Piano Classics with Ainsley from Jason Coleman on Vimeo.

We tooled around the farm for a bit, letting the kids look at some of the farm animals there. Ainsley got to see her first read duck — which notably does not look like a rubber ducky — but she quacked at them all the same. We went through a little barn maze which featured a couple of slides Ainsley went down. Despite landing on her bum a couple of times, she seemed to like the experience. She also got to ride around on some toy tractors set up in an enclosure for toddlers.

We then went over to the pumpkin patch to buy a couple of large pumpkins for our front stoop. Ideally, these will make it into Jack-O-Lanterns this year (last year was a bust). Our friend Allison pointed out that ones that big were certainly a pain to car out, but hopefully that won’t deter us. If nothing else, there are always black markers (and Ainsley loves drawing with markers).

On the way back to car, Ainsley declared to everyone “I love pumpkins!” Angela noted that was the first time she said she loved anything (outside of family and friends, of course). I’m not sure that pumpkins would be at the top of Angela’s or my list, but there are worse places to start.

The course is Infant Swimming Resource* , taught by the Ryan Piles Aquatic Foundation at Middle Tennessee Scuba & Swim. She took about six weeks of one-on-one classes (about 10 minutes a day). She learned how to swim through the water, take rests, and reach safety of an adult, the pool steps, or edge. She’s a headstrong kid and a class like this may very well be a lifesaver.

Here’s the video I put together which shows some of her swimming skills and a bit about the ISR course she took:

Ainsley’s Swim Class from Jason Coleman on Vimeo.

As you can see here, she is in a very safe environment with trained professionals. Though not every kid reacts as calmly as Ainsley does (especially not during the fully clothed practice), we believe that these are great skills to learn. Of course, it is up to any parent to decide what is right for their child; but if you’d like to know more, check out the links above and watch this video.

* The R seems to stand for different things depending on who you ask.

Ainsley dancing to some hip hop music. She was being stubborn and refused to dance much when the camera came out. She shows us a couple of moves, though.

Rainy Day Stroller from Jason Coleman on Vimeo.

Big Helper, originally uploaded by super-structure.

Ainsley seems to be a very happy big sister. She really enjoys pushing the pram on our afternoon walks around the park. She tries to help bring blankies and socks when she sees that Wyatt doesn’t have them. She even likes to “hold” Wyatt by putting Angela’s nursing pillow around her to have him lay on. When we do this, she pats his head softly. It’s all very cute but of course the biggest relief is that she doesn’t seem to show the slightest hint of jealousy.

Ainsley patting Wyatt’s head as he sleeps.

Ainsley and Wyatt watching one another.

Afternoon Snooze, originally uploaded by super-structure.

Running around all day long can be just exhausting. Just ask Ainsley, who just can’t stop walking and getting into pretty much everything!
Her favorite things so far are:

• Splashing her hands in the dog’s water bowls.
• Pushing all the buttons on the stereo, DVD player, and television. This also includes the associated remotes.
• Watching for the stairs gate to open so she can start climbing up the stairs.
• Opening all the kitchen cabinet doors.
• Coming into my office and grabbing anything that’s not bolted down.

It’s all really fun and cute, to tell the truth. Just exhausting for all involved.

At The Pumpkin Patch, originally uploaded by super-structure.

Fall is here and we went out last Sunday in search of pumpkins. Okay, that wasn’t our main goal in driving around town, but it was nice when we happened on a Methodist church selling pumpkins as some sort of fund raiser. We bought two medium sized for Angela and I to carve into jack-o-lanterns.
We also let Ainsley pick out one of her own. …at least we tried. She was really more interested in taking small ones out of one basket and placing them in the next. Over and over and over, again. This is actually kind of her new found game: picking up items and then putting them back away. It’s handy that she picks up after herself (sort of) but will probably cease to be so cute when she puts her pancake in the DVD player or mommy’s jewelry in the garbage can (both of which she knows pretty much how to locate and operate at this point, as well).