ANGELFISH #5 (3 YRS OLD)

S is back at swim class. Today, she swam on the noodle, kicking and scooping with her arm. She's still very hesitant to swim without any type of floatie device but this is the closest she's ever come. Near the end, she got out of the water and asked momma for a hug before getting back in. Momma is glad the class is only 20-30 minutes long. Momma's not sure if S could manage anymore than this.

CONTROL (3 YRS)

S has been having hysterical tantrums on a regular basis (one a day). Typically, it's about wantimg momma to come to her, about five feet away. Or, it's about having momma do something for her, that she often can do for herself. When momma says no, S has a melt down and it last for at least an hour. S has also started using food and the potty as control issues.

Often, S does this only with momma. When both momma and daddy is home, she often pushes daddy away in her hysterics. Momma's not quite sure what to do, except stand her ground to a crying, screaming little girl.

ANGELFISH (3 YR)

S has been sick this week that she missed her third and fourth swim class on Wednesday and Thursday. Her fever left on Thursday but she was too tired to do much of anything. Even the short playdate with Joshua (Shazy's son) wore her out.

Today, momma took S to Little Stacey wading pool as a treat. S was disapointed that she couldn't float in the pool and wanted to swim. She wanted to play in the playground instead.

Hmm... maybe... S likes swimming....

HANGING BY HER FINGERS (3 YRS)

S was standing in front of the garage door today when momma was pushing the button to open it. Probably on a whim, she hung onto the garage door as it was going up. It took S almost to the top of the garage before momma could convince S to let go. The experience scared S and made her upset.

Momma of course tried not to laugh and called daddy to tell him of it. Daddy laughed so hard over the phone that he said that he teared up. "Where's the video camera when you need it?," asked daddy. Poor S! She will never try that again!

P.S. There is an indention on the garage where she hung onto it.

SCREAMING MEANIES (3 YRS OLD)

S didn't eat much dinner last night, a couple of bites of bread and pizza, before going to bed. She woke up every couple of hours (9:30 pm, 11 pm, and 1:30 pm) crying and screaming hysterically, insisting on eating and sleeping at the same time. AT 1:30 am, Daddy finally convinced S to eat some Oreo cookies. S insisted on round cookies only. Finally, S went to bed and slept through the night between daddy and momma.

Tonight, momma and daddy insisted that she eat dinner. No more screaming meanies!

P.S. This is part of the trend (problem) of her skipping her meals to play. See June 2 entry.

ANGELFISH #2 (3 YRS OLD)

S did great on her second day of swim class as an Angelfish. She floated on her back with Coach Jose, blew bubbles (sorta), and jumped in the water a couple of times with the floatie. She still having a hard time holding on to it when she hits the water, but luckily Coach Jose is there. At one point (in the middle of class), she walked over the momma and asked momma to hug her and momma complied and then S jumped into the water, following the other kids.

The other moms commented on how "brave" S must be and how comfortable she is in the water. Momma agrees S is being pretty brave taking swim classes over in the deep water area (4 ft). Momma can tell it took every S had to jump into the water after the hug.

DADDY'S DAY (3 YRS)

Momma and S celebrate Father's Day, a.k.a Daddy's Day, on Saturday. For daddy's day (Saturday), momma took S out in the morning so daddy could cut down trim the trees in the backyard. In the afternoon, momma and S took daddy to the fountains behind the Long Center and then to the swimming pool.

Daddy's day ended with the cheesecake. (Momma and S made chocolate cheese cake on Friday for daddy.) Daddy says his favorite part was S singing "Happy Daddy's Day" and blowing out his candle on his cheesecake.

P.S. Sunday was for celebrating Poppy's Day.

ANGEL FISH #1 (3 YRS OLD)

S started the second level of swim class this morning. Momma was unsure what to expect since the Angelfish level included putting her head in the water, something that S is very reluctant to do.

Coach Jose was so patient with S and another girl Mimi who were reluctant swimmers. For her first day, S floated on her back, practiced kicking and blowing bubbles, and bobbed up and down with a floatie (a little too big for her to hold on to well).

