Little Coach

Lola's independent swim classes have been going 100 times better than I could have ever dreamed. As of today, she's only had two lessons total, but at none of them has she thrown a tantrum or begged to get out of the pool like she did for the 10 months that we participated in the Parent-and-Tot class.

In fact, at one lesson, I even caught her smiling at her coach. She didn't let her coach see her smile, but she also didn't spend 30 minutes glaring at her.

SUCCESS!

Overall, her demeanor has been pleasant, and generally cooperative.  It just goes to show that I should have quit Parent-and-Tot a long time ago because its now clear that she does much better when I'm out of the pool. Remind me of this when I volunteer to be her rec league soccer coach.

Back to the swim class.
One of the techniques that she is working on is floating on her back. Lola HATES the back float. Whenever her coach tries to hold her on her back, Lola usually squirm and gets super stiff, and refuses to relax and lay her head back on her coach's shoulder. Her coach will say, "Trust me" about 15 times and then on time number 16, Lola will try to lay her head back and look at the ceiling.

Lola might have some control issues, no?

Anyway, all issues aside, last week after her swim class, we were at home and Lola and Elliott were playing in the fire engine that Josh constructed out of a shipping box. The kids were being very quiet, and when we peeked into the hallway to see what they were doing, we saw this

and Lola said, "I told Elliott to 'Trust me!'"

Another Round of Lola-isms.

New phrases that she loves to say, but struggles to find the appropriate context.

"That is disgusting."
"You look terrible."
"Seriously."
"That is so strangely." 
"I look fantastic!"

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New words that you really need to hear her say to appreciate them, but I have been unable to catch on video:
 
Abominable snowman.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

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Every time Lola takes a poop, she likes to tell me what she believes it looks like. Oftentimes, she'll say, "a whale" or "a penguin."  Today, she looked at me, pointed to her potty and said, "Mama, it looks like a crap!" "What?" I asked, "Does it look like a crab?" (I tried to enunciate on the "b.") Looking at me very seriously, she said, "No. Not a crab. It looks like a crap."

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She takes her Fisher-Price medical kit out, and hands the stethoscope to Josh. "Daddy," she says, "You are Dr. Seuss."

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Wearing her Buzz LightYear  Pajamas, she turns to Elliott who is upset.
"It's alright," she says, "I'm a space ranger. I'll save you."

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After reading a book that talks about the distance between Earth and the moon, she says, "I want to move to Mars." I try to explain to her that we can't move to Mars because there isn't enough oxygen, water, etc. Finally, I tell her, "We can't move to Mars because there isn't any hot chocolate on Mars."  She replies, "But, it has coffee!"

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She has convinced all of the kids in the daycare at the gym that there is a monster hiding outside the gym window. When I stop by to pick her up, I see her corralling all of the kids under the play structure while saying, "We have to hide from the monster!"

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I asked Lola who was her best friend. She said, "Zander." Pause. "Auntie LouLou." Long pause. "Dobby."
"Dobby?" I asked, as this is Maria's dog.
"Yes," she said. "I love dogs!"

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Lola: "I want to get married."
Me: "You want to do what?"
Lola: "I want a wedding cake."
Me, laughing.
Lola: "Can you marry Daddy again, so I can have a wedding cake?"

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Lola's tinker toy town

Fairytale Kids

While Chee Chew and Elliott were here, we visited Fairytale Town. Elliott watered the garden.

 Lola sat on a giant turtle.

Elliott in Sherwood Forest.

 Lola and Josh outside the barn.

 Lola and Elliott inside the Little Engine that Could.