapped up about 10:30 and Grif was done:

Great Stuff

 Happy Fathers day to me!

My little air compressor pooped out on me a couple of weeks ago.  The electric motor is locked up.  Anyhow, it was easy when Steph asked me what I wanted for Father's day.  New air compressor and some work gloves to boot!  Nice!

If you've been following the blog, you know that I recently installed a new front door and a new back door on the house.  Great stuff is used to insulate the gap around the door and frame instead of fibreglass insulation.  The stuff works great.  I've use it lots of times with really good results.  This time around, the gap between the door and frame was really small.  Less than 1/4" all the way around (and 0" in some spots).  Anyhow, I got some of this on my left hand.  I didn't think too much about it.  I've got a bit on my hands before and never had too much trouble.  Well, I got a lot on my hand and it won't come off.

I've tried:
soap and water
rubbing alcohol
mineral spirits
nail polish remover
a special pumice soap
and gasoline

The stuff was originally yellow on my hands, but the pumice soap is blue and stained it all, so now its this weird iridescent green that kind of glows in the dark like I'm hulking out or something.  I tried the gasoline last, so now my hands stink and I need to stay away from open flames....

I guess I should have used the gloves Steph got me.

Potty Humor

I think my youngest gets his sense of humor from me.

That is me in the background making farting noises.

Leyton's First Haircut

Steph took Leyton for his first haircut on Monday.  Actually, the whole family went.  Steph took both boys at 1:30 and I went after work.  We all got our wig's busted.  Admittedly, I was nervous about Steph taking both boys for haircuts as well as getting her own hair cut.  Juggling a 3-1/2 year old with an age appropriate attention span, a 10 month old who has recently taking to ear piercing screams for his own pleasure, and discovered mobility and the gloriousness of opening cabinets to find the treasures within that he can then stick in his mouth, is not an easy task.  Particularly when they need to sit still or have their ears cut off....  But, they did really well.  Steph distracted Leyton with some cookies (he is a sucker for food).  Grif played with his Leapster and watched a movie.  Steph played with her iPhone and ate cookies....  Everybody wins!

Swim Lessons

Grif started swim lessons this week at the local pool.  He loves the water and is not afraid at all.  We were at the pool with Monster Grandpa last week and Grif jumped right in the deep end despite warnings from grandpa.  He just grabbed the edge and climbed out.  No tears, no fear, walked over to the kids pool and hopped in.  

I was stoked about swim lessons.  I figured he would love it and that I would really enjoy watching him.  Plus, I figured it would give me loads of blog material.  Then we met the swim lessons nazi complete with bull horn accessory (Hitler boyfriend sold separately).  "This is the designated parents' area.  Parents are not permitted outside this area." Then, a few minutes later, "Parents are not permitted on the grass.  You must stay in this concrete area."  Okay, fine, don't want the meddling parents hovering over their children, freaking out about their kid drowning, or being cold, or having that weird blue water cloud following their kid around in the water.  But what about the cool relaxed parents that just want some good closeups pictures of their kid and some material for the blog?  Maybe I should get a press pass....

Distance

This past Sunday, Steph took Leyton to the Reds game with her parents.  Grif stayed home with me, Monster Grandpa, and Uncle Jamie.  We installed a new 3-panel back door.  It was supposed to be 108" which was the size of the opening in the house.  It came in a 112" so the install was a bit more difficult than it should have been.  Remove the siding, existing stud and header, then install new header, stud, modify the siding, and put the new door in.  Anyhow, I'm off track, that isn't the reason for this post.

Steph and Leyton left about 10am and got home at 8pm.  I think that is the longest that Grif and Leyton have ever been apart.  They were really funny when reunited that evening.  Grif kept hugging him and patting his head.  Leyton was smiling and giggling and crawling around after Grif.  It was like they were long lost separated little monkeys.

Strange Conversations

Steph: Leyton, you have boogers all over, let me get them.
Leyton:  WAAAAAAAH!
Griffin: I think he likes those boogers.


After dinner:
Me: I'm a messy eater, I need to wash my hands.
Griffin: Yeah, you eat like a hedgehog.
Where does he come up with this stuff?

In the men's room at Max & Ermas:
Griffin: This is a big potty.  I bet four people could go in here at the same time.  You think?


During dinner:
Griffin: Whoever finishes their drink first gets another piece of pizza.
Isn't he a little young for drinking games?

Sibling Rivalry

It begins.....

Water Bowl

Leyton discovered the dog's water bowl.  Needless to say, if he disappears, he is hightailing it for the water bowl and you should be too, because he'll make a mess.

Pool

We took the boys to the pool on Memorial day.  Leyton's first time ever.  He loved it.  So did Griffin.  Last year, we had to follow him around because if he fell in, he couldn't stand himself back up, so he'd just bob along the bottom.  This year, he was running around in the kiddie area like a mad man.  Up and down the slides.  It was a blast.

Dinner

Steph is on this goofy competitive diet, so I'm exercising my inner culinary genius.  No, dinner did not include the dead bird from the previous post.  Anyhow, dinner tonight included yellow fin tuna steaks with grilled asparagus and sweet potatoes.  Surprisingly my picky eater liked it.  He dipped it in ketchup which is kind of gross, but hey, he ate it, so I'm pretty happy.

Dead Bird

A couple of weeks ago, we discovered a dead dear near the creek behind our house.  Its pretty much bones at this point, so not too disgusting.  I was concerned about how Griffin would react, but he has been more than fine.  Maybe a little too excited.  He asks everybody if they want to see it.  

The other morning, we found a dead bird on the front walk.