More new things

R had an exciting week. On Tuesday, he started swimming lessons at our local Boys & Girls Club. He LOVED it! It's just him and one other boy in the class, and A said that R pretty much jumped into the water from the get go. Our vacation in FL gave him a whole week of time in the pool, and he was frighteningly fearless (can I say that?) of the water then - even diving in the deep end without the arm floaties on. So, we figured he was ready for swimming lessons. I'm so glad he had such a good time. He talked about it non-stop for days.

R in pool in Florida (thanks, Shaun!)

Yesterday, I took R to his first music class, which is really piano lessons and voice lessons combined. It's a group lesson (10 kids total), but everyone sits at their own keyboard. He was a little tired when I brought him, so he spent part of the time laying on the piano bench and sucking his thumb, but afterwards he kept talking about how much he liked it. It's really cool how they do it - there is time at the keyboard, but then the teacher breaks that up with time up at the big piano at the front (for singing) and sitting down in a circle to learn about reading music (they learned what a line note is yesterday), so they keep the kids engaged and don't force them to sit still at the keyboard for 45 minutes. Plus, the parents are involved, which I enjoyed a lot. Every parent sits next to their child at the keyboard and joins in on the activities. There are a lot of hand movements and singing and silliness.

The absolute best part, though, was that the kids get their own music school messenger bag full of books and workbooks, the CDs and DVDs of the songs from class to practice with at home, and a "laptop," which is a magnetic board of a mini keyboard and the musical staffs, complete with magnetic notes, sharps, and flats.


R has not stopped playing with it since he opened it. He is very proud of it, and he looked so grown up carrying his little messenger bag over his shoulder. *Sniff.*

The only weird thing about the classes is due to the school being part of a major Japanese music company. I didn't notice anything during the class, but when we watched part of the DVD last night, the actual lyrics to some of the songs are downright strange. If you've ever seen the episode of The Simpsons where Homer discovers that he's the logo for some Japanese cleaning product ("I am disrespectful to dirt!!!"), you know what I mean. (Here's a link if you haven't seen it.) Even R noticed the weirdness. After a few minutes, he said, "What IS this?!?!" But, overall, thumbs up on the music class.

This weekend, my boys are taking me out to high tea for my birthday. I love "taking tea," and I usually do it with a girlfriend or my mom. But R keeps getting excited about having a tea party with me, so I thought we'd try it out. I mean, what's not to like? Mini sandwiches and pastries, chocolate, and hot tea in a lovely inn in a very historic MA town. And, it's supposed to be rainy and chilly this weekend. A asked me if there are ever any men at these things, and honestly, there are usually one or two. I didn't mention, however, that those men are usually over the age of 70. :-) They have a kids' tea for R, complete with hot cocoa or tea, a peanut butter and banana finger sandwich, a chocolate chip scone, and a mini brownie sundae. If we can keep R in his seat, it'll be fun. I'll try to take pictures.

Today, I worked from home because my allergies have kicked into super gear and are wearing me out. I feel like I've been run over by a truck even after a very good night's sleep. I also feel jittery and dried out as if I've taken my beloved Claritin, but I haven't taken any, which makes me nervous to actually take one. But, usually my allergies are year-round and they've gone easy on me this summer, so I can't complain.

What's up for the weekend, everyone?