Hughes's 1st snow

Hughes calls the snow "gno". He loved watching Izzy play in the snow from the sliding glass door, so we bundled up and went out to play. First he wanted to finish his morning milk, of course.

In one of the pictures it looks like he is falling over and Izzy is running back to catch him. She stayed by his side for the most part. We went out to the front yard later and put Izzy in the kitchen, but could hear her barking while we were out.

Hughes and his favorite friend

Izzy has become a favorite of Hughes and Hughes has become a favorite of Izzy. I took these pictures this morning of them having an endearing moment.

Saved at last from the swimming scene

Terrianne is Hughes's saving grace from me and the pool. He is always happy to see her after the 30 min ordeal. She gets him dressed for me while I change, because he does not want me for awhile after the swimming lessons.

Second week in the water

He cried again for most of the 30 minutes. They suggested we not return during this 7 week session because he seems to be frozen and will not participate. I guess you could say that we have been kicked out of class. We did agree to work on it at home in the hot tub and try one more week.

Second week of swimming lessons

This is Hughes in the locker room before his swim lessons for the second time. It was almost like he had forgotten this place (until we reached the door to the pool).

Out of the pool at last

I handed Hughes to Terrianne and she dried him off and held him while I got out and dried off. He would not come to me and held on to Terrianne. Eventually I took him from her and held him so he knew I wasn't going to put him back in the water (today). He was soooo happy to get out of the torture chamber, otherwise known as a pool.

Of course he was exhausted and fell asleep on the way home. When we got home and he ate dinner, it was time for bath and bed. He loved the bath and did not want to get out, go figure.

Swimming

Just a couple other pictures. One he is suppose to be hanging onto a kickboard and the other is with him floating on his back. He actually does this pretty good.

In the water

Things went as I suspected. Pictures tell a thousand words. The swimming lessons lasted 30 minutes and Hughes cried for all 30 minutes.

Life on the edge of the pool

I suspected Hughes may get freaked out so I decided to sit on the edge of the pool and put me feet in the water with Hughes on my lap. He was very nervous and was looking for an out.

Getting ready for 1st swim class

As you know we have a inground swimming pool in the backyard which I live in when we have warm summer days. I decided that Hughes needed to become accustom to the water so we signed up for swimming lessons. These are the pictures in the locker room and at the poolside before our 1st class.

Tot Gym class

We are attending a parent/tot gym class every Thursday for 7 weeks that started today. Here are a couple pictures. He was able to walk acrosss the rungs of this metal piece equipment. He started out walking in between the rungs, then figured it out.

YMCA and the mower

We went to the Edwardsville YMCA today for the tot skate. They let the kids just go and do and ride whatever they want on the indoor skating rink. They can rent toddler skates, or take a scooter, tricycle, baby buggy, etc. Hughes had his mower to push around the rink. It is another good way to burn some energy.

Bathtime

Hughes loves to play in the tub. The first time I bathed him while in Moscow, he screamed like I was torturing him. I could tell that bathtime had not been a pleasant experience and my first reaction was that he was not going to like the water. In the summer we live in the pool in the backyard, so I thought this might be a problem, but he has definately overcome the fear of the tub. Our first swim lesson is tomorrow evening (Thursday-8th).

Monkey Joes

Winter is difficult for a toddler, too cold or icy to go out. We decided to go to Monkey Joes to burn some energy. It is an inflatable jumping wonderland. Hughes did not initally care for it, but eventually enjoyed it a lot.

Lawn Mower

Hughes's favorite Christmas gift was a lawn mower. Here he is with it and mowing our cul-de-sac.