Beating the Heat

Hi Sidra,

We've had some really hot weather lately. You've been spending a lot of time in the water. You have been going to swimming lessons in the mornings, and hanging out in our backyard pool a lot of the remainder of the day. One evening, we were even out in the pool until about 11 pm. I think that was the night that I had to umpire some softball games. You have learned to greet me when I am returning from such a job in a way that every umpire would love to be greeted. You say, 'Hi dad, did you do some good umping?' I always respond in the affirmative, regardless of what I heard during the games.

As has been the pattern for most of the last year, it is hard to write about your accomplishments because you invariably top them soon after they are documented. But a couple of days ago I suggested that while in the pool you jump over me without your 'noodle' for floatation. Once you tried you then kept doing it repeatedly. In the video, we are trying to embellish that skill by asking you to kick and extend your arms. You are doing very well with it.

The singing part was your own idea. Once your mom got out the camera to get some swimming footage, you broke out in your favorite song. In fact, it wasn't easy to convince you to sing something else. I don't know how A, B, C became your favorite, but you sing it a lot. We did manage to get Bingo in there, too.

Your progress in the potty department has been a little more frustrating. It seems to me that you have the skills necessary for it, but we haven't given you the right incentive. But the trying has given you the circumstance to say one of the cute things that you say. When you need to put your underwear on I put them on the floor in front of you while you are sitting. You say, 'can you say the words?' Which means you want me to say, 'this foot goes in this hole and this foot goes in this hole and the tag goes in back.'

There are also pictures here from a recent trip we took to Bonneville Dam. One shows you watching a wild steelhead passing the viewing window in the fish ladder. In the other one you are tossing fish food to the trout in the trout pond.




Love,
aba