Cool in the Pool

We wound up staying in four different hotels over the past two weeks as we negotiated the move from Virginia to Michigan, with a side trip to Montana thrown in for good measure. All of them had pools, which was really nice. Jonathan found it difficult to fall asleep with all four of us sharing a room, but a long evening swim in the pool seemed to tire him out. So I made it a priority to get him in the water every chance I could.

The first night, we were in an outdoor pool in Charlottesville - our house, including the beds, had been packed into boxes. We had it all to ourselves and it was quiet and clean, with only a few leaves floating in the water. Jonathan was pretty nervous about swimming and was able to speak about his feelings to a greater extent than I've previously seen from him. He made sure to tell me many times "You're going to hold on tight to me, Mommy. Don't let me go!" He was anxious more than panicky, however. He seemed to decide that the sweeter he was, the more likely I'd be to not drown him, so he gave me lots of kisses and hugs and generally buttered me up. He really did enjoy travelling around the pool in my arms, especially picking the leaves out of the water.

Our next hotel was in Mishawaka, Indiana - we couldn't get a hotel in St. Joseph due to the Art Fair. This was an indoor pool right off the lobby and the first time we saw it, it also was empty and invitign. I came down a little while later and it was full of twelve year old baseball players and baton twirlers who were in town from some big tournaments. I thought Jonathan wouldn't be able to swim that night, but at 7 pm he looked so energized, I decided we needed to give it a try. It was really loud down there, with kids jumping and shouting, but we just slipped in the water and kept to one quiet corner. Chris thinks I must have given a "mom look" or something, but I swear I didn't - somehow, all the kids evacuated the pool about five minutes after we got in. Jonathan still wanted to "hold on tight!" but would let go of my shoulder long enough for me to shift him around - a big improvement for my aching back.

After two nights in Mishawaka, we moved up to the Benton Harbor Marriott. This pool had a feature that Jonathan really enjoyed - an indoor-outdoor pool, with a little corridor between the two. As we got in, a kid who was about five years old splashed at me. I did give that kid a "mom look" until he stopped. Jonathan stretched up to kiss my cheek and tell me "It's okay, Mommy." I've seen before that he gets his feelings hurt easily if another child is rude to him, and I think he was projecting that on to me as well. We went in and out and in again, to Jonathan's delight. There was a little rain and he enjoyed watching the drops land in the pool. He also let me spin him around while he lay on his back in the water - this got his hair wet up to the crown of his head, which he found delightfully daring.

By the time we hit the C'mon Inn (groan) in Montana, Jonathan was a pool expert. Chris took him in one afternoon and with his daddy egging him on, he got a lot more daring. I was desperate on Saturday to read the last Harry Potter book, so I decided to take him in for a good long time, so he would go to sleep early. Chris said "Jonathan can walk around in the shallow end" and sure enough, he was right! The shallow end was three feet deep and the water came to just under his chin. Jonathan found he could walk slowly and carefully on his toes. He walked too far one time and I pulled him out as his face went under the water. He coughed a little and told me "I need to be more careful!" With a lot of encouragement, he would also climb up the ladder at the deep end and jump off the top rung into my arms. We'll sign him up for swimming lessons, but I don't think he'll need very many.

Fourth of July Fireworks

(I know this one comes a little late, but we've had a super busy month, what with moving to Michigan. I'll try ot get caught up now that we have all our utilities turned on.)

We started our Fourth of July rather early. Chris bought several large fountains from a roadside stand and we headed out to the front yard after dinner. It was still several hours away from sunset, but we thought if Jonathan got too tired for the real fireworks, at least he'd have seen something for the holiday. Chris moved the cars and set up the fountain in the street, which Jonathan, Alex and I sat on the stoop.

Those things are louder than the ones we remember from our childhood! The first fountain started off pleasantly enough, with a shower of sparks, but soon started popping off loud little explosions. Jonathan got up from his seat and edged behind me. After the first fountain was over, he started begging for us all to go inside. We reassured him, but ultimately, he decided he would be happier watching from inside the house, with the glass door between him and the pyrotechnics.

Later that evening, he still seemed wide awake, so we made plans to meet Nathaniel, Cynthia and Sam at Pantops, a mountain on the eastern part of Charlottesville. Nate had a strong recommendation from a friend that this was a great place to see the fireworks. Cynthia told me she'd have glowsticks for the kids. Nate's friend must have spoken to a few other people - there were about five hundred when we got there. The glowsticks were a great idea, and we managed to pick them out from the crowd.

Jonathan and Sam amused themselves easily while we waited for the sun to set. Sam would shout "Beep Beep Jonathan!" and he would fall all over himself in gales of laughter. The adults spent the time looking around over the city. The view was terrific and we could see small bursts of fireworks from Staunton, Orange and Ruckersville. We all thought we could see McIntire Park below us, but as the minutes after the scheduled start time slipped past, we tried to work out the park's exact location.

Suddenly, we could hear loud bangs and flashes of light filled the sky, but we couldn't see any fireworks. Did I mention that Pantops has been heavily developed in the six years since we've lived in Charlottesville? There was a nice new brick office building just downhill from our perch. Turns out that was blocking the view of the fireworks. So five hundred people got up en masse, gathered their chairs and blankets, and sprinted down the hill. We managed to find a bit of space on the edge of the parking lot and saw the rest of the show. Jonathan oohed and aahed with each one and Aelx alternately slept and chewed on the edge of the Bjorn. The drive home was super-easy and all in all, we were glad we had skipped the crowds at the park.

Happy Fourth of July!

A little precocious

Jonathan's just determined to grow up. This weekend, we realized several times that we've got one smart little boy on our hands. We drove over into the Valley for our last trip to the big Book Fair. We left relatively early in the morning; this was the opening day and we wanted to beat the crowds. Jonathan got kind of tired looking at all the trucks and campers on I-81 and started to fuss. I turned around and suggested he take a little sleep. He looked at me indignantly and said "I sleep ALL night long!"

The Book Fair was great and we got a huge pile for Jonathan. On the way back we visited the Crozet Firefighter's Fair (with a detour home for a bath and a nap after a diaper mishap of epic proportions.) Jonathan was mesmerized with the clog dancing, loved touching all the fire trucks, and tried to crawl through the large inflatable train, but decided he didn't like it very much once he got in. He went to bed early, but not before bringing up all his new books and placing them on the bookshelves. He insisted on hearing two of his Curious George books four times in quick succession. (I really need to not buy the books that will drive me crazy to read over and over.)

Next morning, he seemed to need a few extra cuddles. He crawled in to see me, meowing and telling me "I'm a kitty cat!" I petted him and scratched him behind the ears. He asked for my help in putting his slippers over his hands and said "I need them." I asked him why and he told me "Kitty cats don't have hands!" Good point, I thought. He was a kitty several times throughout the day. He'd ask me to pull his tail and I'd pull on his leg. Then he'd tell me "Say sorry!" and I'd have to say "I'm sorry, kitty cat. I didn't mean to pull your tail." Then he'd meow and smile.

It was another early bedtime. We read three stories from the new books and he asked for his snuggle. As he climbed into bed, he pulled out his two favorite George books from under the covers, where he'd had them during his nap. He told me he wanted to sleep with the George books, and I told him that was okay. We had our last hug of the night and he started leafing through the pages. I listened to him whisper for a moment and realized he had already memorized the opening page.