Age of Pisces

We have been taking the girls to swim lessons for about two months; Bean is rather fond of the water, but has had a hard time relaxing enough to let me help her kick or paddle, Peabo is just sure that we're torturing her with a huge, loud bath.

However. Breakthrough was achieved yesterday on both fronts. Peabo's lesson is first, and then an hour later, Bean's. I am pretty much a raisin by the time I get out at 5 pm. Anyway, Peabo mildly freaked out initially, but as the half hour wore on, realized that maybe it was more entertaining to play with the water toys, or point at other babies. She has maybe a little crush on a slightly older man named Ezra, and pointing at him and gurgling worked wonders for her mood. She even let go of her death grip on me (at least one hand) to poke at a ball floating around, not to mention letting us submerge her face numerous times with no coughing. Good times.

Then it was Bean's turn. We had gotten her a pink neoprene shortie in hopes of keeping her a bit warmer in the pool; she is so skinny the teeth begin chattering after 15 minutes, even with a 90 degree water temperature. That and pigtails look darn cute, I can assure you. Anyway, I had been trying the baby trick of blowing on her face right before submerging it to get her to hold her breath; figured it was time to up the ante a bit. Well, we count 1, 2, 3 and in she goes...no problem. Granted, I did the turbo-merge, but still...progress. Let's try a second time. No problem. Third time? At the count of "3", she squinched up her eyes and closed her mouth tight in total and complete anticipation. It was an amazing moment, to see that leap of understanding. Did sit-jumps off the wall, counting to three, same deal. Tried again from in the pool. Same deal. The best part was putting pink goggles on her as it seemed her eyes were getting a little sensitive. Pink goggles, pigtails, pink wetsuit. You can imagine.

And for the record, Bean is in fact a Pisces, so it was about time we figured out this water thing.