April Went Swimmingly

I’m not dead.   I can’t believe it has been so long since I’ve written a blog post, April flew by.  Since my last post we have had two mini trips to Austin and Houston, started and quit a daycare program, had a friend visit, and planted a small garden.  Clayton had two conferences this past month conveniently both were in Texas so we got to spend some quality time with family. 

 In my last post I mentioned that Ella would be starting a part time daycare program on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  She started April 2^nd and after the second day got Hand, Foot, and Mouth.  For those of you that don’t know, it is basically like a cold virus but in young kids it can cause very painful mouth sores.  Ella got them pretty severely and so she wouldn’t eat or drink, which raised serious concerns of dehydration because she was also running a fever in the area of 103 degrees.  That was week one of daycare, it was pretty fantastic. She was not well enough to go back to daycare until Wednesday of week two, but I was planning on pulling her out early to pick up my friend from the airport.  So, I decided to keep her home… for good.  I’m only kind of joking.  The daycare required a two week notice for withdrawal which was that Friday.  So, Ella attended the program for a total of two days.  I know I didn’t give the place a fair chance and I feel like I’m turning into one of THOSE moms (whatever that means), but I don’t really care.  That being said, I miss working.  There is no win-win for a mom.  If you work, you feel like you are missing out on so much at home.  If you stay at home you feel like you are missing out on so much that a career has to offer (mostly putting your brain to use).  It feels like each day I don’t work is a day I get dumber and at some point Ella’s and my intelligence levels will intersect and eventually she’ll be asking me what sound a horse makes to which I will reply “Baaaaaa”.  So, to maintain my sanity I am going to try to make this blog kind of like my job and really focus on keeping up with it.   The other option is to become super proficient at American Sign Language which we are currently teaching Ella via Signing Time videos.  You’ll know which route I chose.

As I mentioned before, I also had one of my best friends visit.  She doesn’t read my blog which I totally called her out on, but it worked out to my advantage because I could tell all the same stories and she would laugh at my jokes.  I loved having her here and I’m looking forward to having more guests soon! 

In the time between trips we’ve just been up to our usual stuff- the beach, zoo, grocery shopping, and SWIMMING.  Before we moved I started taking Ella to waterbaby classes at a swim school.  She loved it.  By the time we moved she was holding her breath underwater for a few seconds.  So, I wanted to continue what we learned in waterbabies here in Jacksonville.  Our luck couldn’t have been better.  Clayton found that the university right by his office offers a free mommy and me swim time.  I also found out that no matter what the circumstances swimming with a baby is awkward.  There were a number of awkward moments when we started the swim class in Austin.  I should preface this by saying that signing up for the class meant a special trip to Target for my first ever tankini purchase.  I showed up at the swim school feeling confident in my mom style bathing suit to find out that the instructor is a guy in his early twenties, not particularly attractive, but the awkwardness factor definitely increased as my confidence decreased.  Within a few minutes he is unleashing a basket of balls in our direction to which I remark how we love to play with balls.  Oh my god, get me out of this pool.  Next thing you know we are playing with a large foam crab, to which I’m pretty sure I made some low brow joke about crabs.  What is wrong with me?  Then Ella grabs my top and gives it a solid pull.  Luckily, nothing happened but my reaction was enough for the instructor to say, and I quote “yeah, that’s why we don’t recommend wearing bikinis, I mean we are all for breastfeeding...” (This is where he trailed off because clearly this conversation was beyond awkward).  Here I was in the most modest bathing suit I’ve worn in my life and I felt like I had strolled in with a triangle top and thong.  It was at this point that I considered never going back to swim class, but we did.  Fast forward to our free swim time in Jacksonville.  It happens to coincide with a water aerobics class that is, as one would expect, full of elderly women.  I’ve said it before, elderly women love babies.  These women are all impressed by how much Ella loves the water, but what I’m impressed with is their timing in striking up conversation.  Without fail they wait until I’m topless and awkwardly covering myself or pulling my bottoms off to talk about how old Ella is or what skills she has attained.  I’m not sure if you’ve recently tried to put pants on quickly while your skin is still damp, but it’s not easy and it’s definitely not graceful.  I think it is very apparent that I’m uncomfortable putting my underwear on while discussing how old fashioned the name Ella is.  I’m convinced no matter the circumstances swimming with a baby in the company of other people is AWKWARD.  I also have to give a quick ‘tip of my hat’ to my friend Kim who started going to waterbabies with me in Austin and also endured the awkwardness of the instructor, but what is most notable is that a couple of weeks ago her little one was successful in pulling down her built-in sports bra tank top.  God Kim stop dressing like such a ho bag at swim class!  (My first inclination was to write ‘hussy’ in the place of 'ho bag', but then you all would have thought I was actually attending the water aerobics class)

I think that basically brings you abreast (I’m so clever) with what is going on in our world.  At the beginning I mentioned a garden, but I will save that for next time because this post is already way too long.