Summer is definitely Ethan's season, you can tell by his tan! He has been spending a lot of time outside this summer playing and swimming in the pool. He's been in the pool so much I swear he is going to turn into a fish! He went over to Uncle Brian's a week ago and he was all about diving under the water and showing off his doggy paddling(which he taught himself). By the time he got out of the pool he was nothing more than a giant prune. I bought him a pair of swim goggles to use in our pool, as he likes to dive for his toys, and he will put them on his forehead and tell me that is how the swimmers wear theirs (he watched the Olympic Trials) and that he has to wear his the same way.
Last week he finally got to start gymnastics. His first 2 classes were cancelled due to the extreme heat. He had been watching the gymnastics Olympic Trials and so he was super excited about starting gymnastics. We did try to tell him that he was just in a beginners class and that he was going to be learning tumbling. He did so-so at his first class last week. It's a 45 minute class for the 3-4 age group. They start the class with some simple stretches. Ethan had never done them before so he had no idea what to do he just kind of stood and watched. The instructor tried to help him but Ethan didn't totally trust him and he was all about wanting to go on the bars and the rings (all set for the small children). After the stretched the instructor took them to a low bar and had them work on hanging while lifting their feet off the ground. Ethan did not want to stay put and he was asking the instructor a lot of questions. Then it was on to doing some forward rolls, hanging on the uneven bars (just the lower one) and walking a balance beam. Ethan did not want to stay with the class and twice the instructor took him aside to remind him to do what the class was doing. Then it was off to the parallel bars, jumping from one colored square to another, a backwards roll and finally the trampoline. Ethan again was not listening and was reminded to stay with the class and the instructor pointed towards the door (we think he was saying either listen or leave). Finally it was a log roll to a balance mat to a backwards roll, to a head stand and then the rings. Ethan did the rings once while the others did them a few times. He was skipped because he wouldn't stay in line. Towards the end of the class we think it was more because he was just getting too hot. We noticed he was wiping at his forehead a lot and his cheeks were very red. He was slowing down too. After class ended the kids all get a stamp on their hands (just something fun for all their work) and were given a paper with some simple things they can do at home. We have been working with Ethan on his exercises every day so that when he goes to his next class he will know how to do them. He said he thought the instructor was mean but we could see the instructor and he never yelled nor showed impatience with Ethan, he just wasn't happy that he couldn't get his way. This is Ethan's first structured class and he was just overwhelmed with the things to do. While we watched the class we spoke with a mom whose daughter has been doing this for a few months and she was saying that her daughter was the same way her first few classes and by her working with her on the exercises at home and sticking to the classes she settled into the routine. We have been talking to Ethan about listening to the instructor and letting him teach him the proper ways of tumbling and how he needs to do what the rest of the class is doing. We are hoping that he will settle down more now that he knows how it all works and that he has an idea of what to do. I think he was also a little disappointed that he wasn't going to be flipping and tumbling on the bars and beam. He thought he was going to be like the Olympians he saw on t.v. We did try to prepare him that it wasn't like that but for a 4 yr old that's a hard thing to grasp.
I have him super excited about the Olympics and how we are going to watch the gymnastics and cheer on the USA. I am looking forward to watching it with him this year. The last time the Olympics he had only been home from the NICU for a few days. This means a lot that I get to watch with him this time. I think he will enjoy some of the Olympics.
