It has been a busy summer for our family. Lots of swim classes, playtime, outdoor time and fun in general. With all of this interaction with one another we have had this summer, it is no wonder these little boys are thriving! We have had an exciting couple of weeks and I just wanted to share some highlights and personal accomplishments and progress for our three Parish Littles.
ELIJAH
All three of our boys just LOVE the water and swimming. Elijah especially who has been in swim class since he was just nine months old. His classes initially were a lot of water play and getting used to different feelings in the water but he has since progressed to floating on his back with Daddy’s help, full submersion to retrieve toys from the pool floor, monkey crawl (which is scooting with your hands along the rim of the pool…a safety tool), climbing out of the pool unassisted, jumping into the pool, swimming on his own with a swim belt, swimming out into “open water” to retrieve floating toys and I am sure there are things I am forgetting. I was the parent half of “parent/child” classes for the first six months. Then once I got pregnant, Chip took over but I still went along to watch/cheer for Elijah. Since the twins have been born, I have not made it to class due to nap schedules and general Saturday morning business. I told Elijah the whole family would go together this past Saturday and he lit up with excitement. I am so glad I went. It was simply amazing to see how independence and confident he is in the water. (Watch out Michael Phelps!). And seeing his face light up as his brothers and I watched, cheered and took photos just made my heart soar. I am so proud of this little man and how he embracing everything he does, including swimming, with enthusiasm. Of course I took plenty of pictures and even got some video footage to share.
All set to take a dip!
Rory was visibly happy to be on this special outing with his family.
Patrick is all set to watch his big brother in action.
Daddy and Elijah participating in some pre-swim Hokey Pokey.
Love this splash action shot!
This is a big deal because Elijah HATES doing the back float. But he toughs it out and no longer panics. HUGE progress..
Some swim practice with Daddy’s help.
That MY BOY with his face in the water! Go Elijah!
Getting belted up!
There goes my swimmer!
He got it!
We are so proud of you, sweet boy. I cannot believe how much you are growing and maturing and you are actually swimming! I love you. Keep up the amazing work~
RORY
Rory has hit two milestones recently. He started crawling on July 22 at 5 months, 2 weeks and 6 days old. He just sort of took off. It started off an a sort of army crawl but he is now getting up on his knees and really enjoys his mobility! He has been pretty mobile for a while since he figured out that he could roll across the room to get near whatever he wanted to touch, chew on etc. But he really seems to enjoy this newfound freedom and the accuracy of crawling vs. rolling where he wants to go. I am so excited to see him growing and developing and yet a small part of me is just a little sad that my baby is growing up so fast. Right now he seems to be the more “attached” to me of the twins as he really has from the beginning so although he loves to crawl away, he always makes sure I am close by.
Then the day after he started crawling, Rory was able to sit unassisted. He can’t get himself in the sitting position but he can balance there for a really long time! He is great at using his arms raised to his sides to help balance when he teeters. Such an incredible little guy. And I was a little surprised at the order with which he hit these milestones. Since first sitting unassisted he has pretty much mastered this and will only fall if pushing off with his feet or leans forward too far to get a toy…or his Mama.
Rory sitting by himself for the first time on the evening of July 22, 2014!
He was playing with one his favorite toys, Elijah’s toy camera from Christmas.
So proud of this little boy!
Showing Grandmother his new skill!
Such balance!
Look Mama! No hands!
PATRICK
Patrick has been working SO HARD on his crawling and he is getting close! His legs just fly out behind him and he knows the moves. He is working on coordinating and getting a little friction going. He will be there soon. On July 25 at 5 months, 3 weeks, 2 days old, Patrick sat unassisted for the first time. He is still working on mastering this skill and I was only able to get a couple photos but he can sit for up to a minute without holding on to me. I will get this photographed more as his time lengthens. It just seemed that every time we tried to get a pictured, we would jinx him and he would fall. WE have some great video of Patrick working on his crawling skills and I cannot wait to report back that he is a crawling man.
I got this Mama!
My sweet Patrick working those muscles
My strong boy….so determined!
I took some fun shots on Sunday of all three of my sweet boys dressed for church in matching outfits from my parents and moccasins from Chip’s parents. Elijah was not interested in having his picture taken until I bribed him so he is not in the first few. Ahhh what a Mama will do to get a picture of all the kiddos together!
My deep thinker and my camera ham.
Patrick is making a “Mama” face that can be seen in my own baby pictures.
Rory says “Hi everyone!”
Such cute little feet!!!
My TWINspiration!
This one just cracks me up!
I just love these three!
Could I be any more blessed……
