A Big Memorial Day Weekend

We've had a really big Memorial Day weekend. The pool opened on Saturday, and Ken took Bryn. Going down the big slide, which empties into water that's 10 feet deep, motivated Bryn during her swim lessons ever since the pool closed last summer. I didn't think she was quite ready to go down the slide, which requires, in turn, swimming 8 to 10 feet to the ladder. But on the first day that the pool opened, Bryn and Ken went to observe the kids going down the slide, and with a steely resolve, and with no fingers in her mouth -- a telltale sign of her nervousness -- Bryn announced that she was going to go down the slide, too. And so she did! Twice. On Sunday I took her to the pool, and she warmed up by swimming 6 to 8 feet on her own. When I saw how effectively she was swimming, with her head down in the water, and moving her arms under the water as in breast stroke, I realized that Ken was right in his assessment that she was ready to go down the big slide. So Bryn and I headed over to the slide, and on Sunday, she went TEN times in a row!
Bryn's by far the youngest kid going down the slide -- some young kids went down, but their parents caught them upon entry. All of Bryn's hard work with her swim lessons is paying off, and she's walking with a swagger now that she can join the big kids at the deep end.
Meanwhile, we proclaimed that this weekend was to be the beginning of no more diapers for Luke. Unlike Bryn, who got the concept of using the potty in a time span of six weeks, Luke has needed a little push. Saturday morning I was a bit concerned about our prospects of potty training Luke in the near term. When he first wet his pants, he seemed absolutely oblivious. He wasn't at all bothered by his wet pants, and he kept on playing as though nothing was the matter. (Bryn, in contrast, the one and only time we can even remember her having an accident, was horribly upset when her underwear and pants got wet.) With a somewhat questionable start on Saturday, Luke had only two accidents on Sunday. It's now Monday, and as of 3:30 pm, Luke hasn't had a single accident! He even pooped on the potty this morning, and his diaper, which he'll continue to wear initially when he sleeps, was dry when he woke up from his nap.

Memorial Day weekend also marks the annual Devon Horse Show. Bryn and I met up with Jocelin and Hannah Reed and our next-door neighbors, the Marans. (Luke has stayed close to home this weekend on account of the potty training.) Bryn and I rode the Ferris Wheel, and she had fun riding a motorcycle ride, too. She won a plastic crown by catching a plastic shark with a fishing pole and sucked the juice out of a lemon through an old-fashioned piece of candy. When we went to the grandstand to watch some of the competition, the competitors were just finishing up and taking an hour-long break before the next event. So, unfortunately, we missed the horses and their jumps, but Bryn still had fun at the fair. She maintains, however, that her favorite part of the weekend has been going down the slide at the Belmont Hills Pool. :)

Later this afternoon is the 50th Annual Block Party at the end of our street, and we're finally going to put to good use the pinata that Nana made on one of her visits to our house. Bryn and Luke can't wait!

Epilogue:
At the block party, Bryn participated in the egg toss with Ken, and though she didn't catch the first toss, we're proud of her for participating, and for playing again in a second round. (At another party earlier in the day, Bryn was very clingy to Ken and didn't play with the other kids.)

Luke, meanwhile, made it all day without any accidents, including two and a half hours at the block party. HOORAY!! His first accident-free day. What a big boy!