The good thing about morning classes is that the pool is dedicated to swim lessons and there is no one splashing about and in the ways of the swim instuctors and students. Momma is hopeful that S continues to do well since Coach Jose is so patient.

P.S. When asked, S will say now that she's a fish (proudly), not turtle.

ROCK N RIVER (3 YRS OLD)

Momma and S went to Rock N River in Round Rock on Thursday. S had a blast! Her cousins Ariana and Miranda met her and so did her friend Talia. She floated (thanks to her life vest) in the lazy river. She asked to do it several times with her cousins and did it once sitting in the tube. She basically followed her cousins around, and vice versa, her cousins followed her around.

S didn't get to play much with her friend Talia, but the next day, S asked if she could go the water park again with her friend Talia. Momma and S are gonna have to do this again!

SWIMMING #8 (3 YRS)

Today was S last day in the turle class. Coach Jerry Joe put everyone in a lifevest to practice putting it on and swimming in it. Then, he went through kicking, blowing bubbles, and ended it with giving everyone their certificate, badge and a bag full of candy. Of course, S "loves" Jerry Joe even more that he gave her a bag of candy.

S was enormously pleased with her certificate and badge mand wanted omma to put it on the stroller. S compromised and the certificate hangs in to her towel. the garage now and momma sewed the turtle badge.

COMEDY OF ERRORS (3 YRS)

Daddy took care of S yesterday night while momma went to "Mom's Night Out" dinner. According to daddy, the comedy of error started after S had a big session on the small potty. Daddy was trying to dump it into the "big potty," a.k.a. regular toilet, with S standing by his side jiggling the toilet handle.

The toilet handle broke off in S's hand. Daddy put down S's small potty cup, opened up the potty to see the plastic tab on the inside had broken off. Somehow in all this, S tripped, grabbed hold of the shower curtain, and went falling into the tub, pulling down the curtain and rod with her. According to him, it was hard not to laugh. And, in the end of it all, he still had not dumped out S's potty cup.

Somehow, S was unscathed and went to bed without any issues.

SWIMMING #6 (3 YRS OLD)

At 4:30 pm today, momma called out, "it's time to get ready to go swimming," S immediately takes off her clothes, puts on her bathing suit, and starts to lotion herself up.

Today, she used her new floatie toy, a turtle (because she's in the turtle class). Momma would throw it and S would swim after it. S feels very confident swimming in her arm floaties, kicking her feet and using her arms, but when she's out of them, she's still very hesitant. After class, she was reluctant to swim without daddy's arm around her (without her floaties).

Thursday is her last day in the Turtle class and when momma announced that she will be going to the Angelfish class, she asked "why." She wanted to stay in the turtle class.

OH! SAYS MOMMA (3 YRS)

S has a couple cute and annoying habits that makes momma laugh and sigh...

LAUGHS
(1) Trying to tickle you
(2) Spanking your "bootie" (Who taught her this?)
(3) Singing every sentence like the Wonder Pets (her new fav show!)
(4) Saying "PU" to every time she passes gas

SIGHS
(1) Refusing to walk
(2) Pretending to be a baby - needs to be spoon fed and carried
(3) Refusing to wash her hand
(4) Refusing meals

ELI EMERSON (3 YRS)

S played with Eli today at Rollingwood park. Eli's the son of Dan (Floyd) who daddy's known since he was three, too. Maybe, this is the start of great relationship, like father, like daughter.

SWIMMING (3 YRS OLD)

Daddy, momma, and S went swimming today at Lifetime. S is showing swimming progress. She seems much more confident in the water, probably a combination of her life vest and swim class. S was also willing to put her head in the water several times. Daddy, momma, and S all pretended to be whales and put their heads in the water. Daddy and momma have hopes that S will wear her swim goggles by the end of summer and put her head in the water for longer periods.

P.S. This coming week is the last week of Turtle swim classes. Momma is thinking of re-enrolling her in Turtle again, instead of Angel fish.

HEELS (3 YRS OLD)

What can't a girl do in heels?

