SWIM SEASON PREP

Earlier this month we signed James up for his first swim lessons. We are so excited! Jay has been talking about teaching James to swim since before he was born (Jay is quite the water baby himself, if you didn't already know, being from a beach town in Florida and all), and I am happy to be in the same class as the other mommies/daddies and little ones we know (I am growing to really appreciate time spent with other new parents, both for the comraderie AND the advice). It will be a 2-week class, following the American Red Cross Parent And Child Aquatics Program, that we'll attend in the evenings after work. Jay will likely be the "parent in the water" at most lessons, but we'll take turns if I'm feeling up for it (that is, if my giant belly hasn't worn me out to the point of exhaustion by the end of the day, in which case I will opt to float lazily nearby and just watch my boys enjoy the lesson, while taking photos, of course).

To prepare for this course, we hunted through James' ample suppy of swim trunks (hooray for hand-me-downs!) to find a pair that fit. And as we sort-of expected, the 2T sizes were way too loose for our skinny boy, and we didn't have anything in 18 or 12 month. Luckily, and surprisingly, the 6-month trunks that his Grambot got him a year ago STILL fit. And they actually FIT now, rather than hang halfway off his bum and past his knees, like they did when he first wore them on his 4-month birthday:

(Do REI infant clothes really run this large? Seriously?)

For sun protection purposes, we got him a rash guard. Then, we also got him a rash guard suit (a one-piece thingy), to switch between throughout the summer. Even though James has a TON of cute hats that fit (all hand-me-downs), he refuses to wear them. He won't leave his sunglasses on either (so, good thing we just bought him a pair especially for the pool, eh?)... Oh well, at least the lessons are during the early evening, so the sun won't be too bad. We'll just have to keep his splash pool at home in the shade, I suppose... In other preparations, we searched for reuseable swim diapers (both in our storage boxes of hand-me-downs and online). We found one pair (from Jackson), which just so happens to fit perfectly. Success!

(Don't mind James' pout, the sun was in his eyes during the diaper change)

However, since his swim lessons are daily (and we don't do laundry daily), and just in case James actually USES the swim diapers for their intended purpose mid-lesson (to contain BMs, though not urine, FYI), we figured we better get an extra pair or two so he doesn't miss class due to potty breaks! Problem is, the tag on those swim diapers from Jackson is so faded we couldn't figure out what size or brand they were. So, of course, I had to do some research. Good thing I like diaper research, eh? I narrowed it down to a couple of brands, then picked Imse Vimse because they have side snaps (in case there really is a BM to deal with, then at least we don't have to slide the dirty diaper down like undies), and because I liked their patterns, of course. Here is James modeling his new swim diapers:

Finally, we also decided it would be a good idea to introduce James to the pool where the lessons will be held, so he would be familiar with the area (and the crowd), before his class starts next week. This was opening weekend for the pool and we went both Saturday and Sunday. It was pretty busy, but James handled it well. Maybe a little too well... As we were checking in (paying our $10 usage fee - they even charge for babies!), we stood James up on the counter and he walked right over to the young girl at registration, jumped into her arms, and proceeded to snuggle in and suck his thumb. We were shocked! I mean, he's not shy or anything (in fact, they've been calling him "man of the house" at daycare lately due to his popularity with the older kids - they were literally all hanging out the door to wave bye-bye to "Baby James" on Friday), but still, he'd never even met this girl before! She SO wanted to take him home... And that's when I sweetly snatched him back (hee hee). Anyway, he got a whole 10 minutes in the kiddie pool that day before a thunderstorm hit (don't worry, we scored a Rain Check for Sunday).

Here he is testing the "beach" end of the kiddie pool:

And waiting for the thunderstorm on his Mama's giant belly:

Sunday was awesome! We spent about 2 hours (with warming and hydration breaks, of course) in both the adult and kiddie pools, surrounded by good friends (the other new parents we know, who we're taking the swim lessons with). James really had a great time, so the lessons should be a lot of fun for all of us! Here he is enjoying the water with his Daddy:

And drying off at the end of the day (still teething, if you can't tell):