Happy Father's Day

"Our Song"

Leah's favorite singer is Taylor Swift. She is a country artist. Of her songs, Leah's favorite song is called Our Song. Leah calls this song "MY SONG." This video is of Leah singing this song. Unfortunately, it does not accurately display how she sings it because usually she has a lot more attitude. Leah has a great way of becoming timid when I bring out the video camera!

Swimming

Leah had her final LITTLES 1 swim class yesterday. She did so great, but she did have some problems this session. About midway through, her teacher quit. She had bonded with her, so this was a difficult transition to a new teacher who was not as enthusiastic as the first one had been. Then, I spoke with the manager, and Leah ended up having private sessions for the last 4 weeks. Great- yes, but we are talking about Leah- sometimes the weirdest things set her off. This time it was the MALE instructor. He looks so intimidating, doesn't he? He is actually fabulous with the kids and a great teacher. But Leah would get very upset even at the mention of his name (Ryan). So, last week, I bribed her (some may not agree- but I say whatever works). I said, no crying and we will go to McDonald's for dinner. Amazing how quickly she was able to turn off the tears. So, in the end, Leah had a great session, she worked well with Ryan, and she is starting to "swim" independently.

• She keeps her head in the water for "5 banana's" and sometimes longer
• She kicks and paddles her arms together over the noodle while her head is in the water (by the end of class, she was doing this with light 1 finger support)
• She backfloats unsupported (not great), better at backfloat over a noodle-no support.
• Hopefully, I can keep up with bringing her to the pool so she doesn't forget what she has learned.

Michigan

We had a nice trip to Michigan. A long 12 hour drive for only a 2 day stay. Leah was an excellent traveler. I would say an A on the way there and a B on the way home. Coming home had a few difficulties, but primarily because she was tired. On the way there, it would have been perfect, but she will NOT wear headphones to listen to her movies, so I had to listen to DORA! She was quite amazing at keeping herself occupied- I was even able to read a book!

Saturday: We went to Cabela's to feed the fish which she loved. Leah remembered doing this the last time we were there. When we told her we were going to MI to visit Grandpa Shorty, she stated, " I want to feed the fish with Grandpa Shorty." Then we went to the Hotel Waterpark- Splash Universe. She had a great time there, but it she preferred to stay in the toddler pool (8 inches) which had a small slide. She also enjoyed the 2 foot pool and the Lazy River. She would really have nothing to do with the Playground area. She had such a busy day, she almost fell asleep at dinner.

Sunday: We went to visit Grandma Benner and Andy. Aunt Lucille, Uncle Dennis, Aunt Lauren, and Uncle Randy joined us there for a brief visit. Then we went to Aunt Sandy's (Uncle Les was out of town). They have tons of horses. We thought Leah would love to see the horses, but she was a bit hesitant and really did not want to get to close. We finished the day by going to Bronner's- The world's largest Christmas store.

We had a nice visit with Joe's dad. I just can't believe how tired a person can get from a full day of driving- or in my case riding in a car!

Click on the picture link to view more pictures. Click on the sets (left side of page) to get a more accurate timeline as the photostream (pictures on the right) just gets organized by how I uploaded them, and I did not realized that, so I did not take care in paying attention to dates when I uploaded the photos.

Update

Just to let you all know, Tiffanie is doing better. Likely, it was all because of fluid retention from the pregnancy. She was put on medication and is doing better. Last I heard, she was to be going home yesterday. I am in MI, so I may not have all the info, but I just wanted you all to know that she is doing better.

Lila also is doing better. Seems like the vomiting resolved.

Have a great weekend.

Tiffanie and Lila

My sister-in-law, Tiffanie, was hospitalized last night. They are unsure what is going on but she does have an enlarged heart. A blood clot has been ruled out. The cardiologist should be seeing her sometime today. She just had little Lila 13 days ago. Lila has not been feeling well either. She was been throwing up a lot. My brother brought her in today for a scheduled check up. Please keep them both in your thoughts and prayers!

Tomorrow we leave for MI to visit Joe's Dad, Shorty.

Opening up the cabin!

We had a nice weekend at the cabin. It was just us and my parents as Dan and Tiff are still caring for a newborn! We did have some nice weather, with some storms and cold weather, but what can one expect when you live in Minnesota and spend the weekend Up North. My Dad and Joe put the dock and boat lift in on Saturday morning, and the boat was put in the water Sunday afternoon. Dad had some fun working on the water pump for the 2nd year in a row! He was successful in making it work- thank goodness!

Leah surprised us by WANTING to go on the boat. It was a bit windy and cold on the lake and a storm was coming, but we were able to get in a short ride. She also had a great time with her cousin Nico. My Aunt Linda, Uncle Steve, Cousin Kris and her son, Nico joined us for the day yesterday. Leah just loves them- especially Nico, and he is so good to her. Leah also had fun "fishing"- she preferred not using a hook, just the plastic fish tied to the end of the line. Leah and Nico also spent some time digging in the sand. Nonna also spent some time early in the morning digging in the sand with Leah, so that Joe and I could get some extra sleep! Thanks Mom. We did manage to wear Leah out as she slept until almost 8am on Sunday morning- usually she is up by 6am at the latest. We did get in a fire on Sunday night between the storms. We discovered that Leah will not even try a smore or a roasted marshmellow. She just wanted the plain marshmellow and chocolate- though good, I am sure she will soon discover what she is missing!