Water Baby

Right after Iyla was born, my friend Dianne remarked: "she is ALL water signs!" Indeed Iyla's November 12th arrival at 8:44pm had her astrology chart (which Dianne ran for me) as a Scorpio sun sign, Scorpio moon sign, and Cancer rising sign.

I have no idea if there is any correlation or not, but this little girl LOVES the water! So much so that we put her into swim classes at a local swim school. They have very small classes of 3-5 little ones aged 6 months- 2 years, and really focus on getting the babes comfortable in the water.  Here are a few shots from last week:

At her last class, BC and I were both terrified surprised when the instructor announced that today the babes would be going under water. Under water?!? BC happened to be in the pool with her that day, and it was all I could do not to launch off the viewing deck to save help them. 

The instructor sat Iyla up on the side of the pool and demonstrated to BC how to hold her by her arms, then simulate her 'falling' into the pool. This falling sensation is key, since it triggers a reflex causing the baby to close her mouth and hold her breath. While holding tight onto Iyla's arms, the instructor put her under water for 1 second then raised her immediately up to her chest. Another little one who had done this before (and was 9 months old) was able to be under for a full 3 second count! 

After observing the instructor it was BC's turn. He faked a huge smile for Iyla and repeated the instructor's steps. Iyla arose from underneath the water with a wet, somewhat surprised look on her face- but no crying! She went under water about 5 times during the class, all without tears. Absolutely amazing.

I try to get out to local pools with Iyla as often as I can, given it is now almost 100 degrees daily. It seems Iyla could stay in the water indefinitely- between kicking & splashing & watching other kids play, our little one is in pure heaven.

Last weekend we had lots of family here in town for my cousin Heather's wedding- including my cousin Amy & her 9 month old son Liam. We spent an afternoon at my parents' hotel pool, and as usual Iyla had a blast! My dad snapped a few shots:

Sorry for the extreme boob shot- Iyla is too cute in this one not to post. You can also see my streak of gray hair quite well!

I'm grateful Iyla loves the water, as swimming is a necessity for our Austin summers. There is a plethora of wonderful local pools, toddler wading pools, & splash pads here around town to keep things interesting. Our favorite that we've been frequenting lately is a lovely shaded wading pool- Little Stacy Pool- in the nearby Travis Heights neighborhood. Endless fun for our bona fide water baby!