Swim Lessons

My parents are sponsoring swim lessons for Elijah which we began this month at our local YMCA. It has been such a fun class and my baby boy just loves the water! He has been a water baby for most of his babyhood from sharing baths with me in our huge and very deep garden tub to swimming in the ocean to several pools both indoor and outdoor. He just seems so at home in the water as we swim around together and although he is definitely a warm blooded baby, he is even getting used to the cooler water of the indoor pool at the YMCA. 

The class we are taking is a parent/child class and it is so much fun to interact with the other moms and babies. The babies are learning how to get out of the pool (very important!) by climbing over the edge.  WE sing songs and play water games, they float around on noodles and this week, they learned to dunk, with our help of course. Let me just tell you that for a mother to pull her baby into  and UNDER the water is sort of traumatic the first couple of times. I pretty much had to psych myself up to do it and was definitely not the first in line. But Elijah, true to form, was laid back and took it in stride. He was surprised, that is for sure, but took some deep breaths and we went back for more. The YMCA has  a strict photography policy during the lessons but they let you take pictures and video after class off to the side which we were excited to take advantage of and managed to not only get some photos but we got the dunking on video!

Me and my water baby!

He loves to float. When he is in the noodle, he lays back and the other moms say he looks like he's floating down the river in tube.

My little fishy.

Vacation Post 3: The Beach

It has been about 15 years since I have been to Ocean City and the beach is even more awesome than I remember!  It was clean, full of families and there was sand stretching as far as the eye could see! The sand was warm, the water was cool and refreshing.....it was the perfect vacation spot for our family to relax. We had a great time riding the waves! Elijah was a little unsure about the water. He cried a few times when I put his feet in it but by the last day he was happily sitting in the wet sand, letting the water run over him.  I LOVE the water and have been trying to cultivate that love in him by taking him into pools and in our bath time together in the big garden tub.  That being said, he is used to water that is a little warmer and surroundings that are a little calmer but he did very well. He loved kicking the sand and spent between 1-2 hours or more every day of our vacation on the beach. Thanks to hats and sunglasses from Grandmama and the organic Gentle Babies organic sunscreen that we got from nurtured family, he was well protected and didn't get once bit of sunburn!

It was also so great to have Chip for 10 whole days!  We have never had that long of a time off together, not even for our honeymoon! Because we were so close to the beach, we were able to stroll back and forth between the ocean and the house which was perfect for Elijah and Mommy and Daddy was never more than a five minute walk away.

The Parish Family ready for some fun in the sun!

Love the mesh ring sling! Perfect for the beach!

Cuddling with Mimi so Mama can have some body boarding fun!

Cool dude.....where's his hat? 

I LOVE this picture. Definitely one i want to blow up and hang. 

Another fun day at the beach!

Sisters!

Daddy loving on his little fella. 

I do have a handsome husband!

A little lunch on the beach for Elijah. What a life!

Sweet tiny feet

Two beach bums and their big floppy hats!

Next year we won't be able to keep him OUT of the sand!

Such a sweet face

Mommy brought Elijah's bathrobe to keep him warm when the sun started to go down

Playing the Daddy/Elijah game

More meals on the beach. This kid eats EVERYWHERE!

I love that smile SO MUCH!!!!!!!

Another to frame

The zoom on our camera is incredible. Chip took these photos from the beach!

Mimi taught me how to bod surf!

Finally getting used to the cold water with the help of Papa John

Great shot!

Chip did a great job capturing this moment

Little feet loving the wet sand

Front and center by the ocean!

By midweek, Elijah discovered he could move the sand around with his feet and started building "sand castles" between his legs. So cute!

Two dudes on the beach

Love my little boy. So glad he had some new fun experiences!

Elijah Goes to Schlitterbahn

Elijah had his first water park adventure! We went to Schlitterbahn, Galveston and had a blast! Brad and our friend, Will came along. And while the older boys explored the park, Elijah and I found a comfy shaded spot by the pool and had a fun, relaxing day. Going anywhere with him pretty easy but, Elijah outdid himself on this excursion! We were at the park from the time it opened at 10am and stayed until about 4:30. That is a long day outside for a three month old but he loved every minute of it!

Getting ready for high adventure and his part time job as a  vigilante

This is, hands down, the cutest batman I ever did see. Move over Christian Bale, there is a new caped crusader in town!

Water park fun with Mommy!

I got to hang out with the cutest boy at the pool!

Brad and Will, getting ready to head out to the lazy river

These two became fast friends this week!

Enjoying time under the cool cabana

Lunch time. Uncle Brad is a cool guy!

Love my new Taylor Made mesh sling for the water!

Napping on Mommy in the water sling

That cute bottom lip will be the death of me

Ready to head home after a long, fun day!

Elijah's First Swim

 Memorial Day weekend, when everyone came into town for Elijah's Christening, we had the opportunity to take our baby for his first swim! Grandma and Granddad Parish friends, Rick and Trish, let us come over and use their pool! I was so excited to get Elijah in the water. He loves his baths and I knew that he would enjoy floating around the pool. He was a little fussy at first as he got used to the water temperature, but then he began to relax and fell asleep while he floated around.  It was an amazing day!

All set for our very first swim!

"Mommy, this feels soooo nice!"

"Don't let go please"

Peek a boo! Where is Elijah!

There he is!

Uncle Josh looks great in Elijah's monkey hat!