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| Wilder in July! |
Oh this boy! He is changing so much lately. I feel like this last month has been a big shift in Wilder's maturing. Part of which was his two-week swim class that ended last week.
Prior to the class, Wilder was super cautious and really scared of the pool. He would cling like a barnacle to me and wail the whole time. I was worried he wouldn't be able to focus on swimming with the teacher, but she said he would be a good candidate. I didn't get to watch his semi-private classes until the end, so I didn't know how he was doing. It's the first time that he's done anything besides Sunday church with a non-family member. The first day he cried a lot, but came out shivering and talking a mile a minute about "that was so cool! I was brave! I went under the water! That was awesome!" He resisted getting ready for swimming and cried before each class the first few days, but came out talking nonstop. Wednesday that first week, I downloaded "Try everything" by Shakira from his current favorite movie Zootopia and played it for him on the way there. It was the first time he's ever paid attention to a song on the radio, and he was really excited to hear "the bunny song." He told the swim teacher Shannon all about the bunny on the orange train during class. He started looking forward to our pre-class routine of choosing swim clothes and then going in the car to listen to the bunny song before swimming. By Friday, he was already swimming to the teacher from the steps!
I definitely shed some tears at hearing that. And during the next week of class, we really started to see signs of bravery in Wilder in other ways--and that has continued. It started with him going down the big slide at the toddler playground at church. He's been afraid to go down ALL slides--even his tiny one at home--for a long time. We'd ask if he wanted to go down and he's shake his head and tell us no. Now, he will climb up the slide on his own, and go down on his own. All the slides! He knows how to go down, but he likes climbing up too.
He is tall enough to easily climb out of his crib. He hasn't tried it when we're not there, but he almost fell out a few weeks ago when Zach was with him. We decided last week to change his bed from the crib to the toddler bed. THAT feels like such a milestone! He was really, really excited. he kept saying "This is so cool! I love my big boy bed! It's so comfy!" The first week he was scared to get out of it. He would wake up in the morning, sit up and say "I'm done!" for us to come get him. He had a hard time going to sleep though--he wanted one of us to lie on the floor next to his bed for a long time.
So despite getting swimmer's ear the second week, Wilder finished his swim class. Side note, we took him to the doctor, and for the first time, he was completely stoic about getting his ears examined. He let the doctor look at him and he sat quietly, then asked to "go see the Nemos" (fish tank). We got to go to his graduation with our friends and their little girl. Wilder went first, and he was a little nervous with all the adults watching (and baby sisters!) but he swam to the teacher, grabbing for her fingers. He could swim from the teacher to the steps. He could use the kick board --floating and just hanging out. He could JUMP OFF THE EDGE and swim back to the side! I was fit to bust. It's so encouraging to see how much he learned in two weeks. And a few days ago, I asked him if he wanted to swim in his baby pool here at the house, and he ran for his swim clothes and said "I need to go swim with Miss Shannon. We need to go in Mommy's car. Want to listen to the bunny song and go swim with Miss Shannon." Haha! We're going swimming at a pool today at a friend's house, so we'll see how he does.
And back to the bed. Wilder figured out how to get out during a nap time last week. He would throw his happy face emoji pillow out and go get it over and over and over again. The last few days have just cracked me up. He takes a long time to go to sleep. If we let him alone and just watch, he wanders around his room, sitting in the toddler chair, his rocking chair, on the bed, on the rug. He opens and shuts the closet doors, tries to open the door and most of all, talks to himself while he reads books. He grabs books and goes and sits on his bed, telling himself "Just one more book. I need just ONE MORE book. 15 more books. Just one more book, and then lie down on this snuggly sheets." It's really funny. He's getting better about going down, but I don't mind the whole reading thing too much.... :-)
What else can I say? He's really eating a lot of yogurt lately. Like, it is the majority of his diet. Still on a protein strike, which is frustrating, but he'll eat fruit, cheerios and yogurt... so it could be worse. He's so sweet with Felicity. They get along really well and make each other laugh. Still snuggly with me and Zach, but I feel like overnight we went from rocking in his rocking chair at nap and bed to sitting beside his bed. :-(
Wilder is such a character. I really love his personality, and he's so much fun to be around. We still have tantrums, but he seems to do well when you lay out exactly what you're going to do, and give him options sometimes. We just love this stage in his life!
Here are some photos from the playground the other day!
I definitely shed some tears at hearing that. And during the next week of class, we really started to see signs of bravery in Wilder in other ways--and that has continued. It started with him going down the big slide at the toddler playground at church. He's been afraid to go down ALL slides--even his tiny one at home--for a long time. We'd ask if he wanted to go down and he's shake his head and tell us no. Now, he will climb up the slide on his own, and go down on his own. All the slides! He knows how to go down, but he likes climbing up too.
He is tall enough to easily climb out of his crib. He hasn't tried it when we're not there, but he almost fell out a few weeks ago when Zach was with him. We decided last week to change his bed from the crib to the toddler bed. THAT feels like such a milestone! He was really, really excited. he kept saying "This is so cool! I love my big boy bed! It's so comfy!" The first week he was scared to get out of it. He would wake up in the morning, sit up and say "I'm done!" for us to come get him. He had a hard time going to sleep though--he wanted one of us to lie on the floor next to his bed for a long time.
So despite getting swimmer's ear the second week, Wilder finished his swim class. Side note, we took him to the doctor, and for the first time, he was completely stoic about getting his ears examined. He let the doctor look at him and he sat quietly, then asked to "go see the Nemos" (fish tank). We got to go to his graduation with our friends and their little girl. Wilder went first, and he was a little nervous with all the adults watching (and baby sisters!) but he swam to the teacher, grabbing for her fingers. He could swim from the teacher to the steps. He could use the kick board --floating and just hanging out. He could JUMP OFF THE EDGE and swim back to the side! I was fit to bust. It's so encouraging to see how much he learned in two weeks. And a few days ago, I asked him if he wanted to swim in his baby pool here at the house, and he ran for his swim clothes and said "I need to go swim with Miss Shannon. We need to go in Mommy's car. Want to listen to the bunny song and go swim with Miss Shannon." Haha! We're going swimming at a pool today at a friend's house, so we'll see how he does.
And back to the bed. Wilder figured out how to get out during a nap time last week. He would throw his happy face emoji pillow out and go get it over and over and over again. The last few days have just cracked me up. He takes a long time to go to sleep. If we let him alone and just watch, he wanders around his room, sitting in the toddler chair, his rocking chair, on the bed, on the rug. He opens and shuts the closet doors, tries to open the door and most of all, talks to himself while he reads books. He grabs books and goes and sits on his bed, telling himself "Just one more book. I need just ONE MORE book. 15 more books. Just one more book, and then lie down on this snuggly sheets." It's really funny. He's getting better about going down, but I don't mind the whole reading thing too much.... :-)
What else can I say? He's really eating a lot of yogurt lately. Like, it is the majority of his diet. Still on a protein strike, which is frustrating, but he'll eat fruit, cheerios and yogurt... so it could be worse. He's so sweet with Felicity. They get along really well and make each other laugh. Still snuggly with me and Zach, but I feel like overnight we went from rocking in his rocking chair at nap and bed to sitting beside his bed. :-(
Wilder is such a character. I really love his personality, and he's so much fun to be around. We still have tantrums, but he seems to do well when you lay out exactly what you're going to do, and give him options sometimes. We just love this stage in his life!
Here are some photos from the playground the other day!
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| Zach had just finished a run and met us at the park :-) |
