Busy Weekend!

Almost There!
Originally uploaded by pure_h2o

First off, Franz ran a 50k race on Saturday. That's over 30 miles. I swear, that man is crazy. The boys, Sona and I came late to the race to cheer Franz on. A few weeks ago, Franz had implied that he would love it if we made signs for him, and earlier last week, I bought a bunch of art supplies to do so. I wanted it to be a secret, but made the mistake of telling Eli of my plans. I even told Eli not to tell Dad, that it was a surprise, but I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the gossip tree, because he just couldn't keep it in. I can't say I blame him.

We got to the race two and a half hours before Franz finished, and I have to say, the boys did awesome. It didn't hurt that Denise, the wife of one of the other runners, showed Eli fan videos on youtube with her iphone. This kept Eli entertained for a really long time, at least until her battery died. I think that this is reason alone for us to invest in one.

Eli loved cheering on the other runners, but no one more than his dad. Franz came in to the aid station where we were waiting, and Eli grabbed his sign and ran right up to him, all excited and proud to see his dad. When Franz came in to the finish, Eli ran up to him once again, and they ran across the finish line together. It was adorable.

Eli, now just getting into the spirit of things, wanted to run with Franz some more, but like up the mountain. Franz was beyond spent at that point, and this cracked him up. Maybe next time, kid.

Sunday, the boys went swimming, and both made great improvements. Max has yet to make it through a whole class without crying, and he especially hates being submerged. This week, he cried in the beginning of class, and I was worried that I was going to have to deal with a Grumplestilskin the whole time. But he totally made a turn around, and by the end of the class, not only was he not screaming, he wasn't crying at all when I put his face under water. I was so proud!

As for Eli, well, he's doing really great. The second time he was in his new class by himself, he screamed the whole time, asking for us to come in the water with him, and was obviously miserable. Franz and I felt pretty awful too as Eli used to LOVE swimming, and now that he's in the big kid class, he hates it. But Franz came up with a brilliant plan to remedy this. He told Eli that if he didn't cry and he listened to the teacher, that he would get a Daddy Ribbon, which meant he could have ice cream after class. It totally worked. And the best part is that it worked again this weekend. Yes, we totally bribed our kid with ice cream, but he earns it. Now it is obvious that he loves swimming again. He is totally that kid who whenever the teacher asks, "Who wants to swim next?" says with his arm stretched out in front of him as high as it can go, "ME! ME! IT'S MY TURN! I WANT TO GO!" It has also become obvious that we are never going to get a report card from him that doesn't say, "Talks Too Much", as this kid tries to talk even while he's taking a breath from swimming under water. Amazing.

Oh! And last but not certainly least, Max cut his first tooth! Good bye gummy smile!