Last Saturday was a big day for our tiny man-baby. As we packed his swim bag and headed for the gym at Chesapeake, he had no idea what fun was ahead! We’ve been waiting for what seems like forever to take him to the pool. The sign says, Babies must wear fitted swim diapers, to which we respond- swim diaper -it is, but fitted- it is not! We bought his washable “speedo” type swim diaper and it’s very snug around his waist but the leg holes are gaping. So I bought some Huggies little swimmers. Those also turned out to be slightly too big. So, Mike dressed him in both and on top of that his little brown and orange trunks with his brown and orange rash guard. I had just finished up swimming a very slow and laborious 250 when I looked up; it was quite an adorable sight to watch them return from the family dressing room. Mike slowly descended the plastic stairs while Reed just hung out on his daddy’s arm.
Sometimes Reed is just so laid back that it’s amusing. We had the pool to ourselves to ogle over our baby’s first experience, which was nice. We didn’t have to worry about being self conscious in our praise of how well Reed floats and the silly faces and sounds we make to entice a smile. He looked around at all the water with this expression, ‘that’s a lot of water!” After a little while he started to smile as we bounced him up and down or swirled him around in circles. We passed him back and forth and he enjoyed going from Daddy to Mommy and back again. The whole experience was wonderful and memorable. And later when we were home and I was uploading pictures to the computer, we looked each other in the eyes, knowingly, because this is our life now as parents. To introduce brand new things to our baby is to see them through his eyes and to almost experience them ourselves for the first time again.
Chesapeake starts water babies classes at six months. We are hoping that by then, Reed will be ahead of the curve with his weekly visits to the pool!
That evening we also introduced Reed to his first solid dinner. One tablespoon of rice cereal mixed with some very nutritious breast milk served up on a spoon! We set him up in the Bumbo with the tray and Mike fed him the first bite while I manned the camera. He was a rockstar! Huffing and puffing through his nose, doing “the bull”, he leaned in towards the spoon and devoured the cereal like he was worried we were going to change our minds. His tiny fists clasped under his chin, he looked like he was begging! He ate almost angrily and finished pretty quickly and needed a bottle afterwards. Mike and I both enjoyed it and look forward to sharing dinner time with him every night now. There is also some bad news. That night Reed did not sleep well, he was restless and fitful. He woke up almost every hour. The previous week he had slept 9 hours one day and 10 the next. Of course when you tell people you’re going to start solids, the obvious response is “he’s going to sleep so well!” No such luck. He was already sleeping well so the cereal, what, had the opposite effect? Two nights of this and in the mean time we discovered he had developed a cold. Poor little dude has a stubborn runny nose and a juicy cough that makes me wish I could get in there and clean out the mucus in his chest.
Monday was MLK day and Reed and I both and the day off, so we went to the Chesapeake fitness center for the workout class I used to frequent before I started working at the bank! Its always fun to show him off and I brought his travel bed for him to play in and entertain himself while I got my sweat on. He did really well for about 45 minutes and the last 15 I held him while we did abs. It was no problem. April was there in class and she got a nice tight squeezy hug from Reed afterward. I of course think that I’m just as strong as I was a year ago so I try to hop back into workouts that my body forgot how to do. But, I found all those tiny muscles that I call “the meats” tucked into and around my ribs. I found muscles all down my back and shoulders twisting around my spine. I was sore head to toe, heck, its Thursday and I’m still sore!
We had bagels with Melissa and Ty since they were off for MLK day as well and I invited April and Hannah to join sine April was running errands in the area. It was wonderful of them to come by, I always love seeing Hannah, and I always love my friends to meet each other, too. After bagels Reed and I went to see Lensey, who tortured me. She calls it physical therapy. She also called it soft tissue massage, but I assure you there was nothing “soft” about it. I’ll admit, I’m feeling so much better thanks to Lensey. She’s an angel! I’m happy that I can finally move around without that annoying pain.
Finally, we stopped off at Alison’s house to see her nursery and bring the gift for Essick since I missed her shower last month. Her cute nursery is done in a “sailing” theme complete with his initials over the crib. Not the traditional ESW, but the nautical alphabet! Pretty cool. It was great to catch up. Alison and I haven’t spent time together like that since probably last spring. I guess, it was our trip to Ardmore for the Xterra that the guys did.
Lastly we had dinner with Allissa and Jackson, no Keith and Cassie this time. The Monday night tradition was put away for now since I’m starting back to school Monday and Wednesday nights. I guess we have to pick a different night! We have been meeting together Monday nights for almost two years now I think… is that right? Wow, amazing. So, yes it will just have to move! We can’t give up now, we have built a very strong foundation with these meals! It was a full day but Reed was a full fledged trooper and nothing less. Our MLK day started by dropping Mike off at home and we didn’t step a foot into the house until past 8:30 that night. I love that he allows me to still have the life I need.
So I must wrap this up because I have to start on my complaint letter to the office of admissions at Rose State College. Ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment