Swimming lessons (week 3)

We enrolled Hagen in swimming lessons at the Natatorium in Allen. This was our third week (the sessions are four weeks long). The first lesson the kids were taught was how to blow bubbles in the water. I'm trying to get him to just use his lips because he'll stick out his tongue while he blows. After that they taught the kids how to kick, then to "scoop" with their arms. Hagen does pretty good with those things. I had been teaching him how to kick so he was pretty good at that and he does the "scooping" really well, too. Last week they showed the kids how to pull themselves out of the pool, then last night we were supposed to dunk them briefly underwater. He did fine the first time but didn't like it after that. The instructor told us to blow in our child's face then quickly dunk him, but Hagen would giggle when I did that so it wasn't really working for him. We'll find another way to do that. I think he holds his breath when we go to our community pool because he jumps in by himself (with floaties on) and goes underwater and isn't coughing or anything when he comes up, so I think he does know how to hold his breath.

Here's a video of him swimming. I'm really proud of him. :-)

Just for Fun

This was on Carrie's (the Blue-Eyed Bookworm's) sister's blog page (her page - "A Grown Up. Really?" - is on Carrie's page). Thanks, Donna!

93 words

Speedtest

We spent the 4th of July in Granbury. On the 4th we went to the square where there were lots of booths set up with things to buy, look at and eat. At one point Hagen was off exploring with Opa and Oma. When they were headed back I saw Hagen wearing this cute cap (it's a giraffe). Opa said they saw the hats and Hagen went over to look at them and picked the giraffe out. Opa gave him $5 to pay for it and he took the money and paid for it, all by himself. The hat is cute, and he loves it - and he never used to like hats.






Hagen swimming at Opa and Oma's. He's in swimming lessons now since he's so unafraid of the water and loves it so much. So far he's doing really well, but the only problem is that he doesn't like me holding onto him in the water - he wants to be able to go by himself because he's used to the floaties on his arms.





Hagen and Daddy in their matching Red Sox shirts. I bought Shawn one for Christmas because he had always wanted one, and, unbeknownst to me, Grandmommie had also bought one for Hagen!

This is a hat with a crab on it that he made at school . He was proud of it.

I love this picture. Shawn had bought me a trailer for my bike so Hagen can ride with me, so we wanted to get him a helmet. One day he wanted to wear it and got on his Retro Rocket and went scooting around the house.

Jump! Jump!

Here are a few pictures of Hagen and Sam jumping at Sam's house after his birthday party last month. They had so much fun they were sweating when they were done! Hagen used to be afraid of bounce houses but apparently he's gotten over that.

For those of you who haven't heard this story, you'll love this. One time at daycare (about 8 months ago or so) there was a bounce house set up in the gym. His teacher told me, like always, he didn't go in but was watching from the outside. At some point the house started deflating, kids were screaming and the teachers were frantically trying to find out what happened. Hagen's teacher finally saw Hagen walking slowly backward away from the power switch, a little smile on his face. She said it was really hard not to get mad at him, even though he shouldn't have done it, and she even kind of secretly wished they had video of it. She said they were going to keep a close eye on him next time there was a bounce house.