Composition

Kwamai is quite the composer. Just now he is developing a song with the refrain "I still feel stinky like an artichoke." At least he has progressed from bathroom issues.

Swimming, Redux

We're back at the swimming lessons, but at a different pool this time. Felicity not only was very excited and comfortable, but asked to be moved from level one to level two, as she didn't want to start over again from the very beginning. I think it helps that this pool is both outdoor and heated, so it is a more fun environment. However in the level one group there are about 25 kids! It's amazing. A friend who did the last session said there were only 5 kids then. These lessons run for four days a week for two weeks. Kwamai is in level 3 and has already been taught some new skills. The pool is in a city park with a playground, and they have three shifts of lessons each day between 9-12. So it is quite a production, and there are lots of families participating that we know. So it's a nice little social outing. Starting the day significantly earlier than usual will be interesting for these weeks, but I think it is worth the effort!

Kwam the Ninja

These are pictures which Kwamai took of himself recently as he posed with one of his lightsabers. Probably the fact that he didn't know when the picture would flash accounts a bit for the pensive looks on his face! He asked me to post them to the blog, so here they are.

Sequential Learner

Felicity is definitely a sequential learner. She adores videos that show you step-by-step how to make something or bake something or perform an experiment. We have gotten some of these from the library which come in a series called "My First (subject matter) Video."

So today I had one of those secret Mom smiles as I listened to Felicity in the bathroom as she narrated the brushing of her teeth, and then: "That concludes 'My First Toothbrushing Video.' Other titles in this series which you might like to explore include My First Cooking Video, My First Science Video, and my First Activity Video."

I've found that her fascination can help calm her down out of a fit of frustration rather quickly when she wants to do something but can't figure out how. I just tell her the first step, second step, third step, and generally she's ready to absorb what I'm telling her.

Pigs Fly

Vacation Bible School started today, and my only role this year is to drop Kwamai and Felicity off and pick them up again.

Felicity seems to have had a wonderful time.

She made this colorful flying pig (don't ask me exactly what this has to do with learning about the Trinity) as her craft. She spent half of the afternoon playing with it and other similar creatures she had previously made at home. She recounted lots of little details from the day. It was actually an hour shorter than normal today because of a funeral at the church. Kwamai's was far more interested in staying around later on to eat food at the funeral reception. (The funeral was for a former choir member, so I sang with the choir for it while they hung out with one of the teenage helpers.) I tried to explain basic funeral etiquette, that one doesn't just crash in for the food, but he had a hard time accepting my explanation since a couple of his friends were staying. Of course, they actually knew the woman. I've only been in the choir 6 months, and I wasn't even sure who the woman was (it was a few years ago that she sang).

Comfy?

I would have liked to have witnessed how this arrangement came to be this morning.

Super Size Me!

Last night Kwamai and I started watching Super Size Me, a documentary about a man who decides to eat nothing but McDonald's food for 30 days. I say we started watching it; I finished it, but Kwamai decided to leave at one point. He then started feeling sick, eventually threw up, and told me that the next time he goes to McDonald's he will order a salad and a bottle of water.

He was feeling perfectly fine before the movie started, and perfectly fine afterwards, and I highly suspect this was strictly a psychosomatic reaction.

We had gotten this DVD from the library on Tuesday, and when we drove by our neighborhood McDonald's on Thursday morning he asked me "Mom, if the McDonald's people know their food is bad for people but they sell it anyway, are they just evil?" It was an interesting discussion, and I tried to talk about how people often use faulty reasoning to justify lots of things.

So, About that Swimming

Last week I managed to put on my swimming suit and sit on the side of the pool during the swimming lesson. The (teenager, non-parent) swimming instructor thought it a bad idea for me to actually get into the pool, because he presumed Felicity would then not pay any attention at all to the swimming instructors. But as it turned out, my being poolside was all it took. Felicity got a smile on her face, got in the water, started working her kicks, and even came back beaming about how much fun she was having. She hasn't developed a whole lot in the way of swimming skills, but at least she has recovered from her long bout of water refusal. And the pool has warmed up, too. She even practiced jumping into the pool from the side and let herself go partly under water, so it seems fear is not her issue, just comfort.

Kwamai has been doing fine. The quality of the swimming instruction (since it is usually a different set of student life guards each time) has not been that great in terms of systematic progression from one skill to the next. But, it is an opportunity. It would probably simply be worth our while to go to the open swim and practice skills that way during the summer.

10th Anniversary Picture

We had this picture taken right outside the place where we had our dance. Immediately afterwards Felicity marched off not return, so this was the only shot we got of all of us this year. It might have had something to do with Kwamai's insistence on making bunny ears behind her.

Nothing like realism and capturing the essence of our current point in history.

Oh, and by the way, I think I'm finally convinced that Felicity is due for a short haircut. She is developing the classic Hansen/Hosdil thick hair and hates hairbrushes. Maybe Friday.

Swimming Update

We are half-way through swimming lessons now. Kwamai can almost swim without assistance, and tied in a race across the pool with a more experienced swimmer yesterday (while they used kickboards).

Felicity, on the other hand, has left the pool twice with a huge frown on her face and tears in her eyes, and last time she wouldn't even get in at all. Sigh. The water apparently is too cold for her tastes. I can't say I blame her, as I often feel the same way about pool water. It takes work to relax and then kick hard enough to warm oneself up. She told me she would stay in the pool if I got in with her, so I may try that approach next time. The one-on-one attention from the life guards has dwindled a bit, so it is nice for those kids who want to practice more independently (like Kwamai, who keeps complaining that they are "so strict" just because they try to show him how to swim) but it is a downside for the younger kids like Felicity who end up sitting still and freezing in the water while waiting for someone to pull them around and train them in kicking, etc.

Hairstyle

On the Saturday before Palm Sunday, Felicity got her hair cut at the beauty parlor again. The beautician decided to curl her hair with a curling iron a bit, and so she had big swooshy curls for awhile. It was very cute, but alas Felicity did not consent to getting her picture taken.

Unfortunately her hair was cut with a part in it, which of course has not stayed parted since. Next time I think we go with bangs, until such a time as Felicity again likes having things in her hair to keep it in place (which seems to have stopped as soon as she had hair long enough to move around).

2009, 2002

Here is our family picture, taken with Bishop Conlon on the occasion of Kwamai's Confirmation/First Holy Communion on April 19.

Compare with this one, when Kwamai was 2 days away from turning one year old (on the occasion of the Bishop's ordination).

Is It Time, Yet?

Kwamai and Felicity started swimming lessons again on Monday. They go twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays. Felicity is particularly excited about it and has asked me at least 15 times already today when we are going. She's been dressed and ready for the last hour. Only one more hour left to wait! Kwamai went off with a more advanced group halfway through the first lesson. Felicity did a really great job. The good thing about this year is that the high school swim coach has her swim team teaching the kids one-on-one, while she coaches their teaching techniques "from above". This way, no one is just sitting around in the pool, waiting for his/her chance to get out and swim.

Felicityism

"But Kwamai, you don't even have a driver's slicin's."