A long long time ago I bought a balance bike for the boys to practice with. Unfortunately they didn't really enjoy it. They preferred the tricycles and scooter that they were more proficient with. About a year ago we bought a second balance bike that was slightly bigger than the first, yet they still didn't want to use it. We eventually put the tricycles away as a means of encouraging them to ride their balance bikes and yet they still wouldn't. I would hear of friends' kids who were riding balance bikes and going on family bike rides and I felt discouraged and a little jealous. I questioned our decision to buy balance bikes, but didn't really want to run out and get regular bikes with training wheels after already spending money on TWO balance bikes.
I was finally able to convince them to "ride" their balance bikes on a walk (we have a street that's pretty safe that's about half a mile round trip). They got a little better with more practice on a straighter path.
Finally about a week ago I had the bright idea to show them some videos of kids riding balance bikes. It turns out that's just what they needed. After watching some videos of younger kids riding balance bikes they were eager to go out and practice with theirs. They did great! I was suddenly having to walk briskly to keep up with them on their bikes. Josiah has a little push car that he loves to push around so sometimes he takes that out on our walks while he runs behind it. I think his stroller days are over.
Saturday we went out shopping for a bike. We felt that with his practice with the tricycle pedals and he balance on the balance bike, Micah would be ready for pedals. We didn't like what we found at the store so we decided to order online. His new bike arrived yesterday. I put it together as much as I could and then when Glen got home he finished the job. It was a little bit of a rough start, but he was riding it after an hour or so. He still needed someone to get him started, but once he was moving he could pedal and balance himself. Today as soon as we got outside he hopped on his bike (with a helmet already on, of course) and took off. He didn't even need me to get him started. If he's on an incline he needs a little help with that first pedal push, but otherwise he can do it.
We were feeling bad for Luke with all the attention Micah was getting. Luke was a little bit interested in trying it, but the seat was too high for him to reach. We've told him that as soon as he's interested in trying a pedal bike we will get him one, but so far he's not interested. We will keep working with him on the balance bike and hopefully by this weekend he'll be ready to give it a try.
We've told them that once they're riding bikes we will get our bikes down and get them checked out at the bike shop so we can do family bike rides. In order for that to work we need Josiah using the balance bike and he's not interested for now.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Funny Boys
The boys are saying so many funny things lately and I can't even keep up with it all. I really should just leave this window open so I can come update as soon as it leaves their mouths.
The other day Glen was driving the boys around and having trouble finding his destination. Micah asked him what's wrong with his brain (!).
So then today I forgot to do something and Micah said to me "What's wrong with your brain? Why aren't you thinking? Is your brain cracked?"
At lunch today the boys started a game of I Spy. Josiah said "I spy something red." And then he pointed to the bubble container and said excitedly "The bubbles! Yesssss!"
The other night when we were staying at the hotel, I was awake in the middle of the night after Luke woke up scared. I eventually brought him into our bed. I suddenly remembered his OT appointment the next morning and told Glen about it. Luke woke right up and started making plans, "Okay, Micah and Josiah will stay here with Daddy. Okay, lets go, Mommy".
The other day Glen was driving the boys around and having trouble finding his destination. Micah asked him what's wrong with his brain (!).
So then today I forgot to do something and Micah said to me "What's wrong with your brain? Why aren't you thinking? Is your brain cracked?"
At lunch today the boys started a game of I Spy. Josiah said "I spy something red." And then he pointed to the bubble container and said excitedly "The bubbles! Yesssss!"
The other night when we were staying at the hotel, I was awake in the middle of the night after Luke woke up scared. I eventually brought him into our bed. I suddenly remembered his OT appointment the next morning and told Glen about it. Luke woke right up and started making plans, "Okay, Micah and Josiah will stay here with Daddy. Okay, lets go, Mommy".
Friday, August 8, 2014
Anniversary Fun
Yesterday we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. It seems surreal that it's been that long. I looked through photos from our wedding, 5th anniversary, 10th anniversary, and this year to post something to facebook. It struck me that in the 10th pictures we were pregnant with the twins and now this year we have three kids. Life has changed more in the last five years than it did over the first ten.
