Freddie's Major Milestone

You'll never guess what happened today ...



This has been a long time coming. Freddie's been in official lessons, since this Spring, but his swimming REALLY picked up as we spent so much time in the water at the lake this Summer.

Though he was absolutely TERRIFIED, Mrs. Robin decided today was the day to push her little birdie out of the nest, and HE FLEW! Well, he swam, as you can see. What you can't hear, though, is his WAILING as he did it. He was absolutely scared to death - you can't hear his cries of horror over my own cries of jubilation. As soon as I fished him out of the water, he said something along the lines of, "I am never coming back here again."

Oh, but you are, Little Buddy.

It was such a great occasion that his daddy left the office for a few minutes to meet us for a celebratory cone of Freddie's favorite "green ice cream" (Mint Chocolate Chip).

It'll be a few weeks of his gaining confidence before I let him swim in the pool without his jacket - and years before I won't require one in the lake - but still, there is GREAT peace of mind from knowing that BOTH of my boys are finally - FINALLY! - official swimmers. Woohoo!

And yes, I DID say BOTH of my boys are swimming now. The reason there wasn't a post like the when Jones finally took off is because his was a relatively slow roll. He was doing great - swimming on his own earlier this Spring.

Then, somehow, he got terrified of the water. It was the strangest thing. He'd go to his lessons and pitch a fit out of the fear, even though he'd been flat out swimming for MONTHS. Mrs. Robin said it was probably best not to keep up with lessons - that we may scare him out of the water altogether - so I took her advice and just kept taking Freddie.

Then, when pool season started at my parents' house, Jones was swimming, pretty as you please. He's only gotten stronger with all of the time we spent at the lake this Summer, so we can officially cross "learn to swim" off of this Summer's Bucket List (which, lest you think I'm a Pinterest mom, we totally don't even have).

Let the fun begin.

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

The title of this post is somewhat melodramatic. I take that back: it's VERY melodramatic, but it does pretty accurately capture the yin and yang of living with a pair of preschoolers - more specifically, a very handsome and precious preschooler named Thomas Frederick Pressley.

In "Best of Times" news, Freddie has (finally) potty trained this week! I've known I needed to do it - for one thing, the child is nearly 3.5 years old. For another thing, he can't start preschool until he ditches the diapers.

But, with as much as we're on the road, diapers are just so CONVENIENT. I love that he can do his business, and I don't really have anything to do with it - until the time comes to do away with it.

But all good things must come to an end, right?

To be honest, what finally made me do what needed to be done was the fact that I've got a great opportunity to speak at a theatre in Charlotte on the 20th (thank You, Lord, for opening this door for me!), and because I want the relationship with the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center to continue (and grow), I really need to do a home-run kind of presentation, and there's no way I can prep for a home-run kind of presentation when constantly interrupted by pleas to press play (again) on "Day of the Diesels" or by one brother banging the other brother's head against the wall.

The answer was obvious: Clyde First Baptist, the boys' preschool, offers a super affordable summer day camp for kids who are enrolled for the fall. The catch? Potty-training is a pre-requisite.

So at some point late last week, I made the decision that, because I need a kid-free week to prep for the next week, Monday would be the day - the beginning of the end of our family's almost five year long reliance on diapers.

When it comes to potty training, I am a "cold turkey" kind of person. This works primarily because I've waited so late to train my boys that they are basically capable of teaching themselves. I wouldn't have it any other way. Those with toilet-using two year olds may have gotten there first, but I guarantee you I got there more easily, so, in my book, I win.

But this isn't about the "how" of potty training. It's about the "now" of potty training. It's done now, and after an incredibly easy week with so few accidents I can count them on one hand, Freddie is qualified for preschool, for super-affordable-summer-day-camp-at-preschool, and for using the pools on a Disney Cruise, if I can ever talk Jeremy in to taking one.

Cue my Pharrell William's "Happy" dance.

And now, for the "Worst of Times."

After starting out really strongly in swimming lessons, Freddie has gotten to the point where he absolutely will not - like, can not, even under threat of corporal punishment - jump into the pool, even with his life jacket on. He's suddenly terrified.

He's been like this for a few weeks, so after he and Jones finished their six weeks of swimming readiness lessons with Sarah Grace, I asked her opinion on whether or not they're ready to move on to actual swim lessons. Jones definitely is, she said (Woohoo!). Until Freddie's ready to jump in and to get his face and hair wet, he's not, so we've decided Jones will continue seeing Sarah Grace every Thursday, and Freddie will wait another year or so until he's ready.

It's not a big deal. 3.5 is really young for lessons, anyway. I'm just slightly surprised that Jones is ready for something before Freddie is, because we all know that doesn't happen often.

So, see? I told you it wasn't as bad as all that. "Worst of times"? Hardly. But with the potty training thing behind us, I can only imagine that the "best of times" are ahead.

Lesson: Learned?

What a difference a day makes!

Sara Grace decided to do the boys' swim lessons together again today. This was MUCH to their delight. Towards the end of the hour, she brought a plate of treats to me with a ribbon that said, "Personal Best." On the back, she'd written, "TO JONES, YOU'RE AWESOME. SARA GRACE."

TO JONES?!

FOR REAL?!?!

Turns out, as Sara Grace put it, he'd done everything she'd asked him to today, so the stark change in his behavior warranted the treat.

You'll notice Freddie DIDN'T get a treat. He didn't pitch a Jones Pressley kind of fit, but he also wasn't as willing to jump into the deep-end as Jones was.

Maybe next week.

Oh, and Nana came to watch this week's lesson, which was AWESOME!

Going swimmingly

I have often said - somewhat jokingly - that God gave us Freddie, because He knew how much Jones needed him. Today definitely helped to prove my point.

The boys and I were at swim class. I'd done all of my work to prep Jones for his lesson - encouraging, threatening, bribing, you name it; I've not been above it. We'd even sung "the Bravest Cat" from the "PJ Masks" soundtrack approximately 3,000 times between our house and the Fitness Center. Still, as soon as (the unbelievably wonderful) Sarah Grace came over to collect the older of her two charges, he started to tense up.

I could tell that the promise of new goggles or the suggestion of a strawberry milkshake would not help to calm him down. Luckily, though, Sarah Grace came up with something. She suggested teaching both boys together, since she had a trainee observing her all afternoon. As soon as she asked Jones if he wanted Freddie with him, his entire demeanor changed.

He went from nervous and beginning-to-be-bulligerant to chatty and charming. The entire lesson was INCREDIBLE, a credit to Sarah Grace's unwillingness to give up on Jones - or to be swayed by how difficult it can be to convince him to do something that he just doesn't want to do.

I was so, so thankful.

She's decided to keep training them together, having unlocked the key to success with the bigger of the brothers, and if today's lesson as any indication, Jones will be swimming in time for Summer days at Lake Chatuge.

After his lesson, he did the funniest thing. He'd taken his tractor umbrella into the lesson, for some reason - it wasn't raining when we went in. As soon as he got out of the pool, he grabbed it, hunched over, put his hand on his back, and started walking like an old person.

Where he has seen this to even emulate it, I don't know, but it was hilarious. Of course, I couldn't get my camera out in time to capture the original walk, but I DID convince him to recreate it for me, if only for a few seconds. On his own, he then walked out of the Fitness Center, hand on his back, umbrella in the air.

To those who've asked if I'm going to put Jones in Drama classes, I may not have a choice in the matter.