Third week/time having swimming lessons, and he is becoming so much more confident with putting his head underwater. Both Jef and I love the water, so I'm so glad Kien is following the trend. I have him enrolled in the Tepid Baths Swim School. These photos were taken this morning, and I didn't even have to hide for most of the lesson (Kien gets distracted when he sees me and keeps calling out and wanting me to come and talk to him).
I remember a time when he didn't even like showers, and now here he is doing full submerges. I'm so excited about the possibilities! I went ahead and recorded for y'all a short little clip of Kien jumping into the pool and going under the water.
Full credit to the instructor who takes these kids for their lessons. She is so patient!
I think the thing that Kien likes most about going for swimming lessons is the long shower he has afterwards. SERIOUSLY. Looooooonnnnnggggg. He just stands there and keeps pushing the button over and over and over and then 30 minutes later I'm telling him to get out and he's telling me he's still cold and can he please stay in for 2 more minutes. I don't mind really, we don't have anywhere we need to be, and the reason I booked his lesson for 9:40 in the morning was so that we would have a leisurely walk down, and then we don't have to rush if we had a lunch date or anything.
Today we had a lunch date with Jef, but it turned out to be a late morning tea break instead because we were way early. Kien likes to draw on the whiteboard in his daddy's office.
This is me standing on a block of snow.
This is Jef and I walking on snow. He also drew snowflakes, but they were too high up and I couldn't fit them into the frame.
This is actually the first time he has ever drawn people and faces resembling people and faces. Usually they are abstract lines and blotches that he says are people and faces and animals etc. I couldn't believe it when he took great care in drawing toes and fingers too.
We then said good-bye and left Jef to do his work and we headed up to the Auckland Museum. It was a glorious day - the sun was beating down on us by this stage and guess who forgot to bring sunscreen and hats? So an emergency stop at a convenience store on K Rd and we were good to go again. We walked down to the duck pond area and Kien was off to climb trees.
It was lovely to sit under the trees which the warm summer breeze tickled my skin. At that moment I felt truly grateful for being out in the beautiful sunshine with my son, and it wasn't even midday yet!
Today my little chatter box of a kid was on fire. He basically ran up and talked to anyone who would indulge him with any form of conversation. Sometimes I felt really sorry for those poor unsuspecting adults who are supervising their kid(s) and then this child rocks up to them from no where and starts a full on discussion about what he can see and what he can do and birds and trees and hey look at those beautiful flowers and grass and bees don't want to sting you unless they have to and nectar and etcetera. Sometimes I sit there and listen to him and then I have to call him to come and talk to me instead so as to leave the adults in peace with their own kids. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do - some adults like it and engage with him for ages, and others are polite to him but I'm pretty sure they'd much rather be getting a response from their own kid.
This little girl was repeating everything Kien was saying. I think her caregivers found it frustrating when they'd ask her which species she liked and it was always what Kien liked, including saying the same phrase, like, "look at how massive that is, whoa, it's so awesome!"
By the time I picked up some lunch for Kien and got home after dodging a whole bunch of footpath fixer uppers I had racked up 16600 steps on my pedometer. I had every intention of going up to the Ponsonby library after lunch, but once I sat down I kinda didn't want to get up again. So we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon inside with all the windows and doors open, the crickets and birds chirping loudly, and the sweet summer smell wafting through the air. Perfect.
