It was my night to take Leda to swim lessons again and we were much better about not arriving early this time. Get in right on time, choose a duck, head to the pool with no waiting. Lots of dads there again--clearly, parents are splitting the duties like us. (We always joke that we're a very typical family for being so atypical.)
Leda knew where we were going immediately and was super excited. But I think she used all her energy in anticipation because about halfway through the lesson she just zoned out. She was cold and tired and 6:30 is just too close to bedtime. She didn't jump in like she did with Kelly, but we sang songs (and clung to her rubber duck) with enthusiasm.
It's a mix of kids with different ages and developmental stages so it ranges from smaller than Leda up to Cole's age. So Leda's not quite ready for the closed "scoop" finger bowl making elementary strokes in the water. She blows bubbles in the air but isn't quite ready to blow them underwater--too tempting to lick the pool! She can kick really well, but can't keep it up long enough for the instructor to come around and see. So by the time she got to us, it was a limp-legged Leda staring across the pool deck. My favorite from last night, however, was her attempts to arch her back and dunk her head into the water on her back. She was quite good at it.
Leda knew where we were going immediately and was super excited. But I think she used all her energy in anticipation because about halfway through the lesson she just zoned out. She was cold and tired and 6:30 is just too close to bedtime. She didn't jump in like she did with Kelly, but we sang songs (and clung to her rubber duck) with enthusiasm.
It's a mix of kids with different ages and developmental stages so it ranges from smaller than Leda up to Cole's age. So Leda's not quite ready for the closed "scoop" finger bowl making elementary strokes in the water. She blows bubbles in the air but isn't quite ready to blow them underwater--too tempting to lick the pool! She can kick really well, but can't keep it up long enough for the instructor to come around and see. So by the time she got to us, it was a limp-legged Leda staring across the pool deck. My favorite from last night, however, was her attempts to arch her back and dunk her head into the water on her back. She was quite good at it.
* * *
Last night ended up being a long one.
Cole woke up at 11:30pm...mysteriously...he never wakes up...and, even weirder, he wanted a book out of his closet to replace the one we let him go to bed with. Then Leda was up at--we're estimating here--somewhere between 2:30am and 3:00am. Bottom line is it was my turn to be on duty and I was still up with her at 4:00am. Little brat was asleep again finally for about 20 minutes when I tried to set her down in her crib. You can carry her, asleep, all the way over to her crib and she wakes up the MOMENT her body touches mattress. It's frustrating. And, at that point, Kelly came out to relieve me. Which is when Leda decided to throw her milk all over the living room. Ugh.
Cue Cole waking up at 5:45am. No. Sorry. Any other day. I want to sleep. Your mom and sister are asleep on the couch. By 6:45am, Kelly had brought Leda into our bed while I got up with the boy. Kelly was eventually able to sneak away and leave Leda in our bed where she slept until 8am.
Cole, on the other hand, I got immediately dressed and he enthusiastically went to get coffee with me. To clarify, I got coffee for mom and dad, he came along to see the trains, garbage trucks, fork lifts, and other amazing machines that dot our neighborhood early on a weekday. There was even a huge Peterbilt parked in the Caribou parking lot and unloading. I walked him up to the front to show him the Peterbilt logo and it scared him to death. Fair enough, that's what I get for holding my son in front of a giant semi.
We'd wanted to get up and ready early today because it was a busy day with plenty to do before the OT arrived. Then, after OT and a nap, we were scheduled to have our Early Intervention discharge meeting.
That part of the day actually went really well. Sort of. The social worker had to call in because her child was sick with a fever. And our normal coordinator couldn't make it so we met a complete stranger instead...who we really wish had been our real coordinator because she was awesome.
It was nice to have the "team" in one place to discuss the coming school year, where we go from here, progress. And they reached back to his entry reports. Which was eye opening. And so nice to hear the individual members all working together to describe what's going on. Nice to see the whole and not just pieces. When you look at it--big picture--it's been an amazing few months. We're very sad that last week is our last scheduled time with them. They've done great. Cole's done great.
It's funny looking back at our concerns in the spring to see what has changed...pretty much everything. Cole has turned into a chatterbox with way more coping skills and tolerances to things he never would have entertained. Granted, we have a lot further to go. But he's doing well. School is going to be a game changer. It's scary, but we also think it's best for him to kind of get kicked out of the nest a bit. Across the board, everybody seems to have the professional opinion that he should thrive. We shall see.