Highlights
- Evan has official consultation with Dr. R
- Calan starts new “fitness” training class
- Evan starts his first real swimming lessons
July is summer in full swing around here. This means lots of outdoor activities balanced with lots of indoor quiet reading time. And instead of “vacations” we take excursions to Long Beach. This month was our second family trip in as many months together to see Dr. R. It was fairly significant as it was Evan’s first big planning meeting with Dr. R. We talked through a basic outline of Evan’s treatment plan based on everything we know up until now and the blood work we did last month. They did an in-office skin test as well, and scheduled his overnight skin patch test for next month. We actually were able to get started on the plan by challenging peanut for Evan. He ate 30 of them with no problems! We’re on our way…
The boys also had a rare treat this month by going to see another sequel of one of their favorite movies, Cars 3. Evan did better than he ever has at a movie (given, this is only his third one in the theater). Only for about 20% of the film did he insist on walking around, only to be wrangled by Mama or Dada. We, along with Calan, were happy that this third release was much better than Cars 2. 😉
The Fourth of July this year turned out better than last year… simply because we actually had fireworks to watch in Camarillo! Our friendly neighbors also organized a small block party, getting permission to close off the street and moving out tables and chairs into the street. Everyone brought food, and the kids had fun running and riding their bikes around freely as the sun set. The display was a little extra special as well, no doubt making up for the cancelled show last year.
Calan
Along with swimming and flag football this month, Calan got an extra boost in his sports and “P.E.” curriculum. From a tip from a friend, we sat in on a group fitness session for kids here in town. Coach Wil welcomed us to his youth training session that he does at a gym three times per week. One of the coolest things to see was when we went to the very first class for Calan. We didn’t quite know what to expect, other than it would be a lot of drills and exercises to help kids become quicker, more agile and more powerful in their athletic movements. When we arrived, we walked into a converted warehouse where a big line of kids filled the far end of the gym and each kid was taking turns jumping through an agility ladder and around cones. A big muscular “football” looking guy was leading them through it as a crowd of parents filled another wall following their kids as they moved through the course. Upbeat music thumped throughout the large, elongated room, and you could just feel the positive energy as everyone was engaged, working with focus and having fun. The cool part came when Calan immediately jogged to the back of the line of kids and looked to see what they were doing. It was great to see him jump into a new situation so eagerly and confidently. On top of that, he was easily the smallest and shortest kid there. Coach Wil instantly clicked with Calan during his turns and helped him pick up the steps and patterns they were doing. It would be the first of many sessions to come during the month, including some football focused workouts with some older kids. Perfect for Calan as he’s always been one to step up (or down, depending), and meet the level of his peers around him.
While Calan’s own Y football team this season wasn’t the “greatest”, Calan and Dada have been playing lots of ‘throw and catch’. Calan got some new (used) cleats and gloves for football. The gloves definitely helped him over the hump of confidently going for and catching harder thrown balls. He definitely improved on his throwing as we analyzed throwing forms for fun and tried to learn them together. You simply can’t measure the amount of happiness (and great bonding) gleaned from playing and seeing your son grow from your involvement. Whether its football or academics, or anything, Calan is definitely a fun kid that way.
Calan continues to cruise through the Harry Potter series. He can’t finish the series just yet as the content gets a little more intense after Book 4. For now though, he whisks through the pages at rapid speeds that are almost unbelievable. As a result of his HP experience, he’s become connected to the characters and the things that they do. His favorite of course, is the game they play in the book called Quidditch. These days, you often find Calan swooping around the house or backyard on his “broom”… or any stick he can pretend to ride on while capturing some kind of “golden snitch”. Along with the summer book club gang books and his other “school” reading, Calan is earning lots of rewards through the library summer reading program!
Notable quotes this month:
“When I’m a 1,085, you can hug my skeleton.”
“Mama why can’t we get a probe scanning microscope?”
Evan
Evan started his second big group activity this month in tee-ball. Inspired by his enjoyment with and ability to hit balls with his toy tee in the park recently, we decided to sign him up for the only sport he can do at this age. With the typical one-practice and one-game per week, Evan gave us a new experience when he dawned a team jersey, hat and glove and took the field. His version of taking the field though usually involved not following many directions for playing the game. As with the rest of the team, getting the players to stay in their positions and react to a ball coming their way really is like herding cats. After a couple practices things got a littler easier, but not much. Evan learned his “step and throw” technique and always swung hard at the ball on the tee. The parents took it all in stride, and we always knew when to cut off the innings in a game (usually after 2 or 3) and call it a day with our little tee-ball players.
Evan also continued on with his tumbling class, although the instructor changed. Unfortunately it became a little more about gymnastic moves instead of tumbling through a fun obstacle course with music. The latter suits toddlers a little better As such, our tumbling days at the Y will come to an end. Evan also tried a “hip-hop” class at the Y, but it was taught by the same instructor who took over tumbling. Needless to say, it was not Evan’s favorite class, and we did not finish that one out.
What Evan did take too a bit better was his first real swim class with Coach Lynn this summer. Calan had done the first four of eight weeks this year at another house. Now, the last four will be at our house; Evan in a younger class, and Calan in his older one. Evan did great, gradually learning to get his head under water on his own. This took a few weeks however, needing a few practice sessions with Dada. His biggest problem though is not closing his mouth when he goes under. Despite a big countdown and showing, and talking it through, he didn’t seem to mind getting some pool water in his mouth nearly every time. We’ve also been working on “straight legs” when kicking and free floating on his back. Lynn is great, as usual. We even invited her over for some grilled chicken and some games with the goys. She lived on a boat for a while with her young family, while homeschooling her children…so she has lots of interesting background raising a family.
Of course, Evan’s biggest toddler “hit” this month came when he spilled finger nail polish on the carpet… Nail polish isn’t something we’ve really had around the house in recent years. However, we needed to use it to mark some Hot Wheels cars that Evan got this month. We realized that Evan didn’t have any cars of his own, and always just played with the ones we had given Calan. Well… in Calan’s eyes, those are still HIS. So, you have a built-in “that’s mine” syndrome any time Evan wanted to play with some or take one to his room. Calan was willing to share a lot of times, but sometimes not as much. Easy solution; go to eBay, find a LOT for cheap and give them to Evan. The key of course is to differentiate them since kids will claim things that aren’t theirs. The old standard, nail polish trick did the job. But…Evan saw how fun it was to “paint” with nail polish and ended up spilling quite a bit of it on the family room floor, in the most visible area possible to boot. A few different attempts at removing it failed, so it looks like Evan’s mark will be left for years to come (SIGH). Next time, we’ll just use a Sharpie. At least that comes out with some alcohol…as we’ve learned, thanks to our boy Evan.
Notable quotes this month:
“Evans are too little to walk down stairs” After tripping and falling off the bottom few steps one day. 🙁
“Catwomans are not allowed to get on birds.”
Dada: “In a minute we’re going to go get ready for bed.”
Evan: “No… It’s summertime.”
We have several remotes for our entertainment center. We call them different things to distinguish them from one another. Evan has a habit of taking off with the smallest remote that we call the “baby” one. One day, when it was missing again, Dada said: “Evan, what did you do with the baby remote? Where did it go?” Evan said, “It grew up.”