Family Henderson: Life in July

At the risk of sounding like a complete moron, I have about ten thousand recent photos and videos (each ridiculously adorable, as you may imagine!) on my phone that I can't download onto the computer to put on the blog. I don't know why but I can't get the data to download from the phone to the computer. So, this is just going to be a mostly narrative update with a few pictures.

When you have small kids there is always something going on. New skills are practiced and mastered daily. Wyatt is spending his summer learning to swim. Wyatt (not unlike me) can take a while to pick up new skills. He does it when he gets ready and rushing him is to no avail. He was not ready to take swim lessons or learn to swim to last summer. He wasn't socially down with group lessons (ballet lesson fail of 2012). He wasn't ready because he didn't want to do it. When he's ready, he can really get to it. So he told me he was ready to learn to swim in May. He went from refusing to put his head underwater to nearly swimming in three lessons. We have been practicing at the local little pool and he's *this close* to mastering basic underwater swimming. He can go about ten feet taking a couple breaths. I am really proud of the effort he's investing in this. I will be so relieved when he can swim enough be safe if he falls in the water.

Wyatt really needs to be learning to read, but I am having a hard time getting him interested in that. He loves to have books read to him. I feel like he will pick it up quickly once he gets interested but I worry about him starting kindergarten behind where other kids are. Strangely, as much as anything, I don't want him to burden the teacher. Four painful months in that trial drove home how hard teachers' jobs are when the parents don't get involved. I know this is weird, but I feel like it's my job to have him really, really ready to go and that I am not getting that job done. But, when he's not into it, it's hard to get that boy going. Once he's on board it's a breeze. In any case, we are all very excited about having him start kindergarten. (And not just because we spend more than $20k a year on child care :-))

In Wallis's world, it's numerous tantrums, tons of opinions, and a dash of hilarity. She repeats everything we say and it's pretty amusing in the tiniest little girl voice. Yesterday Wyatt and I cracked up because he said "I don't think so," and she kept saying "I don't THINNNNK SOOOO." Over and Over. It's just funny for an itty bitty to talk to us in complete sentences and tell us her opinions on EVERYTHING. When we wake Wyatt, she says, "Good morning, Wy, Wy." Clear as can be. She has tantrums. Many of them. Usually they are pretty short, fortunately. She does not understand time out. She hits Wyatt and then says, "timmmmmmee out." And goes to sit on the stairs. Then she returns and does it again. Yeah, time outs not working so well. Her big skill acquisition is potty training. She's been using the toilet for a couple months. She is not potty trained. She comes and tells me "put on diaper," when she's naked. Then she uses the diaper and comes to tell me about it immediately. After two years of potty training the first time, I am not rushing this too much. It didn't work. She could be 100% I think, but she's not. She has a travel potty seat and carries it around everywhere. She uses it, uh, sometimes.