5 posts tagged “gym”
A week and a half ago, we had our first combination parent-tot/pregym class with the kids. So all four of us got to go in. Aidan was so excited for Emory to join us, and Alanna was at the ready to help her little sister! Emory was excited until reality set in. She screamed and insisted on going back to the top of the ramp to watch Aidan and Alanna through the window. I finally got her to stop crying when I got her to roll back and forth on her back during the warm-up. Then she was pretty much unstoppable from that point on. She loved every minute, and whenever there was a surface available for her to climb up on and jump off of, she was in heaven. She had a great time! The funniest part was when we walked over to the trampoline. Emory has never stepped foot onto or near any trampoline of any sort. She just ran ahead of me, jumped on the mat next to the tramp, ran right onto the trampoline and started bouncing. No adults anywhere within reach. Fearless... The coach got some good laughs seeing how different Emory is from Aidan and Alanna. She really did well though. She waited her turn pretty well with some prompting, despite her excitement to go through the obstacle course or swing on the bars. I told her she needed to wait for the coach to call her name, so then every minute or two as we waited, she's hold her arms out and expressively tell me "When Coach Carlos call my name, then I can have a turn!" She's a quick study, that Emory!
Can't wait to see how this week goes. I got a work out last time....
Phew, it has been a crazy fun couple of weeks! We FINALLY got to go to the Outerbanks...a MUCH anticipated event around here. Aidan started asking daily if we could go to the beach sometime in July, so we started a countdown sticker chart. We had a great week and beautiful weather with the exception of Friday when the effects of Tropical Storm Hanna started rolling into town. The kids had a blast playing in the surf and collecting shells. They also really enjoyed having lots of time to spend with extended family. We ventured up to Corolla one morning and down to the aquarium in Roanoke another morning. There were many tears when it came time to leave; no one wanted the good times to end! The kids had a little trouble sleeping for various reasons, particularly Emory, and when we got home the kids were clearly happy to be back in their own beds. Emory has been sacking out in no time flat....thank God because she was getting out of control with the lack of sleep!
Since we returned from the beach a day early, we made sure to do some extra fun things on Jason's last two days off. So yesterday we went back to our favorite warehouse bounce-house venue and let the kids climb and bounce their little hears out. It was so fun watching them laugh and giggle as they bounced, grinning ear-to-ear. This morning we decided to go out for brunch. Wow, it was DELICIOUS! The kids split a gigantic bowl of oatmeal garnished with fresh strawberries, raisins, brown sugar and chopped walnuts AND and enormous yogurt parfait with granola, pineapple, grapes and cantaloupe. Jason and I both had eggs benedict...oh.my.god...yum. We weren't halfway through eating before we were trying to decide when we could justify going back!
And last but not least....school starts tomorrow! Everyone is excited, and I hope that carries over to the reality at drop-off time. We've been talking it up and have a little countdown paper chain that we've been deconstructing one link at a time as each day has passed. We have our new personalized bags that the church provided, snazzy little lunch boxes, fancy-schmancy labels on all our stuff, our clothes are laid out and we are READY! I'm excited to hear how their first day goes, and I'm mentally preparing for two superstar days next week...one Monday and one Wednesday. We have to make our absolutely nut-free snacks/birthday treats and bring a special something for "sharing time" (aka show n tell.) I have somehow gotten myself quickly roped in as a room parent, so we'll see how that goes! I'm looking forward to getting a chance to meet the parents and get to know the teachers!
This morning Aidan and Alanna had their Olympic Stars exhibition at the gym. It was so cute. There were about 20 kids participating, and they did a little gymnastics meet to show off the skills they've learned this year. Oddly, they decided to split kids up into small groups, but not the groups they are normally in for their weekly class. Aidan didn't seem to mind, but Alanna was quite distraught at first. She is used to having only 4-6 kids in the class and no parents in the gym, and always Coach Carlos. Today there were kids from 5 different classes and 4-5 new coaches not only present, but touching her and instructing her. This was NOT good. Fortunately Coach Carlos led her small group, and Aidan was in her group as well. Aidan was very silly and happily led his "team" waving and grinning from ear to ear.
First up was the beam, and for whatever reason, they decided to let Alanna go first. She had a little routine they had all been practicing that she could usually do by herself, but she was so unhappy with the situation Coach Carlos had to hold her hand through it. She made it...despite having to do it facing the entire audience. Aidan smiled enthusiastically as he did his routine and was so distracted by hamming it up for the audience, he fell off the side...only a few inches, of course. He dismounted (i.e. jumped off the side), landed, then proceeded to put his head on the floor in a down-dog position then roll to the side, grinning all the while.
