New Things

I guess summer is a good time to try new things. This year, it seems like everyone is trying something new all at once.

Luke is learning to swim. I enrolled him in a swim class at the beginning of the summer. For four weeks, I thought he was going to flunk out. Every time, he would cry and cry and beg me to take him home. As hard as it was, we hung in there and suddenly, he got it. He just decided it was more fun to swim than to be scared and now he's swimming. I'm proud of him and you can tell how proud he is of himself.

At the same time, he decided it was time to learn to ride a bike. He started showing interest in his tricycle (for the first time ever) and he was riding it so fast it would tip over. So we took him to the store and he picked out his first bike. It wasn't an easy decision. Luke kept picking out the blue ones and I was just trying to find one that would fit him. We finally settled on a Hot Wheels bike and I made him ride it up and down the aisles of WalMart about 15 times to make sure it would work before we bought it.

Of course, he keeps informing Max of his bike's new features. I hear him point out the yellow flames on the frame or the fact that it has wheels. Max is a good sport about it. Although I've noticed he's been ringing the bell on his tricycle an awful lot lately. I think it's because he's figured out that he has a bell and Luke's bike doesn't. Brothers - they will always compete.

As if all this wasn't enough, Max decided it was time to potty train. I've known this was coming for the past month, but just didn't want to deal with it. For one, I think he's a little too young. More than that, I was not in the mood. Well, that didn't matter to Max. He's been showing signs for a while, but when he started taking off his diapers and bringing them to me, I gave in. So we're training and I think it's going well, even though his aim is way off and he gets more on the floor than in the actual potty, even when sitting down.

So that's where we are. I'm proud of my kids for their accomplishments, but it makes me kind of sad. They're growing up and there's nothing I can do about it. Luke has one more year of pre-school and then he's off to kindergarten. Once Max is out of diapers, the door will shut on the baby phase of my life and I think I will miss it. For now I'm just going to enjoy these long days of summer and watch my boys have fun being boys.