Caleb's Swimming Lessons

These pictures are over Caleb's last two days of swimming with the class of PS1 (Pre-school swim level 1) which was this past Thursday and Friday, July 30th and 31st. He's growing so fast on us and has done so well in his classes. He'll be moving up to PS2 starting Monday, August 3rd. He's now able to swim on his own for a few seconds at a time, and he's still trying to balance it all out, but overall he's doing so well. He can hold his breath for about 7 seconds and he can go under without holding his nose and freaking out. He's also went under and opened his eyes (but didn't care for it too much). We're so proud of him for all that he's accomplished in such a short amount of time!! He loved his teacher this time, Ms. Angel. All of the instructors are from Northern Iowa in a college program. The program allows them to come out for free for the summer and teach the kids. Once the swim lessons are over, they go back to school. Anyways, Caleb's still working on a few things, but overall is doing wonderful!! He's not the best in a life jacket, but he's great with his arm floats and without them. Enjoy the pictures and there will be two videos at the bottom to let you see how things went. On the last day, Friday, it was an hour session and the parents got to swim with the kids for the first 30 minutes then we all got out and had snacks that all the parents brought. We had a blast and it's so much fun watching Caleb grow and learn. Love you all!!

All the kids were listening to the two instructors talk about safety and what they needed to do if someone was in trouble. They learned what a lifeguard is and what a lifeguard does. They also learned what the number is you call when there is an emergency.

About to jump in with the life jackets and swim around for a few minutes.

Yes, that's my kid spitting water over the side of the pool.

Watching the other kids about to jump in the water.

Caleb being silly.

Me and Caleb during the family swim.

Him giving me the best hug!!!

This video is Caleb swimming by himself to the wall. He finally bumped into it later on so now he reaches a little better with his hands, but here's a little peak at what he can do now.

This video is of Caleb swimming with his life jacket on. He was so funny because he couldn't really stay on his belly. He would get on his back and try and roll over to get on his belly, then it'd flip him over again, lol. He was really funny and the instructors loved it (they thought he was doing it on purpose - but he was just trying to get balanced).

Silly Hair Day

Here's a few pictures of Caleb and his hair on daycare's "silly hair day". The kids were suppose to come in with either bed hair or something different. This is the day that Caleb went to the dentist so we went back home to do the hair then I took him to daycare. He was so proud of his hair he was showing it off to his teachers. He would touch it and smile which was the cutest thing. He was also worried about lying down for naptime due to messing his hair up. It didn't budge though. We apparently have some amazing gel and his hair stayed in place ALL day long!! He would also ask over the following days to have spikey hair again. His teachers were proud because he was one of the only ones participating so they got to take pictures to hang up where they needed.

Caleb Sliding

Here's a video of Caleb coming down the slide. He's so funny at the pool and LOVES the water! He has a blast everytime we go. Most days the slide is closed but this day we lucked out. He wouldn't let us take the arm floats off so he could swim to the edge and get out and do it again, all by himself. He's such a great little boy and we have been so blessed to have one as independent, smart, and funny like he is. He also has a smart mouth, he's sassy, and has lots of attitude right now, but we're working on that. He likes to talk back a little too much too, so we're having to address that as well. Overall, he does great and has so many great days. The best thing about all of that, is the attitude seems to only come out around us...thank goodness!! Daycare still thinks he's such an angel (which he is), but he likes to bring home what he learns there to test us. :)

Caleb and his friend Dax

Waiting patiently in line

FLYING down the slide!!! He goes so fast!!

