Happiness Is...

Eating watermelon on the couch.



Corn on the cob.



Sleeping in.



Swimming with your cousin in the backyard.



Being done work.



Watching a movie and eating popcorn.

If I Were A Celebrity...

(The grainy quality of the first photo reminded me of tabloid pictures and inspired this post.)

These are what our tabloid beach pictures would look like. Feel free to write your own captions in the comments. Mine is the following...




Katie and Suri who? We captured these photos of Mama D and Miss A at the beach during a relaxing trip to visit A's Grandma. Miss A was reportedly seen running into the water up to her shoulders with her Mama close behind as well as sprinting down the beach trying to make her escape. No wonder Mama D is looking so good!

Water Bug

I have always loved the water. For as long as I can remember I have loved to swim. When I was a child I spent every summer in swimming lessons and the rest of the time in water as much as possible. If we hadn't moved to the city I am quite sure that I would have spent my teen years as a lifeguard.

I still love to swim. While I was pregnant I did a lot of lap swimming. Miss A and I have done two sessions of swimming lessons. I love being in the water with her. I am so glad that she enjoys it as much as I do. A couple of weeks ago we were at a pool party which was held at a hotel which also had a waterslide. Miss A and I have gone down waterslides before so I figured we'd do it again. At first this slide seemed okay but then we picked up speed as we went around the three turns and as we headed for the end of the slide I prayed that I could keep her above the water. I mostly succeeded although I think she got a large face full of water. Luckily for both of us she didn't really care and was not forever traumatized thanks to her foolish mother.



Since we can't go swimming ALL the time (it is 30 below outside right now!) she has to settle for the bathtub. This suits her fine and she spends the time perfecting her swimming skills by blowing bubbles, laying her head and ears right back into the water, and splashing her arms and legs. The later I wish she would save only for the big swimming pool since I don't have to clean up there.



I really couldn't be more pleased to have a water bug baby. Now all we have to do is convince her Dada to join us more often...

Free Time

Yesterday was Miss A's last swimming lesson. (Notice the awesome Speedo bathing suit she's wearing. I found it at Value Village last week. Too bad she only got to wear it to one lesson.) Unfortunately for both of us she was kind of grumpy. She always loves the water though and has a good time swimming even if she is tired. I took this picture while I was in the pool and the instructor was holding A at the top of the slide. Can't you just see the dare-devilish look in her eyes?




In a way I'm kind of relieved that they are finished. It was a 2:00 lesson which meant that she'd be napping about an hour later than usual. Also the weather has just really began to turn ugly. It's officially winter what with the snow, colder temperatures and blustery winds. Not the kind of weather to be lugging a wet kid around in. Not to mention that is one less thing we have to do on one of my 'days off'.

On the other hand we may be bored. It's the only play group type thing that we do other than her getting to play with all the kids at church on Sundays. I may have to look into some other kind of group thing. Something cheap so that if the weather is crappy I won't feel obligated to go and 'get my money's worth'.

I know with Christmas so quickly approaching I won't mind the extra free time. At least for now.

Nature Baby

Lately Miss A has been taking a liking to going au natural. Well, almost. She still leaves her diaper on, most of the time.

I often find her after a nap with only her diaper on and her clothes, toys and blanket are all tossed on the floor below. She will wave at me when I come in and point to the stuff on the floor as if to say “Look Mama! All my stuff is on the floor. How'd it get there?” Gee, I have no idea. I also can't help but wonder if she is making a soft soft to land on when she decides to catapult herself out of her crib and onto the floor below. I wouldn't be a bit surprised. As it is, when I go in to get her she is often so excited she runs back and forth in her crib as though it is a gymnasium and rams into the ends with her round little belly. She is a wild child.




The other night while I was trying to put her to bed and she was not cooperating I put her pajamas back on her three times. She wouldn't leave them on. It was pretty funny at first but by the third time I just wanted her to keep them on and go to sleep for goodness sake.



Since bathing involves being naked, she loves her bath. She has just started to lay down on her tummy and splash around she also enjoys dunking her face in the water and blowing bubbles. Thanks to swimming lessons she is definitely not afraid of the water. (Sorry I pixelized her tushie but I just can't help thinking about the perverts out there.)



Today, I had to laugh. She had ripped off her pajamas, climbed up on the loveseat and was persistently putting on her shoe. Because, you know, I ALWAYS take her out with only her diaper and shoes on. In the winter. Sigh.

A Day Off

So yesterday was a holiday for us. Have I mentioned how much I love my husband's new job? We had quite a nice day getting things accomplished. Fixing our drippy sink and fulfilling my lifelong dream of putting Christmas lights on our house. Peter promised me that we could after we cut the enormous cedars down that would have hindered putting up lights along with hiding them. Since they are now history, I held him to his promise. You can see what I mean by revisiting this post.

Anyway, it was exciting. Something else exciting is that Peter was able to come to A's swimming lesson for the first time this session. I loaded him up with both digital and video cameras since I am unable to document our lessons. You know, since I'm in the water holding her and everything.

She was in fine form. Kicking her legs like she's never kicked them before. It was the closest thing she's ever done to swimming since we've been in lessons. Apparently, she likes to perform for her Dada. Thinking back, so did I. Hmmm. He thought she was very cute of course and other than the unbearable humidity in the pool area I think he enjoyed being able to come to a lesson. He was able to come to one of the lessons she was in the last session as well. (Also loaded up with the cameras) He noticed how much more 'lively' she is in the water. It was one of those sweet, sweet parenting moments for each of us.







I also think he realized how tiring it can be to be me. To run errands, go to a swimming lesson and take care of Miss A. I think he would rather go to work. Not to say he doesn't enjoy his time with A and I. (tee hee.) But I think he'd rather just stay at home when he's with us. Having to do anything else at the same time is exhausting.

Also, for those of you who are interested – 'Mama D Experiment' is up. And, no. I don't think it's happening too fast. (Read my comment in Sixteen.)