Part one: Nathan is a fish. Part two: I'm a whale

Part one:
Nathan has officially graduated from ISR, trophy and all. The day before his last day the instructor made him do all of his testing elements with a full outfit (shoes, diaper, everything) and he did really well. The scariest part for both of us was when she splashed a wave over his face and tossed his shirt over his face to make sure he knows how to handle those kinds of situations. We will go back in the fall to "stretch out his float," which means making sure he can still swim despite growing over the summer. Babies don't do so will with proprioception so they need to readapt. I'm so glad we spent the money on the ISR series, it was tough schedule-wise but well worth every penny. I've never seen a more knowledgeable instructor.

Part two:
Ugh. It's time to admit, I have been slacking on all things fitness, including diet and exercise. I'm paying ridiculous money for a gym membership I hardly use. In my defense (and to go easy on myself, like my mom would tell me to), I have been really busy this summer between ISR, other Nathan stuff, traveling, and microbiology class basically consuming my life. Despite the fact that I knew full well I had some work to do, I was able to ignore the obvious pretty well so far this summer. Until I went to Target. I'm betting there's at least one person reading this blog who knows exactly what I'm about to say. Target has the worst mirrors in their fitting rooms. The. Worst. I knew this. I even said to myself (not out loud, of course): "you know we're in Target, with the Target mirrors. So just ignore whatever you see." That was so not happening. I need to get my ass in gear, literally. I need to find more time for the gym, stop eating fast foods and processed carbs altogether, and just generally be a healthier person. This is me typing this all so that I can be accountable. And not necessarily because I need to be in a bathing suit in just over a month...

The other epiphany I had was that I really want to learn to cook good food with quality ingredients. This creates a paradox on two levels: first, because "good" food isn't always healthy, and second, because I'm really into the couponing and not spending a ton on groceries. But hey, something has to give somewhere, right? My compromise- spend on quality ingredients when I can, try to buy them on sale, and eat my yummy creations in moderation. P.S., when I told Jason about my plan to learn to cook, he was ecstatic. Not even feigned surprise. Just straight happy. Sigh.

Kindermusik review

Earlier this week, Nathan and I went to a Kindermusik playdate at Amaya Papaya ($5 on Groupon!). I didn’t really know what to expect, but for five bucks, I figured we’d do it. I’m glad we did, because Nathan really enjoyed it! There were about a dozen kids, ranging from about a year old to four or five years old, with Nathan being closer to the younger end of the spectrum. The instructor sang lots of songs, played lots of music, used lots of props, and perhaps most importantly taught parents how to engage with their children and teach about music. I learned some fun new songs (I’m terrible with nursery rhymes) and took away some ideas for activities. The props were really fun- animal puppets, musical instruments, parachute, and “rainbows” (see below for a pic). Nathan was engaged about 60% of the time, but the instructor had explained ahead of time that the kids might not pay attention the whole time and that it was okay to let them wander. It was also a major workout for me- my traps were sore the next day from lifting him over my head again and again! At the end, each child also received a little tote bag with a book and a CD- not bad for $5! We’re signed up to do another one at the end of this month; unfortunately the purchase limit was two or I would have bought more.