First music class, first swim lesson and we have a crawler (sort of!)

This past week as been very busy around our house!  Brody started his first music class last Monday and we had our second one today.  It is a little more structured than art class with circle time and listening to the teacher give directions which are things that will take a little getting used to but today he listened much better than the first day.  We still have areas to work on but it will get easier as we continue to go to class.  All of the kids in the class have been going to the different sessions for over a year so they are used to the routine so Brody just needs to get used to it as well.  He loves interacting with the other kids and his favorite part of the class is the dancing parts, which they do about 3 to 4 dancing songs per session.  The class lasts an hour, which is a good chunk of time, and is a good start at getting Brody ready for preschool.  He talked about it a lot after we left last week and asked for some of the songs by name at home.  Luckily I have them all on CD from my teaching days. :)

On Saturday we had Brody's first swimming lesson.  He is in a group of about 14 kids and this session will last 7 weeks.  He was a little afraid at times as we were in deeper water than he is used to since we are always in the shallow water when we go to the Y.  But it is about the same depth as his Grandparent's pool.  He clung to me pretty tightly through a lot of it so I could tell he was a little afraid, but these are all things he will get used to.  The teacher was very fun and good with the kids.  At the end they get free time in the play area of the pool which I know was his favorite part.  Tim and I will alternate weeks of who goes in with Brody and who stays out with Briana.  Lots of fun and I could tell Brody enjoyed our time there, even if he was a little scared.

Briana has started crawling this week.  She is doing an army crawl, just like Brody did at this age.  She is not doing it all the time as she still uses her rolling to get around sometimes too but I have seen her "crawl" several times over the past week.  She is still trying to push up on all fours so I am sure she will traditionally crawl sooner than later.  I am in no rush whatsoever for her to really start moving.  She is our last baby so I want to enjoy her as a baby for as long as possible.  She still has no teeth but is showing many teething signs so one of theses days one will pop through.  She is babbling a lot and has said "Mama" a few times and "uh-oh" a few times.  Now maybe that was just what it sounded like when the sounds went together but we will go with it.  She is such a happy baby and lights up when she sees me, Tim or Brody.  It makes you feel so good.  We can make her belly laugh and crack up now by tickling her which is a lot of fun.  She is sleeping a few nights a week for 5-6 hours, so sleep is getting better.  She will still get up a few nights a week but is usually pretty easy to get back to sleep.  Crazy to think she is going to be 9 months very soon!  I have started planning her birthday party as I know those last few months are going to fly.

We have had a few nice days here and there so we have been playing outside and going to the park.  Brody is very independent at the park now and needs minimal help on most things.  He will always look over his shoulder to make sure one of us is watching and if he is afraid of something he will reach out his hand for us to help him.  Tim and I both agree that even though we want him to be independent, it always feels good to know he still needs us!

Our niece Julia had her first communion this weekend.  It was a nice ceremony with a nice celebration at Brett and Melissa's afterwards.  We are very proud of Julia and the young lady she is growing up to be!  We really couldn't be more proud of her!!