We didn't have anyone to leave the kids with so we could vacation away for our celebration. We really struggled with how to make this celebration special. I lined up a babysitter for the afternoon/evening, but then there weren't any movies we were really excited to see and couldn't think of anything else in town that we really wanted to do besides go to dinner by ourselves. Eventually we came up with the idea of getting a hotel room and spending the night there as a family. The kids love staying in hotels, there's an indoor swimming pool and they and I love swimming. So the babysitter came over mid-afternoon and Glen and I left and hung out until an acceptable dinner time.
Dinner ended up being an interesting and memorable experience. We went to a local steakhouse. When they seated us at our table we realized that at the table next to us they were set up with a professional video camera prepared to film something. As we sat there it became clear that they were from Texas Bucket List and were filming for an upcoming episode. The host was sitting at the table, they had a server poised to deliver a hamburger meal and then later a steak platter. It was very interesting to watch. I was nervous they'd pan around the room and catch us awkwardly eating or something. The manager would come by every once in a while and check in with them and the owner of the restaurant even made an appearance. Once they'd finished filming the eating part the host of the show came over to chat for a few minutes. They chose another couple to interview, which is fine. He was probably chatting with us to see if we'd be interview material, but they ended up at the next table with an older couple who said they actually watch the show. When we were leaving I remembered that I'd wanted a picture of us at the restaurant, so we set up for a selfie in front of the sign. The host and cameraman happened to be out there, so the host offered to take our picture for us and then Glen asked if he'd like to be in the picture with us so the cameraman took one of the three of us. We'd never heard of the show before but now that we experienced that I think we'll look into it. It's something right up Glen's alley.
After dinner we picked up the kids and loaded up to go to the hotel. It was a big hit with the kids. The pool was fun and then when we got back to our room the kids fell asleep pretty quickly because we'd tired them out. Unfortunately they didn't sleep well so I was up a lot with them. Glen had to get up for work and left around 6:30. The plan was for him to come back around 9 to help me check out and load up the van, but in the middle of the night I remembered that Luke had an OT recheck scheduled for 8:30. I was a little disappointed, but then realized it only changed things by about half an hour. The biggest worry was that when I packed for overnight, I'd planned to just come straight home, so I didn't pack stuff for fixing my hair. The kids and I got up and hurried to get ready to leave and just as I got the van loaded (completely by myself) I got a voicemail that the appointment had to be canceled. Shoot! So we regrouped and I decided to brave breakfast with all three in tow. It worked out well, they were excited to try "restaurant" food. It really was a confidence booster. I'm always so afraid of trying anything new with them because I'm afraid of failure and I don't want to get into a situation with them that's out of my control. I don't push myself and it really holds us back from some fun opportunities. So this morning, doing all that myself really helped me feel more capable.
During breakfast I asked if they wanted to go home or if they wanted to go swimming. I was on the fence because our swimming stuff had just sat in wet piles all night because I knew we were just coming home. But we'd also had so much fun swimming the night before. They, of course, voted to swim so we walked back to the van to get the suitcase and went back to our room to change. I didn't realize until I has halfway through changing that housekeeping had been in and started cleaning the room. That was kind of unsettling. We swam for about an hour. The crazy thing is that Luke and Micah both ended up having to poop while we were at the pool so we had to all get out of the pool and go into the bathroom, wait for one of them to do his business, go back out to the pool and then the next boy announced he had to go. Last night I'd taken Josiah in to the bathroom and he'd pooped too! What's with that pool? Last night Josiah discovered he could float with his puddle jumper on without holding on to me. He'd also taken his puddle jumper off and was experimenting with jumping to me. Today he learned how to actually kick his feet and move his body while wearing his puddle jumper to swim. It really was amazing and I can't believe the swimming improvement over the summer. I pretty much could be on my own - keeping a close eye on them - as they swam around. I'm so proud.
We went back to our room and changed clothes and then headed home. It really was a fun family experience. I loved that our hotel was so close to home so if we forgot something it would be easy to run home to get it (I forgot something to sleep in, but made do with the clothes that I did bring). We didn't have to pack the boys vitamins or milk because we'd be home quickly in the morning. Yay to 15 years!
We didn't have anyone to leave the kids with so we could vacation away for our celebration. We really struggled with how to make this celebration special. I lined up a babysitter for the afternoon/evening, but then there weren't any movies we were really excited to see and couldn't think of anything else in town that we really wanted to do besides go to dinner by ourselves. Eventually we came up with the idea of getting a hotel room and spending the night there as a family. The kids love staying in hotels, there's an indoor swimming pool and they and I love swimming. So the babysitter came over mid-afternoon and Glen and I left and hung out until an acceptable dinner time.
Dinner ended up being an interesting and memorable experience. We went to a local steakhouse. When they seated us at our table we realized that at the table next to us they were set up with a professional video camera prepared to film something. As we sat there it became clear that they were from Texas Bucket List and were filming for an upcoming episode. The host was sitting at the table, they had a server poised to deliver a hamburger meal and then later a steak platter. It was very interesting to watch. I was nervous they'd pan around the room and catch us awkwardly eating or something. The manager would come by every once in a while and check in with them and the owner of the restaurant even made an appearance. Once they'd finished filming the eating part the host of the show came over to chat for a few minutes. They chose another couple to interview, which is fine. He was probably chatting with us to see if we'd be interview material, but they ended up at the next table with an older couple who said they actually watch the show. When we were leaving I remembered that I'd wanted a picture of us at the restaurant, so we set up for a selfie in front of the sign. The host and cameraman happened to be out there, so the host offered to take our picture for us and then Glen asked if he'd like to be in the picture with us so the cameraman took one of the three of us. We'd never heard of the show before but now that we experienced that I think we'll look into it. It's something right up Glen's alley.
After dinner we picked up the kids and loaded up to go to the hotel. It was a big hit with the kids. The pool was fun and then when we got back to our room the kids fell asleep pretty quickly because we'd tired them out. Unfortunately they didn't sleep well so I was up a lot with them. Glen had to get up for work and left around 6:30. The plan was for him to come back around 9 to help me check out and load up the van, but in the middle of the night I remembered that Luke had an OT recheck scheduled for 8:30. I was a little disappointed, but then realized it only changed things by about half an hour. The biggest worry was that when I packed for overnight, I'd planned to just come straight home, so I didn't pack stuff for fixing my hair. The kids and I got up and hurried to get ready to leave and just as I got the van loaded (completely by myself) I got a voicemail that the appointment had to be canceled. Shoot! So we regrouped and I decided to brave breakfast with all three in tow. It worked out well, they were excited to try "restaurant" food. It really was a confidence booster. I'm always so afraid of trying anything new with them because I'm afraid of failure and I don't want to get into a situation with them that's out of my control. I don't push myself and it really holds us back from some fun opportunities. So this morning, doing all that myself really helped me feel more capable.
During breakfast I asked if they wanted to go home or if they wanted to go swimming. I was on the fence because our swimming stuff had just sat in wet piles all night because I knew we were just coming home. But we'd also had so much fun swimming the night before. They, of course, voted to swim so we walked back to the van to get the suitcase and went back to our room to change. I didn't realize until I has halfway through changing that housekeeping had been in and started cleaning the room. That was kind of unsettling. We swam for about an hour. The crazy thing is that Luke and Micah both ended up having to poop while we were at the pool so we had to all get out of the pool and go into the bathroom, wait for one of them to do his business, go back out to the pool and then the next boy announced he had to go. Last night I'd taken Josiah in to the bathroom and he'd pooped too! What's with that pool? Last night Josiah discovered he could float with his puddle jumper on without holding on to me. He'd also taken his puddle jumper off and was experimenting with jumping to me. Today he learned how to actually kick his feet and move his body while wearing his puddle jumper to swim. It really was amazing and I can't believe the swimming improvement over the summer. I pretty much could be on my own - keeping a close eye on them - as they swam around. I'm so proud.
We went back to our room and changed clothes and then headed home. It really was a fun family experience. I loved that our hotel was so close to home so if we forgot something it would be easy to run home to get it (I forgot something to sleep in, but made do with the clothes that I did bring). We didn't have to pack the boys vitamins or milk because we'd be home quickly in the morning. Yay to 15 years!
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