let the lessons begin!

Lessons? School? Who? Me?!

Tyler officially turned 9-months-old this past July 6th so I figured it's time to get his schedule overbooked with way too many activities so he's constantly stimulated and learning as much as his little baby brain will absorb. So, we've started Chinese, piano, karate, meditation, swimming and music/sign language lessons. The kid's got to compete, right?! Chop, chop!!! Just kidding, except for the swimming and music classes.

Best part about swimming? The snacks!

Kickin' back and lettin' Mom do all the work - this swim thing is cool!

Tyler is the youngest one in his swim class which is really just a class to get him used to the water. He totally digs splashing around and chewing on the kick boards, as well as being tossed up in the air. The first class I had him floating on his back as he chilled out and chewed on a rubber Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. (I had a premonition that in 20 years he'll be doing the same thing only I'll be replaced by some chick and the turtle will be replaced by a beer and the whole thing will take place in Vegas. Aaaahhh!!) Tyler should be learning more swim skills except that I don't have it in me to dunk him under the water quite yet. It doesn't help that our tone-deaf instructor doesn't know the difference between a 9-month-old and a two-year old (and you should hear her belt out "Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean," eee-gads!). Yesterday's class was all about dunking the kids and letting them kick up to the surface on their own, apparently it's a "natural instinct." Tyler's natural insticts so far include drinking bath water and biting my toes, so I said no thank you to that and continued our leisurely float around the pool.


Deflated fun - oh if only we had some grass!

Speaking of pools, it's been fairly hot here so I dashed out to get Tyler a pool at Target but there was only one left and it is a little more pool than we needed. After nearly passing out after blowing up the various parts of it, we attached the hose and viola! A fountain that could rival the many in Rome was created on our back deck. Problem is, you have to run the hose the entire time as the water just continues to spew out of the holes and over the sides - making for a very cold, water-wasting experience. So, it sits on our roof top deck collecting dirt and spiders. Too bad we don't have a lawn! (If Tyler would sit still in the pool, I could take his picture but he grabs at everything and tips over so the photo will have to wait until Dad can help or Tyler can crawl or stand, whichever comes first.)

As for music and sign language class, yeterday was his first class and he was by far the most vocal baby in the class. Good thing he can't crawl yet (although there is serious progress - he's got the reverse gear down pat and we expect him to put it in first any day now) because he would have been all over that place and all over the other babies. If chewing on instruments is any indication of musical talent, we've got a budding Mozart on our hands!

Oh, and in case you were wondering how Tyler's mobility is going, here's a little clip of me trying to teach him how to walk. He seemed more interested in poking Daddy in the eye while grabbing the camera!


Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing