Gymnastics Update

I wrote a post about a month or so ago about our dilemma with getting Mae to accept having a male gymnastics coach and how I was handling it. Or in fact, how I was not able to handle it. My best friend from college, Beth, commented on that post. (Actually I think she is the only person that ever comments on any of my posts. Thanks B!) Her advice made me stop in my tracks and realize I was making a mistake. I highly respect her as a mom, who has much more parenting creds [credentials] then I and realized she was right and I was probably, if not definitely, wrong. Also, from college to now she has always given sage and thoughtful advice that has steered me in the right direction. I also spoke with another mom friend who is a teacher and she echoed the same sentiments.

Bottom line, they both said that I wasn't really teaching her anything at age 3 by forcing her to go. They   also said that it was just going to lead to a whole lot of continued misery and unhappiness. They both said she is very young and this won't have her love/hate male teachers from here on out. I took their advice and called the gymnastics place the next day and switched Mae to another class with a female instructor.

The first class with the female instructor went pretty bumpy. I was a little confused by all of this. I thought maybe she just didn't like gymnastics anymore and I made the mistake of even signing her up for the class this session. I thought some of Mae's apprehension, confusion and tears were due to the fact that she saw her old [male] coach. I don't know if she had some PTSD about it all. Who knows with that child? Honestly. Anyways after missing last week due to the stomach bug, we were back again. I swore that if this didn't go well we were going to eat the rest of our money and I wasn't going to care one iota and the word "gymnastics" would never be uttered in our house again. Thankfully, it went well. Mae did have to come off the floor to "tell me something" twice. One was that she hit her head, the other I can't even remember now because it was so trivial. Her new coach [Megan] and I chatted after class. I, of course, profusely apologized that she had to deal with such drama. She said that  Mae was a totally different kid and was happy this class. Thank goodness for small miracles and woman coaches.

Coach Megan mentioned one thing that I did found interesting. She said that she generally speaks to the kids in a kid type tone - probably a little bit more high pitched and happy. She said that however with Mae she needed to talk to her like she was an adult in order to get her to respond to her. I don't really know what to make of it or what it means but thought it is something to note, especially when I or Mae reads back on this in many years.

So there you have it, hopefully the gymnastics problem is solved. Although, I still have the problem of how to entertain Whitaker for 45 minutes while we are there.

Restart

Since I have been notoriously bad about taking photos recently here is a photo of Mae from Friday (from my camera) when we got a moment of sun. Since then I don't think it has come out once -  huge boo. I don't know how much longer I can take living without some sun. Despite no sun, I have two kids that are in much better health and we were able to start off our week with a visit to a community pool and an afternoon play date with friends. Here is to a good start to the week, hope it continues. 

Spared

I am happy to report that Pearson and I were spared the stomach virus that befell Mae and Whit.

Despite being spared physically, the last few days have been rather trying in our house (or at least for me). Not only because we have been cooped up inside but also both kids want to be in my lap or picked up ALL day long. Do you know how exhausting it is carrying around a 27 pound toddler for most of the day? If not, I recommend strapping 27 pounds of weight to one side of your body and you can let me know if you think it is a treat. It would be sweet and ok if there wasn't disease over the entire house. I am not a germphobe but all I can think about is the need to decontaminate everything. Did I mention that despite being sick and needing sleep both my kids have been up by 5:30 for the last few days?

Needless to say this was a perfect storm for me to have a mini meltdown about it all. It also doesn't help that we live in a city where the sun doesn't ever seem to shine. Yesterday morning I declared to Pearson that I was D-O-N-E with the kids for the day. I think Whitaker having another bout of diarrhea at 7:00 am that required a full bath sent me over the edge. I also am having some hip issues, which I think are a result of picking and carrying the kids. Well, when Pearson woke up at 7:45 (after I had been up for 2 and half hours), I was pretty ginned up. I think these were the words I used when he walked downstairs. "I can't handle these kids anymore, not one bit. If I were you I would take them to the gym and put them in daycare for awhile."

To his credit he did. He shoed them away, entertained them, fed them, and made sure they were pretty much out of my hair. Here is hoping to a healthier and happier week ahead. 

