The Johnson's: Jun 8-13: A Return to Normal

After Gramma & Grampa Johnson went home on xxx, we had a week of "normalcy" before our next big thing - a trip to Quebec Province, Canada! We did yard work, went to swimming lessons, played with all the toys we could think of, did some shopping for Elin's birthday & the upcoming trip and went to an event in College Park where we got a glimpse of pro-cyclist Jens Voigt! The Tour de France starts next month and Kent & I are big fans of Jens! Since we had the kids with us - and it was boiling hot outside - we couldn't stay & listen to him for long, but we were glad to be able to see him in person for a little bit!

Jens Voigt

Erik pulled out his inner drama king this week when he hurt his knee. I don't even remember now how he hurt it (I'm writing this blog entry in August, sadly [sigh]) - oh yeah, he fell in the parking lot after swimming lessons while running in flip flops. He scraped his knee & lost some skin; I tried to severely down-play the entire incident because I remembered what happened on Mother's Day when I babied him after he scraped his knee. It didn't work. He cried (very loudly) all the way home and throughout the entire process of cleaning & washing the scrape. I managed to win the battle with him to put on some Neosporin ointment & a bandage so that he could lay down for his nap without smearing yucky stuff all over bed. That bandage was my downfall! But the time he got up from his nap, he wouldn't straighten his leg and wanted to be carried everywhere. If he did walk, he managed the most pathetic, gimpiest limp you've ever seen. I didn't give him any sympathy this time around and tried really hard not to just laugh outright at him. Kent & I finally managed to convince him that his leg was just fine for walking and he was running around shortly. Occasionally, he would try to "work" it and would pretend that he couldn't straighten out his leg, but we held strong and made him do things himself!

On Wednesday, the 10th, I witnessed a little boy have his very first lesson. This little boy must be part of the full-time daycare program at the JCC because the swim instructor picked him up from his classroom and brought him to the pool (no parents in sight). It was a complete disaster with him screaming & claiming that he was dying for 20 minutes. He even tried to bite his swim teacher! I haven't seen the little boy since. Watching that episode made me super thankful that my kids are past the crying phase and that they enjoy their swimming lessons!!

A few cute things that the kids have said or done lately:
1. When Erik has been asked lately what he wants to be when he grows up, his response has been a very disgruntled "I'm staying home with Mommy & Daddy!" Uh oh, we may have an introvert on our hands here!

2. Elin has become really good at sibling teasing and button pushing! All she has to do is say "Hi" in a cheerful voice to Erik and he just throws a fit! I'm not sure why that bugs him so much but it really does! I think that it's hilarious!

3. Elin will say "Back" while holding up her index finger - her version of "I'll be right back"