Plunge Swim Lessons 2012

As I quietly got up in the dark on a Saturday morning, careful not to wake anyone as I got dressed and out the door, I thought to myself, "Seriously, this is crazy." Waiting in a line that wraps around the city for swim lessons is kinda crazy. The swim lessons at the Brea Plunge are somewhat of a local phenomenon. I heard someone ask, "Geez, is Justin Beiber teaching swim lessons here?" Some people spend the night in line to be at the front... now THAT is crazy. I think those over-nighters actually enjoy it though, like a fun tradition. To be honest, thanks to my costco beach chair with a pillow and Tina Fey's book, "Bossypants," I didn't mind it much this year either. I bet the people half asleep in line next to me thought I was crazy, laughing out loud by myself.

This year was Wendy's fourth and Harvey's first year of swim lessons. Wendy did so great! This was the first year that she didn't cry even once. She usually cries the first couple days, but this year she loved it from the start. It might have been because she didn't forget how to swim over the winter like she normally does. She's lucky to have a heated pool in both of her grandparents backyards where she spends her days when I'm at work (a fact that makes me happy and a little nervous at the same time). So she basically got to go swimming at least every Monday and Wednesday for a year. Her swim teacher, Miss Nikki, was shocked at her skills and how fast she swam. She couldn't believe it was her first time in a level 2 class. I was a proud momma watching her come up for breaths and do adorable little backstrokes. She was also a little doll for me, having to sit patiently, wrapped in a towel, and watch Harvey & I do his swim lessons for a half an hour after hers. All the moms kept commenting on how good she was. It really made me happy to watch her sit patiently and cheer on her baby brother.

* Harvey & Miss Ally

  

For Harvey's first round of swim lessons we did a little mommy & me class. And Harvey was THAT kid. You know, the one that cries from the minute the lesson starts until the minute it ends. It broke my heart. He would cling to me, bury his face in my neck and sob. I would glace at the clock every 5 minutes hoping his torture was almost over. I thought about just pulling him out so many times. But I knew that if he were anything like Wendy, he would love it by the end. I also knew that this was a small step toward teaching him the essential survival skill of swimming (ESPECIALLY when both his grandparents have un-gated pools). After 5 long days for lessons, he stopped crying. The day after that he actually enjoyed himself. He kept dipping his face in the water to "blow bubbles." He also loved sitting on the edge of the pool, holding on to my fingers and sliding into the pool. 

The last two days of lessons they had the kids jump off the diving board, or, I should say, had us parents drop our babies off the diving board. Harvey couldn't wait for his turn. He kept pointing at the diving board and basically ran to the end of it (holding onto my fingers because he's one of my babies which means he won't be walking until he's 18 months old). He didn't even cry when I dropped him. He came out of the water pointing, kicking his legs and grunting like he wanted to do it again. It was the most bizarre thing. So I let him do it again. My children never cease to amaze me.

"HARVEEEEYYY! You're CRAWLIINNGGG! Like a REAL babyyy!!"

- Wendy

*said in a very high pitched voice, bent over, clapping to every empnasized word. Her brother usually scoots on his bum. We are all very excited for him that he has progressed to crawling "like a real baby."

12 Months

 

*I love love LOVE the leg rolls in this picture!

 

  

Harvey Jay 12 Month breakdown:

• weight: 27lbs, 94th percentile
• length: 31 1/2 inches long,  92nd percentile (only 5 inches shorter than his 4 year old sister)
• biting everything he can and i have the bruises to prove it. he's cutting some molars so he's biting everything. he especially loves to bite my shoulder while i'm holding him and pull back on my outer layer of clothing. He always looks at me right after he bites with big eyes and his mouth hanging open like, "Am I gonna be in trouble for that?" All I have to do is give him a stern, "No bite," and his little heart breaks with giant tears and a quivery lower lip. It's so sad but so cute. It seems to affect him so much, you'd think he'd learn to stop. 
• on 4/12/12 started kinda crawling. he actually got on all fours for 2 seconds. he does more of an army crawl on his belly though. it takes A LOT of effort to get anywhere. he's moving a lot of weight.
• waves hi/bye at every person passing by and every car that drives down the street
• LOVES to be outside. he even throws a mini tantrum every time i shut the front door
• pains me to say that I can already tell this boy is a true, deep down animal lover. if there is an animal within sight, his whole demeanor improves. he lights up and calms down all at the same time. he makes this high pitched sound, just like he's saying, "here kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty!" i'm so screwed. i've come to learn that i kinda hate pets. i just don't get enough joy out of them to exceed the work/pain/money i have to put into them. i know this little boyfriend of mine is going to be the end of my happily almost-pet-free home. it's just a matter of time before that boy "needs" a puppy in his life.

The Final Countdown

These last 12 months have flown by. This little boy is nothing but a joy in our family. I can't express how lucky I feel to get to be Harvey's mom.