Not such a "Splashing" Success

Swimming lessons were not so great! They love the water (pool or ocean) but they were not into swimming lessons. Cormac was beyond excited when we arrived. He pulled his clothes off and ripped his implants off because he knows they can't go in the water. He went right with the teacher and she took him around the pool. She brought him back and he sat on the step and decided he wanted to get out. He proceeds to get out of the pool, pull his bathing suit off and tossed in on the ground and tell me "I don't want to be wet. Where's my hat and coat? I want to go home". At which point the teacher says "well, he really does have beautiful language, you would never know he's deaf!" A minute later he asked for him implants but not before putting on his green shamrock hat. So there he was standing there in a swimmy diaper with his green shamrock hat on all teary eyed.

I was wondering if Cormac not being able to hear was upsetting to him. He rarely goes without his implants. I mean, the kids sleeps in them. The only time he is without them is in the bath. Last summer he didnt seem to mind when he couldn't hear but I am wondering if things are different now. He's a different kid. He relies on his hearing and LOVES to hear. I guess we will have to see. Or I will have to somehow rig up something so he can wear his implant in the water. I know, not a smart idea but I would like to make him as comfortable as possible. I don't want him to dislike the water because of his implants.

Colin was next and at first refused to go near the water. I dipped his feet and he went in with the teacher. Did a lap just like Cormac. I heard him say on the other side of the pool. "Ok, I want to go by Mommy now." She brought him back he got out and he was done.

Ciaran took the most coaxing to get in the water but he seemed to enjoy it the most once he was in the pool. He did one lap, came back and he was done.

None of them cried. They just didn't want to do it. The instructor said she didn't think they were old enough for lessons. NOw, I know many kids who go much younger but I guess she is all business. No playing. They are there to learn to swim and not play around. My guys would have been more than happy to just play in the water. Oh well, I will try again in a few months. She was kind enough to not charge us anything for our trial and said bring them back when they are older.

Now I have to find another activity for us to attend this winter. I can' stand being in the house all the time. Maybe gymnastics???

Snow, Sledding, Soccer and Swimming!

It seems to be a week of "s's". We started soccer class on Friday morning. I found a program that accepts kids before three. It was a blast. The boys loved it. Colin was a little shy at first and sat by himself but he didnt complain, just sat there. Cormac and Ciaran literally were sqealing with delight yelling "I'm playing soccer ball". (I keep telling them it's just soccer but I guess they are used to saying baseball, football, basketball. So, to them, it will be soccer ball!) There are five kids in the class of which we are three but that's usually the case when we go to a class. As for it actually being soccer??? I mean no one is even three years old yet so it's basically working on some skills. No games or anything. The soccer classes were a gift from my Dad for Christmas. AWESOME!!


Snow and sledding. We got some snow over the weekend. It was supposed to be more of a storm but wound up being only about 3 1/2 inches followed by some ice. It might has well been 3 feet for my little monkeys. They didn't care either way. We bundled them up this morning and out we went. Armed with shovels, dump trucks and our new sleds courtesy of Aunt Mary Norton. We all had so much fun as you will see in the pictures and videos. We live on a pretty decent sized hill so to get to the neighbors there is a slope. It is the smallest little hill you have ever seen. But at 2 years old it must be just perfect. They were going down in their sleds. I think the ice on top was giving them some extra push. At one point Ciaran and Cormac were going so fast they went under the giant pine tree on the lawn. I had to catch them before the bolted into the street. This was all done with huge smiles and giggles. Frank was even going down the hill with them. I sat out on the sledding. Wasn't too sure if I should be sledding while I am 4 months pregnant! We came inside and had some Hot Chocolate with marshmallows. What a wonderful way to spend the morning. Nothing better than a fun filled family morning.

We start swimming on Tuesday thanks to Meema. That was her Christmas gift to the boys. I had a difficult time finding someplace to take them for lessons. I didn't want to have to join the Y or something just for lessons. Everything was so expensive. By some luck, I found a woman who teaches at a pool in a hotel. She wil take all three of them and the parents do not have to go in the pool. This was the other issue I was having. Most places require a parent per child for swimming until they are older. Luckily, this is not the case with our new instructor. They will be the only students. I wanted to make sure she understood Coramc would be deaf in the water and he will need to read her lips. Not sure how she would react. SHE COULD NOT BE HAPPIER! She actually lost her hearing in one of ears and recently and wears a BAJA hearing aid. She said they will understand each other like no others! She had her surgery at NYU just like us! We couldn't be happier to find someone who understands us.

With all these activities it sure presented lots of language opportunities especially using the letter "s". We talked alot about all our activities and Cormac remembered at soccer to "listen to the coach" as he told me when we got there.