Virus and Castles

Whitaker started throwing up Monday afternoon and has thrown up a few more times Monday and Tuesday and has had diarrhea since then. Needless to say, I have been cleaning up a lot of poop. I don't think I need to go into details to let you know how smelly and disgusting it has been. We thankfully had Grandma C here since Sunday to help us out. It was much needed help. Sadly she left this afternoon.

On a funnier note, since we have been cooped up at home. Today I mentioned to Mae that maybe we could build her princesses a house. She replied immediately, Mom, princesses don't live in houses they live in big castles. 

**Update: I typed that and was interrupted by Mae screaming. I walked upstairs and she was covered in a pool of vomit. Looks like this thing might go around. Wish us luck and hope I can report in the next few days that Pearson and I were unscathed.

So Proud

Today, we decided to take Mae up skiing and let Whit play in the snow. All I can say is that Pearson and I were beyond impressed with our little snow bunny Mae. She took to the slopes like a natural and by the end of our morning on the slopes she was going down all on her own. In fact, she was the one who repeatedly insisted that she do it on her own. Pearson didn't even encourage her one iota. She wanted to do the magic carpet on her, she wanted to get off of it on her own, and wanted to go down the hill on her own. I can't even tell you (but I will try) about how utterly proud I was of her. She was totally fearless, adventurous, athletic, daring, and totally willing to try a new experience and not complain.  

Whitaker on the other hand was pretty upset for a lot of the day because he was NOT on skis and was NOT able to rip it down the hill. Thankfully by the end of the morning Mae was doing so well on her own that Pearson was able to take him down by carrying him while I caught Mae going down. 

I must also say how hunky and awesome I think my husband is. He taught Mae how to ski with such patience, love, and excitement. He is also a total pro on ski and it is pretty sexy. On the drive home while the two kids dozed, he told me how he almost cried today because it was so great skiing with Mae. He said, "this is what makes parenting so unbelievable. Doing something I love with someone I love." Yes, it is love. 

PS - As you can also tell the weather was perfect to ski with kids. It was sunny and in the 40's. Mae never once complained about being cold and as you can tell from the photos she didn't even wear gloves. 

Checking out the bear. 

My little bear, with the bear with his bears hat on. 

While getting Mae's rental we turned our back on Whitaker for a second and he of course was behind the desk and was ready to work adjusting skis. 

Before knowing what was going to happen and he wasn't going to be able to participate. 

Scoping out the scene. 

Practicing her stance. 

Whitaker deciding to take off running up the mountain. 

AND he fell. The boots, his layers, and the snow got the best of him. 

Skis on and ready to go. She really wanted to use poles. 

And we told her no. 

And they are ready to shred. 

Off they go. 

Whitaker still blissfully unaware that Mae was going to ski and he was just going to hang out with me. 

First run on the magic carpet and all smiles. 

First run down between Pearson's legs. 

So happy! 

DISTRACTED. I had to feed Whitaker tons of trail mix with chocolate chips in order for him not to cry all day long. 

Whitaker then distracted himself with Pearson's poles. 

Another run. Getting the hang of it. 

On the carpet again and more excitement. 

She insisted on getting off the carpet by herself. 

She fell down the first time. 

But was totally unfazed by it. 

Whitaker FINALLY got his turn to rip. 

Family shot. 

Ready to ski on her own. 

All by herself. 

And falls happen but...

She got right back up. 

She emphatically insisted Pearson not ride the carpet with her. As you can tell here is the distance between them. 

Another run on her own. 

And another. I was a proud mama and felt the need to take lots of photos. 

More photos. 

And I got to deal with this beast all day. He and I headed to the car early because I had to change a stinky diaper. Then I let Whit play in the car for about a half hour. He pretended that he was driving and was finally happy. 

Pancake Breakfast

Yesterday, Mae's class had a pancake breakfast where parents, siblings, and other family were invited to join. Pearson decided (and more importantly was able) to join Mae and us for the pancakes. Mae loved introducing her daddy to all her friends. In fact, she introduced him to all of her classmates by saying "this is daddy." I think that Whitaker got the most fun out of it all because he was actually able to stay at the school for a whole hour. 

Mae introducing Daddy to Peyton and Lucy. 

Teacher Debbie and Teacher Traci helping the kids get their pancakes. 

Whit so excited he got to be a big kid for the day. 

Pearson testing out the chairs.