Jokester

When my sister Jenn was little, she used to say she wanted to be a "jokester". She had a wicked sense of humor back then, and this was her young way of finding a name for "comedian".

Ethan is following in her footsteps; although, being a two year old boy, his brand of humor reflects this. "Ma-ohm", he'll call out. When I give him my attention, he gives me a wicked grin. "W-w-whoa, whoa, woooooe", he'll chant as he stands on one leg and wiggles from side to side, ultimately landing as a sprawled out heap of Ethan on the floor. His jaw-splitting grin reveals his satisfaction in his performance. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! HaH!!" he calls out. "Ma-ohm, I'hm fuhn-neee".

Ice Skating

So I FINALLY got to take Leah ice skating yesterday afternoon. For the very first time! It's been something that I've been wanting to share with her for several years now.

After I had Mono in the eight grade, and had that develop into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, some physical activity was in order, particularly something that would strengthen my legs again. So my sisters, my cousins, and I all started taking ice skating lessons. I really enjoyed these, and kept taking them until the point where private lessons would have been required. Those were outside our means, so the lessons stopped. I still really enjoy skating, although until yesterday, I hadn't done it in years.

So when Leah was about two, I started to look forward to when I could take her ice skating. There was one hurdle to all of this: Leah's teeny, tiny feet, and the general lack of ice skates to fit teeny, tiny feet. When her feet were finally large enough (all of a whopping size Toddler 7!) she was 5 years old, and I was pregnant with little miss Rei. So no ice skating then! Leah's feet are now about a 9 1/2, and the rink is opened from it's summer recess, so, we laced up and went!

It has helped tremendously that Leah's best buddy Sam is taking lessons. She wants to do what her peers are doing, so, despite falling straight backwards a few times, she kept getting up. She's now decided that she wants to be a world-famous ice skater, and that practice will make perfect. We'll go again next week and see if she musters up the same courage consistently. I was really proud of how she kept trying, and how she did really well with listening to me in regards to getting her little feets to move in a circular fashion. She never really did anything on her own--the rink has these little "walkers" and when she wasn't using that, she was using me, but, she came a very long way in the short 45 minutes we spent on the ice.

I also discovered how rusty I am at skating, and might see if I can convince Shayne into some baby holding for an hour or two during the daytime to see if I can get a free skate or two in, in order to get my wits about me again!