Jumbo Shrimp and Goldfish

Mary and Garrett started their swim lessons this week. Mary goes at 8:30 in the morning and I get in the pool with her. She's a Jumbo Shrimp. Garrett goes at 10:00 and he takes a class with an instructor and two other kids. He's a Goldfish. Those of you who have known me since puberty know that I DO NOT get in pools and I most certainly DO NOT wear swimsuits. Let my behavior this week, which included both the wearing of suits and the entering of pools, be a testament of my love for my children. One blessing is that the pool is indoors and I can avoid the heat which I also actively avoid.

First let me say that a baby in a swimsuit, exploring the water is about the cutest thing in the world. The children's pool at our aquatic center is wonderful. It can be entered the way you enter the water at the beach, where the depth gradually increases from 0 depth to 3 ft. 6 inches. It has a little dinosaur slide for the kids to go down and land in 2 inches of water. When we first entered the pool area, Mary said "ooohhhhh!" and immediately headed for the water with absolutely no fear. I almost failed to stop her. Our first class basically allowed her to explore the water and get comfortable with being in it. She loves to walk in the shallow parts and go down the slide. For our second class Mary and I stayed in the part of the pool where Mary cannot touch the bottom. I have to hold her in a swim position, with her face looking at my face, and encourage her to kick her feet.

Today one of the instructors said, "Would you like to encourage Mary to put her head under the water?" My eyes almost popped out of my head. Put her head under the water? They do know that babies can't breathe under the water, right? What if she swallows the water and drowns in front of my eyes? Good Lord. Another mother had the instructor dunk her baby because she didn't have the stomach for it. I didn't think I could do it either. But the instructor was very supportive and assured me that babies have an instinct to hold their breath and said Mary would be fine. I said, okay, here goes. It was probably the quickest dunk in all of baby swimming history because I was so nervous. Mary came up with her wet head, looked a little surprised and thought nothing of it. Whew.

When Garrett has his lesson, Mary and I watch from the mezzanine. Garrett likes to wave at us. We wave back. We clap when he does something impressive, like use a kick board and let his teacher hold him in a float position. The first time I handed him over to the instructor a wave of fear came over me. I said, "He doesn't know anything." I wanted to give the instructor his biography or something. Before you put my son in that pool, you should know that he has trouble holding a pencil. He'll probably want to splash the other children. He's very sensitive and you should tell him that he's doing a good job whenever he does the slightest thing. His birthday is January 31 and he's an Aquarius. Will that help? He's tall for his age and isn't as old as he looks. When he says, "My name-a-Garit," he's telling you that his name is Garrett. Two Rs, two Ts.

Fortunately, Garrett did just fine without me giving his instructor the 411. He's about as happy as a kid can be and he tells me ALL MORNING that it's Garrett's turn to get in the pool. Given the bliss that we are all experiencing in the pool, I took it upon myself to buy Chris a swimsuit too. When he gets in the pool it will truly be the summer of miracles.

Can't Buy Me Love

This story is almost too cute to believe. Yesterday we hosted a party for Isabela's mommy and daddy, who are expecting a baby next month. All the kids had a great time playing together, but Isabela and Garrett were particularly attached. Isabela "protected" Garrett from some of the other girls and Garrett supported Isabela's ideas for play. At one point Isabela and Garrett bumped heads and Garrett cried. Isabela cried because Garrett was crying and somehow felt responsible for the incident. In order to get Isabela to stop crying, I had to get Garrett to stop crying and tell Isabela that he was okay.

Today we went over to Isabela's house to pick up some of the remaining party supplies. It was a beautiful morning and we spent some time visiting in their beautiful yard. The kids disappeared into the house and played inside. After a while our parent sensors went off and we decided we had better make sure the kids were not getting into trouble in the house. We entered the house and witnessed this scene: Isabela was wearing a pretty dress, Garrett had been dressed in a sport-coat style jacket over his t-shirt and they were slow dancing 8th-grade style to instrumental Beatles music. They realized we were watching, got mildly embarassed and sat on the couch about 3 inches apart with their hands in their laps. It was so darn cute.