Dance Like No One's Watching

Whew!

This was a busy week in the life of Jaxon.  It was his last week of gymnastics and swimming lessons, PLUS he ran in the Half Mile Youth Run for the Fargo Marathon.  He's disappointed that swimming and gymnastics are over, but once we pointed out that means it's beach season and time to go swimming, he was ok with it. 

Jaxon and his participation ribbon from gymnastics

 Cin'Que and Jaxon before their half mile run

 Waiting for the crowd to move up to the start/finish line.  I told them they didn't have to hold hands, but they were both a little nervous, I think.  I'd pull their hands apart and tell them if they run holding hands and one of them falls, they both could get hurt and they'd reach for each other again.  I was curious to see how the boys would do, considering their different approaches to running. 

 Cin'Que right before he finished

 After we saw Cin'Que, we (maybe just me) got a little antsy to find Jaxon and started the "Do you see him? No, do YOU see him?" back and forth.  Finally, we saw him.  Crying.  It hurt my heart to see him out there alone, crying.  Josh "rescued" him (Jaxon's words) to see what was wrong.  Apparently, he had fallen a little ways back and scraped up his hands, forehead, and banged up his knees a little.  He fell and got back up and ran anyways and we are SO proud of him for keeping going.  After we'd hugged him quick, Josh put him back over the rail so he could finish the race and get his medal. 

He was pretty sad/disappointed that he hadn't "run under the ribbons to win the race" before he got his medal and kept talking about it the rest of the night and even the next day. 

Cin'Que and Jaxon with their medals.  Jaxon didn't want to hold his up for the picture because his hands were broken. 

 The next morning, on the way to school, Jaxon kept asking me questions about the race and if we could go back that day so he could try again.  He apologized for falling, crying, and not winning.  He told me he wanted to go back next year and that he wouldn't fall and lose the race.  We had a talk and I told him Daddy, Dash and I are so proud of him for getting up and finishing the race and that winning wasn't important.  I hadn't anticipated him learning a life lesson about picking yourself up and continuing on, even when you're not sure you can and am pretty impressed that he wanted to go back right away and that he wants to run again next year. 

He finished out the week with his final swimming lesson.  Before he went into the pool he told me, "You're going to be so proud of me today."  And I definately was.  He did much better practicing his back float and putting his face in the water today and even went down the waterslide.  Twice.  After the lesson he asked me if he did really awesome, and was pretty happy when I told him that he was super awesome. 

 And then there's this guy, who was a pretty good cheerleader while his big brother floated and went down the waterslide. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the special ladies in our lives, I hope you know how much we appreciate you!

Cheese!

Since Josh got me a fancier camera for Christmas, I'm still working on figuring out how it works and like to mess around with it sometimes (supposedly it takes 3D pictures, among other things that I haven't figured out yet.)

Jax likes picking a color on the camera and then we take a picture to see what shows up.  Apparently, we have a lot of blue in our house cuz that's usually what he picks.  I don't mind this setting because Jaxon will let me take pictures of him without running away and it really shows off how pretty his eyes are. 

 "Mom, look!  We squish together!"

 Before I took this picture, Jaxon told me "I'm going to squeeze him and see if he squeaks!"  Well, he squeezed Dash and it was more of a squawk that came out of him.  And then Jaxon started giggling like crazy.

 After we took all those pictures, it was bathtime.  Jaxon decided I didn't do a good enough job and wanted to wash Dashiel himself.  The way Dash is looking at him makes me smile.  He always studies his big brother and what he's doing very closely. 

Baseball

Jaxon got a baseball glove from uncle Jameson for his birthday, and he has been dying to try it out.  Finally the weather was nice last weekend, so uncle Tanner stopped by to play for a little bit.  He didn't do much with the glove though, he made Tanner wear it so he could hit. 

 This picture makes me laugh everytime I look at it.  It is a really good example of how kids take things literally.  Jaxon and Tanner were hiding from me in the garage because they were being spies and Tanner told Jax to poke his head around the corner.  So he did.  Literally. 

2 Month & 4 Year Check Ups

At Dashiel's 2 month check up, he weighed 12 lbs, 12 oz and was 21 inches long.  Weight wise he's ahead of the curve and height wise, he's a little short. 

Jaxon had his checkup on the same day ~ he is 40 lbs and 43 inches.  He's tall and could stand to put on some weight, I guess.  The pediatrician says he has no social/speech issues, as he talked her face off before she'd even closed the door to the exam room. 

Before we went to the appointment, I had warned Jaxon of the possibility that he may need to get some shots, so he was prepared.  When we found out he didn't really need any, I think he was a little disappointed ~ he was very ready to "be super brave."  He had a lot of questions while the nurse gave Dash his shots, and did NOT like that she made his brother cry. 

No more appointments or shots for 2 more months, yay!

Gymnastics Spring Session

Wednesday was week 10 of spring gymnastics, only 2 more weeks left.  Jaxon is getting braver each time we go and remembering more of the things that he's learning.  After each class, Jaxon will quiz us on what we saw him do (this includes Dashiel).  Last week before we left to go to class, he asked me "Mom, are you ever going to take pictures of me while I'm at bouncing?"  so I figured I better bring the camera with.  Too bad the battery died shortly after I started taking pictures, so I'll maybe have to take it with again next week. 

 Usually when he's doing a flip over the bar, he will let go because the teacher is holding onto him.  I think this is one of the few times he's actually remembered not to let go and didn't just fall off. 

Track Week 2

This week, LaNora came with us to youth track.  I don't think she enjoyed it as much as the boys do, but I think she had an ok time with it.  It's interesting how different the 3 of them are at this:  Cin'Que is in it to kick some butt and runs his heart out, Jaxon wants to be fast but spends almost the whole time watching his feet while he's running, and LaNora's just there to have fun.  We keep reminding Jaxon that he needs to watch what's in front of him when he runs (and then he tells us that he's supposed to be pumping his arms also and that he always forgets that part), he's been practicing his running anytime we happen to be outside for more than a minute.

In a little over a week, Jaxon and Cin'Que are going to run in the Youth Run for the Fargo Marathon.  They're both running the half mile and are pretty excited for it.  I figure that a half mile will give me a decent chance to catch a decent picture of them running....