Week 8: Swimming Along

{Baboosic Lake}

Ryan at Baboosic Lake Swim Class, 6/23/2010

If you ask Ryan what she’s doing the summer, she’ll proudly rattle off the following; “swim lessons, vacation, Montessori Camp and Farm Camp”. This week kicked off her summer activities with swim lessons at Baboosic Lake in Amherst, NH. The town beach at Baboosic Lake is the perfect lakeside recreational spot. In many ways it reminds me of the Middlebury Recreational Area — the MRA to the locals — on Lake Quassapaug where I grew up. The gentle pitch into warm lake water with a nice sandy bottom makes for a great place for children to get comfortable in the water and learn how to swim.

For the second year running, Ryan will be in the Sunfish swim group for an eight day period of half hour swim lessons. Ryan’s had some form of swim lessons for the past few years, but she’s still not comfortable getting her face wet or going underwater. Hopefully this week of lessons, combined with a week lake vacation next week with the family will help conquer those fears.

Ryan swimming with her teacher Elissa, 6/22/2010

Unlike past years that we’ve gone to the lake, this year presents a new challenge — Julia. The logistics of coordinating between naps, feedings, and the lugging of gear in one trip from the car to the beach with two kids took all my planning abilities. The beach mornings are cut to two hour trips, which seems to work well for everyone with us getting to the beach at 10 am and leaving after a picnic lunch shortly after noon.

Ryan is already getting more comfortable with the water and also showcasing some social ability to approach other children around the beach to play with. Julia’s first exposure to swimming went very well. She smiled often and didn’t cry once — a success.

Julia and Dad swimming in the lake for the first time, 6/22/2010

{Dry Nights}

A few weeks back Ryan’s friend proudly declared in Ryan’s presence that she no longer wore a pull up at night and slept with her undies on. Ryan, who had only a few gone a few nights straight through with a dry pull up to that point, immediately swore off pull ups herself. After a dry first night that gave Jen and I a false sense of security, Ryan struggled mightily staying dry throughout the night. Sheets were stripped and washed every morning and I felt unable to help in any way.

Bedwetting was a sensitive topic for me as I was a bedwetting through my tenth year. I can remember the shame I carried with me when I would stay over at a friends house for a sleepover knowing what might happen. One of my biggest fears was having that trait passed along to my children. According to research cited on Wikipedia;

“Bedwetting has a strong genetic component. Children whose parents were not enuretic have only a 15% incidence of bedwetting. When one or both parents were bedwetters, the rates jump to 44% and 77% respectively”, Wikipedia, Nocturnal Enuresis

The numbers certainly weren’t helping my anxiety in this case.

Of course, I understood rationally that she was just turning four years old and that this was a normal developmental process. Most girls don’t stay dry through the night consistently until the age of 6 and twenty percent of all five year olds still wet the bed at night.

But due to the emotional baggage I carried around this topic, rational thinking wasn’t my strong suit and I struggled emotionally as Ryan wasn’t showing any early signs of being able to make it through the night dry. Thankfully about two weeks ago, coincidently — or not so coincidently — after Ryan’s first chiropractic adjustment, the tide started to turn and turn quickly. We’re currently in the middle of a long dry spell and while I don’t expect to never experience setbacks, we are certainly out of the emotional jungle I had found myself lost in only weeks before.

{Fireflies}

Often times I’ll hear a song that I just know will captivate Ryan. The moment I heard the song below, Fireflies by Owl City, I knew we had our first real summer jam of 2010 queued up.

{Garden Party}

Ryan has always tolerated eating some vegetables. I am not sure that she has loved them, but she has eaten them regularly — brocoli, carrots, cucumber, peppers, green beans and others are acceptable sides to an entree of her liking. We haven’t had nearly as much luck however with the concept of a “salad”.

Ryan showing off the fruits -- or should I say vegetables -- of her labor, 6/20/2010

Earlier this summer, Ryan and her grandmother, Zaza, planted a variety of vegetables in a small garden designated as “Ryan’s Garden” under the crab apple tree next to our patio. The garden included a small smattering of peas, green beans, brocoli, lettuce and carrots. Ryan enjoyed the act of planting as well as the cultivating and harvesting of her labor and when it came time to eat our first salad from the garden, Ryan announced her love of lettuce. Since then, getting her to expand and enjoy her vegetables on a regular basis has been an easier task. I guess with respect to kids and vegetables, you really do reap what you sow.

{Stats and Facts}

Julia’s repertoire of foods continues to grow — add Banana and Peas to the list.
Number of individual peas yielded by Ryan’s Garden: 127
Julia has been found waking from her nap on all fours rocking back and forth — mobility could be next and I am not prepared for that.
If you go see the Toe Jam Puppet Band, prepare to get a little wet.
Times Fireflies was played: 43 and counting.
Actual Fireflies seen: 0.