Back Floats & Baby Updates

Today marked Ethan & Luke's graduation from swim lessons. When we started in May neither boy would even put their face in the water. In fact, we had a couple of lessons where Luke refused to get in the pool entirely. But now, three months and more money than I'd like to recall later, they passed their final benchmark to becoming Level 3 swimmers. To do so they had to jump in the pool fully clothed, without their goggles, and then float on their back for 10 seconds before swimming to the side of the pool. This demonstrates (hopefully) how they would react should they ever fall in the deep end of a pool accidentally.

Getting ready to jump
He floats!He did it! (And on his 5th birthday no less!)Here goes Lukey
10 seconds can be a long time . . .Relief! He did it too!Who knew two yellow ribbons (gold medals they call them) could make these boys so happy?

Today was also Chloe's first Dr.'s appointment. Our little sweet pea is literally very little, weighing in at the 13th percentile. However, she has surpassed her birth weight, gaining 10 ounces in the last week alone, so hopefully she'll be filling out her clothing soon. I can't say enough about how sweet and mellow this newborn is. When I was telling my pediatrician (who saw me through Ethan's gag reflex and Luke's colic) about Chloe's good nature, the Dr. remarked that God intended her as my reward after the other two! Whatever the reason, I'm just so grateful.

A sight I thought I'd never see: a Bollard boy holding his girlLuke wanted Chloe to sleep with him, so we let her, just for a minute at least. Luke thinks Chloe is finally the answer to his constant request for a pet.Pretty in Pink