Little Swimmer

Today we started aquababies swim lessons at the Y.  I decided to sign up because A) our gym class session was over and B) I need to learn not to be such a nervous Nelly with James in the water.

The boy loves to splash.  Anyone who's been around at bathtime lately can attest to this, and it certainly held true for the first half of today's class.  Our teacher found him cute (of course) and thought that with his enthusiasm he'd be likely to pick up bubble blowing quickly.  I tried to show him for most of the rest of the class, but I don't think he was into it much.  Well, he did give a bit of a blow at the end, so maybe next time...

It seems that James might surpass me in the ability to float on one's back.  During the class, we sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" and let the babies rest their heads on our shoulders and float.  He did it right away (I was holding him).  The cute/funny part was at the end of the song he rolled over to kiss me.  Sweet.

He also seems to grasp the notion of paddling his arms.  At the beginning of the class, he was all about moving around in the water.  However, about halfway through he seemed to get cold, then all he wanted to do was hold on to/cuddle with me.  He did get a second wind right at the end.

Now, the most interesting part of swimming lessons is the chaos in the Mother & Child Locker Room.  One wise mom had her child strapped into his stroller after dressing him which allowed her to change and such.  I had come prepared with one of James's favorite books to look at and a container of Cheerios.  He sat down quietly eating his snack and reading.... for about 3 minutes.  Then he started to take off.  Luckily he stayed IN the locker room; he'd just travel over to the corner of the room and hang out there (leaving a trail of Cheerios in his wake).  Maybe I should choose a locker near that corner.  Next week I'll bring a bagel instead of Cheerios.  And maybe a stroller.

Baby Wrangling

So, lately, much of our (mostly MY) time is spent Baby Wrangling. "What's that?" you ask...

Well, imagine an almost-seven-month-old who is very curious and becoming more independent. He wants to see everything, and by see, I mean hold and often insert into mouth. No matter what direction he is facing, there is something in another direction that might interest him.

Remember, I said he was becoming more independent; he can sit on his own, but, often in his effort to see something, he topples over and/or rolls. He cannot yet get back into a sitting position without assistance, so he'll often lie on the floor, whining, doing baby ab-crunches.

The baby wrangling in such instances occurs as you try to help him in his endeavors.

But wait, there's more!

Baby wrangling often occurs at church and at mealtimes. Again, wanting to see everything, he is super squirmy. Whatever adult is holding him is not just holding him, but wrangling him. Trying to keep him happy while still in one spot.

Baby wrangling at bath time is the scariest. Why? There is both water and porcelain involved-- both big dangers (think: drowning or cracking of the scull). He CANNOT bathe in the kitchen sink anymore; he fits, but he came very close to cracking his little noggin on the edge of the sink/counter too many times. Lately, he sits or lays on his bath chair thingy in the big tub, and Daddy sits on the edge of the tub (with his feet in the water). Not the relaxing "spa experience" from when he was younger and less active...

The benefit from all this wrangling--great triceps and biceps!