August

August was lots of fun! We went to the community center and swam at their waterpark twice. We also went to the County fair and the Children's Museum!

 

They are becoming impressive little swimmers! Gabriel learned how to tread water and keep himself from tipping over while floating with his life vest. Then he figured out how to swim around with his life vest. He barely even needs any help anymore, in fact he keeps pushing my arm away if I try to help him! His newest thing is jumping into the pool. He doesn't even get freaked out when he goes under a bit. He used to hate getting his face wet. Dawson learned to swim around in his life vest. Then he started putting his face under the water. He too really didn't like getting his face wet at all at first! Now it doesn't phase him. He will jump into the pool and go under without issue. He swims around and shoots baskets into the hoop. His newest thing is the big waterslide. He has to be 42in and be able to get off the slide on his own into the pool with no life jacket. He's tall enough, but has never been without a life jacket. So I took it off him and let him go without for a while. He quickly realized how much it helps him swim, and decided to not go on the big waterslide. I love that he can make those decisions on his own. He's very good at deciding what he's comfortable with in many places. Especially rides. So the last time we went, I didn't put his life jacket on at all. He played without and got used to it. We even played in the slightly deeper pool that he can still reach the bottom, which is the same depth as the waterslide pool. He then decided he was going to try it, and he did great! He did the slide over and over for nearly an hour! He was very proud of his newest accomplishment and is always excited to tell all his therapists about where we went on our days off and what he's able to do.

 

Dawson is also trying out his first sticker chart. He wants to earn a Mario video game. He's doing pretty good so far. My hope is that he will be motivated by it enough that it motivates him to behave well in school to earn stickers. We had trouble last year finding something that motivates him. So we're doing a trial run this month to show him what it is and he should be earning his reward shortly before school starts, so it will be freshly exciting and he will want to work for his 2nd goal. Hopefully. ;)

 

Gabriel loved the pony rides at the fair.

Dawson did too! We gave them 2 rides each between the horses or camel. Gabriel chose the horses both times, and Dawson chose one of each.

 They also got to hold baby ducks! Dawson loved it and wasn't shy about holding the duck. He was very gentle with it.

 Gabriel didn't want to hold the duck, but was quite happy quacking at it and petting it while Dawson held. They were both very amused. We went back a 2nd time to hold ducks too.

 So soft!

 They also enjoyed the small petting area they had with baby animals. We got to hold and pet a small rabbit. Here Dawson was petting a calf. Gabriel enjoyed learning about baby animals and now knows the names for them as well. He will correct people if they say sheep instead of lamb, or cow instead of calf. It's very cute how much he gets into this stuff!

 Sharing a cone.

 Rides! We got wristbands for both of them. Unfortunately we didn't get much out of Gabriel's. He rode the carousal and these boats and then he decided he didn't want to do any more rides. Last year he did many, so I wasn't expecting him not to like it.

 Poor kiddo. I always feel so bad when they don't like a ride and have to wait it out. :(

 Dawson enjoyed the big slide

 Gabriel thought it was funny putting his face in this picture

 It was even funnier when Dawson did it

 He giggled and pushed Dawson's face out

 Ha, he's out!

 More ducks! Gabriel thought this was quite awesome.

 Gabriel had quacked at the duck and it quacked back. He was very amused.

 Goats! He loved petting the little goats. He pet them all equally, so they didn't feel left out or something. It was very cute.

 Dawson riding the camel for his 2nd ride. He even asked nicely and they let him pet the camel's head after he was done. He did great not just running up and petting it, and asking instead.

 Gabriel's 2nd ride. He rode by himself after a couple rounds. He has great balance. He just doesn't like it when they stop and often side step. Or when they first get on the they're leaning to the side a bit. So I still had to be in there with him, but he was very proud to be able to ride most of the time by himself and see me on the sidelines watching him go by.

 We went to a birthday party in Little Falls and went to their zoo afterward with our friends. It's a very small zoo and they have a petting area with donkeys, sheep and calves. Dawson preferred the sheep, they are neater eaters and don't slobber on or lick his hand.

 Gabriel liked the cows and donkeys best. He got all in there and was fine with them licking his entire hand. He made sure they were all equally fed too!

 Donkeys! He was ecstatic.

 Cute calf

 He loved the donkeys best. He even was ok with not riding them, though a bit bummed. He was happy to feed and pet them.

This week we went to the Children's Museum. The boys were very excited. They love this place! I wish it wasn't 90 minutes away. I walked past this mirror and had to take a pic. This girl is carrying very low and I'm sticking out further than I was before. I have 3 outfits that still fit me, and they barely fit! Been doing a lot of laundry trying to make sure I have something to wear.

 Dancing! They have a dance room with a blue screen. He's watching the TV which has him dancing with whatever theme he chose around him.

 Gabriel likes the foam blocks room

 Dawson pretending with the cash register

 Colors! Gabriel loves practicing his colors lately. He has many of them down pretty good.

 He's looking so much older lately! He had another growth spurt, which ended us up at the chiro again to adjust his hips that started cracking again. But he's doing great again after just one adjustment and he's starting to wear some of the smaller 3T shirts! Wow.

 A small color room. They got to push 2 buttons at a time and the whole room turned whatever mix of colors they chose.

 The water room! Always a favorite. We were in there for quite a while.

 So concentrated

 Toddler climbing room. They both had a lot of fun in here too. Thankfully it wasn't very busy at all, so it was easier for him to have fun and not worry about getting ran over.

My camera batter died mid-way through the museum, unfortunately! They also got to attend a short little informational class about rats and pet them afterward. We spent 4 hours at the Children's Museum and they were wiped out afterward. I was wishing I could nap in the car too!

 

Everything is going great with this pregnancy so far. I'm making progress, which is new to me. With the last 3 kids I never made any progress before I was induced. This time I've been having contractions when I walk very much. I was 1cm and 50% effaced at 36 weeks, and 3cm at my 37 week checkup today! Very excited to have things happening! On Saturday we plan to go to the State Fair if I'm still feeling up to it. Lots of walking will help things progress even more! It would be great to have this baby on my own and not be induced. Inductions make for harder labors and stronger contractions that don't give you much of a break, so it would be good to go in on my own! Very excited to meet this baby girl!