Our Dog - Diego

I have been the one, for many reasons, that has not wanted a dog. I finally found one on a yardsale sight here similar to Ebay or Craigslist. It's called Okinawa Yardsales. Anyways, I found an 8 year old Golden Retriever that I thought would be perfect for us. He's old, so there's no barking (hopefully), not much energy to care who plays with him all the time, and he's not only house broken but probably wouldn't chew on things. Perfect for me right?? Well, I thought so. Daniel went to look at the picture the next day and the ad had been deleted, so we told her no because we could no longer see the pictures or whatever. She posted the ad again, which he finally saw, and fell in love. HAD to have this dog. I called her and explained what was going on, and she said she had found another home for him. Well, lucky for me Caleb and Daniel were on a walk one night around the neighborhood and one of the places that Caleb wanted to stop had a golden retriever in the front yard. Of course, Daniel mentions wanting one, and the guy mentions that he was about to post the dog that night on Okinawa Yardsales, so if we're interested we can take him with us. Of course we ended up with the dog, Diego, and after a few weeks of realizing that it was a LOT harder than it seems (that would obviously be Daniel, because I knew better) we decided to let another family adopt him. Daniel felt like he couldn't give him the attention he needed and we decided to give him to another family. The family we chose has two boys and just moved here. They had also owned two Golden Retrievers back home so the dad knew he wanted one here as well. The oldest boy was about 10 or 11 so he could walk Diego and play with him a little better than Caleb could. We're excited that Diego's found such a great family and although we tried the dog thing, it's still not for us right now. Maybe when we get back and we have an actual yard. We miss him, believe it or not, but we're so glad that he has a family that gives him more attention than we could. Caleb also did very well with him being here then finding a new home. He never cried, and he only mentions Diego on occassions. Just thought we'd let you all know.

July 4th, 2009

On July 4th, we had to change it up a little. This has been one of our first years that we've had to celebrate it somewhere besides the beach in FL. We went to our friend's, Mike and Debbie's, house for a BBQ and actually stayed the night before with our dog Diego. That was interesting. We all shared a bed while Diego scratched ALL NIGHT long on the floor!! UGH!! No one slept well at all. Daniel ended up leaving to go to his "Gunny's" house (his boss) for a BBQ. It was during Caleb's nap time and I was helping Debbie cook, so he went solo with Diego. He finally got back right before we started eating and we hung out for a while and talked with friends. We played Cranium then went to the beach and watched the fireworks. They had a LONG show from one of the bases near by. They were gorgeous!! We took a few family pictures while we were down there but you can't really see them too well. We had a great time and really missed being around family back home.

Us on the balcony outside of the house.

Daniel and I goofing off with the camera.

The boys once we got home (and before we did the webcam with everyone).

Me and Caleb during the game Cranium.

Swimming Video part 2

Here's another video of Caleb swimming. In this video he's doing his back float and we're singing a song. He really enjoys this and I can't wait until his lessons start back up!!

Video of Caleb's Swim Lesson

Here's a quick video of Caleb going under the water. I know it's not the best quality but you can see what's going on for the most part. He went under the water once with my help then insisted that he needed to do it himself. You'll see in the clip what he has to do ALL the time! Hope you enjoy!!

First Round of Lessons - Finished

On July 10th, Caleb officially "passed" his swimming class to go up to another version. This time he'll be with the instructor. I felt like I needed to be there with him because he's still a little shy around new people. He warms right up but the initial contact in the beginning isn't the best, especially with the water where you have to trust someone. Now that he knows what he'll need to be doing and he's met a few of the teachers we'll be starting our next session on July 20th. He's done so much in this class and is so independent!! We'll take him to the pool on the weekends or later afternoon and we'll let him wear his arm floats, and he wants nothing to do with us. He'll tell us that he can do it all by himself. Sometimes he flips over and can't get back up, but that's usually when he's in the life jacket instead. Anyways, he's a champ and has been a little water bug from day 1. He loves going under and we've only had one accident where he went under a little longer than he would of liked, but he came up and got over it pretty quick.

Smiling at me. About to get into the water.

Practicing our back float

Singing a song, about to go under the water.

Blowing bubbles

Practicing our kicking

Certification for Caleb saying what he's accomplished from the class!!

Around the House

Here are a few pictures taken around the house before daycare and on Sunday before church. Just wanted to share them with you all.

Caleb's still in swim lessons and our last session of the PS1 (swimming with mom or dad) will end this Friday. I'm excited because he really enjoys the water, so hopefully when we sign him up for the next session he'll be comfortable swimming with the instructor.

One of Caleb's many faces.

One morning before daycare

Bowling Day

Here are some pictures from the end of June. We decided to take Caleb to the bowling alley and hang out for a few hours playing games and having pizza. Caleb got to play some games while we waited on our pizza, and before and after that, we bowled. I think Caleb had the highest score in one game beating us both!! That's so sad seeing in how at one point no one was even close to 100 points!!