BUILD A BEAR (3 YRS OLD)

Momma took S to Build-A-Bear on Wednesday. S was enthralled at the entire process. She immediately picked a cat, a grey one like the neighborhood cat Comet. She picked out its meow and also its heart. Then she picked out two outfits for Kitty. S was so excited that one of the outfit was a pink swimsuit, like hers. Then momma and S typed out Kitty's birth certificate.

S has taken Kitty everywhere even to bed with her for the past couple of nights. Momma's glad that Build A Bear was such a memorable experience for her. (Thanks Mimi and Poppy for the gift!)

SWIM LESSON #4 (3 YRS)

S was reluctant to go swimming today but when she got the pool she was excited and wanted to jump in the water immediately. She also kept asking when coach Jimmy Joe was coming. Swimming class is like one big game to her and Coach Jimmy Joe makes it into one game after another. At the end of class today, coach handed out water toys and spent the last couple of minutes playing with each kid. S had a great time pouring water into his hands.

At night, S requested the "Jimmy Joe" song for bedtime. Unfortunately, daddy didn't know it.

SWIM LESSON #3 (3 YRS OLD)

S woke up from her nap Wednesday and said, "I want to go swimming." Unfortunately, momma said it wasn't time yet. But, when it was swim time, S wanted to take Kitty with her and dressed her in her swim suit. She wanted to show Coach Jimmy Joe Kitty. S was so excited about showing Kitty to Jimmy Joe that she forgot her usual shyness and quickly smiled and laughed at his response of "cats can't swim."

After swim class, daddy showed up to swim with S. She swam about 3 ft on her own, but is still reluctant to put her head in the water. S enjoys showing off her new skills to daddy.

SWIM LESSON #2 (3 YRS OLD)

S was reluctant to go today, her second day of swim lessons. She seemed concerned that momma wouldn't be there, so momma promised to go swimming with her before her lesson. That seemed to settle her and she had a "blast!" at swim lessons.

Daddy met up with them and swam with S after swim lessons were over. S was willing to stick her head twice quickly in the water with daddy. She has difficulty staying afloat but tries really hard to kick and scoop her arms.

When asked what her favorite thing was, S replied, "playing with Jerry Joe."

SWIM LESSONS #1 (3 YRS)

S started swim lessons this afternoon in the "Turtle" class. She was apprehensive at first, following Coach Jerry Joe. But, after the initial apprehension, she was so excited about kicking, blowing bubbles, and doing her arms strokes. Momma hopes this is a sign of things to come. Swim lessons go on for the next four weeks, Monday through Thursday.

CAMPING AT POSSUM KINGDOM (3 YRS)

Daddy, momma, and S went camping at Possum Kingdom State Park this past weekend. They met up with Mr. Eric, his wife Shu-Hong, their children Katie (4) and Casey (1). In addition, Mr. Kannon, his wife Pria, and their children Rahul (6) and Deeia (2) also came.

S had a great time boating, swimming and playing with the other children. They jumped in and out of the boat, on daddy's and momma's air mattress, picked flowers and shells, and in general, just followed each other around all weekend. S enjoyed playing with her new friends so much that she often hugged them spontaneously to their surprise.

LEANNE (3 YRS OLD)

S has a new babysitter, Leanne, a friend of Aunt Fiona. Momma was worried about how S would respond since Leanne had to put her to sleep, besides playing with her. S thrilled to have Leanne come and blow bubbles with her in the backyard and play hide and seek. Leanne says that everything went smoothly including the bath and bedtime. "Momma worries for no reason," daddy often says.

S-ESE (3 YRS)

S often makes up words, a.k.a names, for things around the house. To momma and daddy's dismay and amusement, she actually remembers the names for things, like the new backyard swing is named, "jump-run" and expects everyone around her to remember too. Momma and daddy thinks it's fascinating that she's playing around with names. But, it's tough for the masses if they don't speak S-ese.

LUNCH TIME TO NAP TIME (3 YRS)

Momma thinks the most stressful time is still lunch time to naptime. S melts down so quickly now. She starts yelling and throwing herself onto the carpet crying. There's no reasoning with her until there's some food in her. To add to the madness, she doesn't want to eat breakfast or snacks because she's too busy so meltdowns have been happening quicker.