The Catch Up

Yesterday, I remembered to switch the "Yo Gabba Gabba" 2010 calendar to August. It was weird to realize the summer has come and gone in the blink of an eye. We still have August, but Dev starts back to her 4 morning preschool on the 17th....so our dog days are numbered.

My poor camera is still in the shop. I'm lost without it and completely unmotivated to blog. But, I'm not giving up my project to document our journey raising Devin!

So...At 4 years and 4 months, Devin is growing and changing in such interesting ways. Changes are more subtle now, but they're there. Today she said, "Mama. I want to tell you about riding a bike. You pedal fast with your legs like this....then you stop your legs and rest....that's called toasting."

Yesterday, before 8:00 am I answered no less than 25 questions.

"What is gravity?"

"Do bees have eyes?"

"Where do bees sleep?"

One accomplishment for the summer was attending "camp" at her preschool with absolutely NO transition issues. She actually seemed much for relaxed and happy with the change. She took her first class field trip to the U of L Planetarium on a "real" school bus.

We also took her on a "Date Night." She's always wanted to go with us on one of our Date Night's...to a "fancy" restaurant. So we dressed her up and took her to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Luckily, RC is perched atop a relatively tall building and you ride up a glass elevator...Charlie and Chocolate Factory anyone? She was welcomed with open arms by the manager, who seated us in a comfortable booth. She. Loved. It. We ate and talked and walked on the balcony. We ordered dessert (which screwed my weight loss for that week) and she was thrilled. In the car home, she asked if we "could go back tomorrow?"

Also, we joined my tennis club's pool and signed Dev up for private swimming lessons. She hasn't spent any time in the pool until this summer and LOVES the water. However, not being able to swim (at all) makes us all nervous and she really wants to know how to go underwater. I'm actually impressed with her determination around swimming. We tried explaining how to blow bubbles, hold your breath etc....but she always ended up with water up her nose or even in her lungs. She damn near drown in front of my face, she's so unsure of what to do in the water.

As luck would have it, the captain of my tennis team's daughter is one of the swim instructors and perfect for Devin:) She's patient and fun...and good at calming Dev's nerves. We're working together to help Dev conquer this challenge. I'm 100% against forcing the issue and letting her scream, struggle and cry for 30 minutes. Apparently, plenty of parents are fine with that as I witnessed today. It breaks my heart to hear a child begging for help and struggling to breath...the Mom thought it was funny:(

When I was pregnant with Devin, I gained nearly 50 lbs overall. After breastfeeding/pumping, I lost 10 lbs maybe? When she was about 18 months, I joined Weight Watchers On-Line and lost 32 lbs! The past winter was cold and dreary...I gained almost 15 back. My ongoing obsession with tennis helps me stay active and I found my new motivation....winning at 4.5. It's the highest level played in our city and I've never won a match. Most of the women at 4.5 played in college (or could have) and are in great shape. SO, I set a goal to lose those 15 lbs by Labor Day and 10 more after that. Maybe then, I can start hanging in those tough 4.5 singles matches!

So, far I've lost 11.6 lbs with 4 weeks until Labor Day!