Nathan - 3 1/4 year summary

Wow, I just looked back at my 3 year summary of Nathan and it was very detailed! I doubt this one will be as long-winded, but I only have to cover 3 months instead of a whole year this time.

Nathan has adapted very well to our new town and new way of life. He loves when Daddy is home in the day to play with him. His favourite activities with Peter are wrestling and hockey. Could he be a more typical boy? I have really seen his sense of adventure and his willingness to take risks expand this summer. I think it's healthy and most of the credit for this goes to Peter, too. I tend to be really nervous when he tries new things (like climbing monkey bars) but Peter encourages him to try.

Potty training is still going well. He has very few accidents overall and tells us more often than not when he has to go. Unfortunately he still can't get up on the toilet or pull his pants up very well without us. He can get his pants and underwear off, so that's progress.

Nathan continues to test his boundaries, but I do think he is obeying a bit more than he was 3 months ago. That may just be wishful thinking on my part, and he still oversteps his boundaries with Hannah more than I would like, but he seems to be playing better with other children.

We tried putting Nathan in swimming lessons this summer. We started out with a class where he would go in by himself. He can touch in the shallow end of the pool and loved swimming with Peter and I, but when it came time to go in with his class he screamed and cried very hard. We tried every morning for a week to get him to go with his class, even going so far as getting in the pool with him, but he would not budge. Halfway through the two-week session we switched him to a class where I got in the water with him. Although the content of the class was a bit below him (it had kids from 6 months - 3 years old in it), he did much better socially.

His swimming skills have dramatically improved over the summer. With Peter's schedule and the close proximity of the pool to our house, we have taken the kids to the pool many, many afternoons this summer. Nathan has become a little fish. He loves to go underwater and even enjoys challenging us to see who can stay under the longest. He can do a front float and will open his eyes underwater and has started trying to do a sort of doggie paddle when Peter prompts him. I think the next thing he needs to work on will be a back float ... probably next summer. We will try swimming lessons again next summer, too, and hopefully they will go better.

We also enrolled Nathan in a local VBS (not the one at our church as it was for ages 5 and up). He went with one of his best friends and the first day was rough. Peter ended up staying the whole time. The second day I went with him and stayed, but was out of sight for about 90 minutes out of the 2 hour timeframe. Wednesday he stayed on his own but by Thursday Nathan was really tired. I think all the 'new-ness' was really exhausting for him and he just broke down when we got there on Thursday afternoon. We ended up coming home after the opening time on Thursday and then he stayed on his own on Friday afternoon. I'm glad he did a few days on his own. It gives me hope for him in the future!! I see so much of my own reticence and shy nature in him it's scary. I really hope it's something he can overcome as I am only too familiar with the limitations it places on a person.

We have gotten out of any kind of structured learning time for Nathan this summer. It is something I want to start up again, though, so hopefully with fall right around the corner I can get myself organized.

Nathan seems to be excited about the new baby. He will often come up and hug or pat my belly and say what the baby is doing inside my belly. It is really cute. I hope he's as excited once the baby gets here!

One of Nathan's new favourite words is 'irritating.' A strange word for a 3 year old (and he often uses it incorrectly), but it must be something Peter or I say with some sort of regularity. There's another one, too, that I can't think of right now.

Nathan is no longer napping. It was a fairly easy decision once he started laying awake in bed until 9 or 10 every night. As soon as we cut out the naps he started falling asleep promptly at bedtime (somewhere between 7 and 7:30). I found it really stressful when he was taking so long to fall asleep at night, so losing the afternoon time is worth it to me. He still has 'rest time' in the afternoon, where he can take a few toys and books into our bed for an hour. He seems to enjoy that time to unwind and it gives me a chance to rest, too. The reason he is in our bed is because very soon (within the next week) he and Hannah will begin to share a room. Since Hannah is (obviously) still napping in the afternoon Nathan has to have his rest time elsewhere.

To work on in the next three months:

• Establish at least 30 minutes of learning time per day, 5 days a week.
• Teach Nathan to undress and dress himself. It may not be perfect but it's something I've been slacking on.
• Establish a few (maybe 3) daily chores that he is responsible for. At the moment I'm thinking - making his bed, brushing his teeth (in the morning - we do it at night), and tidying up his room before bed.