What I did this Summer - Alexa

This summer Alexa was 3 and a half and it was definitely her busiest summer yet. June was a bit confusing for her. The first week of June was Chris' surgery, and although she had definitely been a momma's girl, having Chris suddenly gone for three days and then not being able to pick her up, or even really cuddle her for a few weeks, really threw her for a loop. One good thing to come out of that I guess is she has definitely more evenly divided her affections between her parents now, of course she occasionally has a specific preference, but it isn't always Mommy anymore.

We had a family photo shoot at home, and Alexa did her best to ham it up throughout the hour and avoid getting any nice pictures, especially if she was posing with anyone else, but I was very pleased with the shots the photographer was able to get of her.

















Also in early June we had Auntie Alyssa and Uncle Ryan here for visits, a week and a long weekend respectively, coinciding with Kaya's baptism, so that was very exciting for Alexa. Ryan had been here in January and she definitely warmed up to him faster this time.

Also in early June, Alexa started her first sports season, playing in the Itty Bitty sports league at our YMCA (2-5 year olds). It was supposed to be a 6 week season, spending 2 weeks each on Basketball, Soccer and Baseball. That was the theory anyway. We missed the first week because of a miscommunication to some of the families (including us) on the starting week, and of the three sessions we attended in the next four weeks, Alexa participated in less than half of the activities. By the time we got to baseball she just didn't want to participate at all. Up until this point she had been great in both Swimming and Tumbling lessons at the same YMCA - we never did really figure out what exactly happened, but I think some of it was just too much change and new things in June.

Later in June, Alexa had her first Vacation Bible School for a week at our Church and seemed to have a really good time. The following week our day care was closed so she went to the YMCA preschool for a week. We had expected her to love going to the YMCA because there would be swimming lessons and lots of crafts and she had, with the exception of the Itty Bitty sports, always loved going to the Y. We were also hoping that this would be a good trial for preschool (either at the Y or somewhere else), which we were considering for the fall. She did okay, but I really think that coming on the heels of everything else in June, this was just not the best time to have done this particular trial. However, it may have been all for the best. We really do like our current daycare provider and having the girls at two different schools would have been difficult.

July was mostly focused on recovery from June and trying to the tame the wild creature Alexa had become. She did return to her YMCA swim lessons, which were somewhat successful - once she actually joined the class. She is absolutely fearless and loves the water. Her kicking is great, and her floating is good too, if she would actually use her arms she would be ready to move up to the next class even though she is only three.

We also discovered a facility in Mesa called Jump and Shout. It is an indoor play center that has a three bounce houses and a couple giant play structures that resemble large hamster cages for children. It is a great way to tire Alexa out that does not involve much effort on our part - just what we needed! I don't know how long the appeal will last for Alexa, but for now we have been going about twice a week and I just hope it will get us through the triple digit temperatures.