water baby

I decided to go swimming in the lake. With my clothes on. It was hot, Maryn wanted to swim, and I don't have a swim suit that fits my post-pregnancy breastfeeding body. So we sat down on the grass for a while. So hot. I looked down at my Nike shorts and tank top and thought--yeah, I can go swimming in this. I looked at Maryn. Cloth diaper, sundress off. She can go swimming in that. And so we did.

When I jumped in, the water felt ice cold. I thought, no way is Maryn going to go for this. The coldest her water has ever been is 84 degrees at the end of her bath. But Libby, a counselor, handed her to me, and though Maryn's face showed initial shock and resistance, she started kicking and flapping with glee in a matter of...oh, one second.

Her little grunts and 1 second shivers (which she does whenever she is excited) were priceless. Our day campers couldn't stop saying, "Maryn, watch me! Maryn, watch this!" And "Peekaboo," as they came up from under the dark, murky water. They splashed and giggled and jumped. Maryn was thrilled. She kicked, she flapped and she even tried to drink the water, trying to dive right in.

After swimming, Maryn experienced her second shower ever because we don't have a tub in our house and she had sand all over her. She enjoyed it even more than the first time, making every effort to get her face close enough to stick out her tongue to catch the spray, both arms reaching out as if the grab it all to put in her mouth.

Maryn also took a bath today. And I think we may be giving her baths every day, since Maryn is only satisfied when she can feed herself, and therefore gets bananas, peaches, etc. in her hair and down her arms. She loved her bath as usual, except she now can't seem to sit still.

Just before bed time we were outside, and it started to sprinkle. It was still warm, so we stood in the rain for a little while, Maryn's tongue outstretched, of course. When we went back under the porch, Maryn started whimpering, reaching out for the rain. So we danced in the rain a while longer.