They went through an obstacle course, a "vault" and parallel bars, too, and by the end Alanna was having a great time. When it was all over they called each child to the podium to get a medal and a certificate. It was adorable. Strangely enough, Aidan refused to go up on the podium to receive his, and Alanna couldn't get up there fast enough. She was so excited to get her medal! She wore it for much of the day today. Aidan has yet to put his on, but he has played with it. That was an unexpected twist!
Alanna caught the bug a few weeks ago....at long last! Now she really looks forward to going to her gym class on Monday mornings, and she does everything with gusto. Aidan has taken on Alanna's former role in a way; the last two weeks, he cried when we went in, and he laid flat on the floor for the first five minutes one day. He wouldn't move a muscle. The rest of the class he had random moments when he'd sink to the floor and refuse to participate any further. This was definitely unexpected since he has loved the gym class so much up to now. At one point, the coach had Alanna try to coax Aidan to the other side of the gym floor, and she ran out and hugged him. When they got back to the other kids, another little boy ran over and hugged Aidan too. It was adorable. I just can't help but wonder how long this sweet twin relationship will continue. Being a boy and a girl, I can only imagine there might come a day when they aren't as affectionate with one another. But who knows!!! It's just so sweet to watch them grow together, love each other and look to one another for so much happiness and comfort. I LOVE IT!
Miss Emory is ever the little firecracker, and she has just been a little sweetheart the last few days. She is teething...I think...she was stuffing as many fingers and/or fists as she could in her mouth while we watched the gym class this morning. Then she wiped her slobbery hand on my face...nice. I made the mistake of reacting, which she thought was hilarious and obviously prompted her to continue trying to wipe her hands all over my face. EWW. This morning, I had my first experience with putting small objects into small orifices. Emory said "Look at me!" I turned my head and saw a Kix sticking out of her nose. Fortunately, I had the wherewith all not to react in any way that would encourage her to do this again. I thought I'd made it through the moment successfully. Then Alanna piped up with "What did Emory put in her nostril??" That prompted Emory to put a Kix in the other nostril and say "Nostril....nostril." (or more accurately "noswel! noswel!") Only Emory.... Hopefully that will be the end of it, but with Emory I think there is only more to come. (Once again, she has done something that Aidan and Alanna never even attempted. I didn't know just how angelic they were...and thank God because there were two!) She is full of surprises, and she is definitely good for a laugh. Oh, and how she adores her big brother and sister.
Aidan and Alanna had their gym class this morning with Coach Carlos, and Jason decided to make a little reward chart to see if he could entice Alanna to actually participate now that they've been in the class for 6 weeks. We've tried to just encourage her gently, but we've had no luck thus far. We thought that Jason's reward chart would be enough to get her going. They will earn a star each time they participate, which is no problem for Aidan, and when they get three stars, they get some alone time with Jason.
When we arrived at the gym this morning, Alanna's eyes welled up with tears, and she didn't want to go in. This was a first. Prior to this, she would go in without much of a fuss and just sit on a mat and watch quietly through the entire hour without moving so much as a toe off her little mat. Today I had high hopes, but she sat on the sidelines again. Finally, I went in and told her she needed to start taking her turns or come out and sit in the stroller. I made it clear she would not be having fun in the stroller, and she would not be allowed to sit and watch and then get a sticker at the end. As I suspected, she chose to sit in the stroller. However, I made her take one turn before she was allowed to come out of the gym. You'd think she was being tortured as she cried and wailed through her entire tour of the obstacle course. Coach Carlos was fantastic and helped her through the first couple of things, and then he had her do some things on her own. He helped her through one more cycle, as she whimpered all the while. Then she begrudgingly decided to sit in line for the balance beam. She started to get upset, and she asked Aidan to come sit by her. Being the very sensitive boy that he is, he quickly obliged. She made it through the balance beam event, and went on to the bars. On her first turn on the bars, I saw a slight smile flash across her face when she turned upside down during a hip roll, and within a few minutes she was grinning ear to ear! She looked up at me through the window with that glimmer in her eye...I think she's hooked. It was great to see her finally jump in, and she had a great time. She was able to do everything right off the bat.
She was so excited when she came out, and she couldn't wait to call Jason to tell him she took her turns. Now, I'm crossing my fingers that she's "got the bug," and she'll participate again next week. We always talk about what their favorite part was during lunch, and Alanna said "everything," and when we got in the car she told me she was so proud of herself. (And so was I....if only I had lost my patience and put my foot down sooner!)
Aidan has been having a BLAST in this class since day one (with the exception of the first 10 seconds as I was walking out of the gym). The first day, he clapped for himself and did a little jig after each turn. It was pretty hilarious. He and his friend Alex often times lie on the mats together chatting, leaving his mom and I wondering what on Earth they are talking about. He tries everything, and he gets a little timid at times if he thinks he needs help, but he has learned a ton. He loves to do forward rolls on the carpet at home, and we've been practicing some of the other things they do at home too.
