Truly Swimming! (no floaties!!!)

Those long legs! How is she getting so big? She's ready to jump right in with everyone else! 

I love it when a baby squats.

Ruth turned into a mermaid this week. Not a fish, a mermaid. She is very emphatic on that point. She started out kicking herself around with a floatie on. Then she put her head into the water and held her breath for longer and longer lengths of time. Then she asked to have her floatie taken off and has started kicking herself around the pool with her head under the water! It's amazing! She swims ALL BY HERSELF!!!!!!! She can swim from one side of the pool, around the stairs, and to the other wall. Or, I'll step out about 6-7 feet and she'll swim back and forth from me to the wall. She keeps her head under the water while she swims, but her eyes open, so we finally got some goggles for her and she is the cutest goggle-wearer there ever was! When we brought the new goggles for the first time, some kids from the complex were already there swimming, two boys a little older and younger than Ruth. When Ruth jumped in the first time, water went in her goggles, so the older boy told her she had to hold on to them when she jumped. But being Ruthie, she also has to plug her nose. So now she jumps with one hand COMPLETELY covering her eyes and pressing those goggles into her face and the other hand holding her nose. It is so hilarious!

Will likes to copy-cat.

This is how Ruthie warms up, and I find it hilarious.

I found my old goggles and fixed them for half a second for Ruthie to use, but they ended up breaking again. Like I said, we did end up getting her new ones.

Oh, angel baby, you are so so so beautiful!

While I sit there and yell at Will to get away from the baby, Molly thinks he's absolutely hilarious and laughs at him the entire time!

After I had written this post, we went swimming (yes, yes, that really is about all we do around here) and Will was DYING to have his floatie off, just like Ruthie. So I made Ruth put hers back on, and our neighbor lady was there to watch Molly and I let Will take his off while I stayed right by him. That crazy kid JUMPED right into the water, did a nice little 180, and kicked himself back to the wall (a whole 8 inches, but still!)!!!!!!!!!! First off, that fearlessness put a whole new level of fear into me, I tell ya what. He's always been much more cautious around water, so this was new. Secondly, I'm afraid he might be a *little* competitive. If Ruthie can do it, you can bet he can too! He jumped in and swam back to the wall all by himself about five more times before he wanted to do something else and I made him put his floatie back on. I never thought I'd live in Miami, I never thought my kids' childhood would be memories of swimming all day, every day, and I NEVER thought I'd have a two year old that could swim all by himself! The things life throws at you! 

Baby in a big pool.

It is definitely summer in Miami. Torrential thunder storms a couple of times a day, mosquitoes in hordes, humidity that makes the thought of being outside for anything but swimming absolutely unbearable, and a steady 85-90 degrees night and day round. I have to say, it does make for some pretty great pool days though! Now I've just got to make it to Friday, when Sterling takes a massive test that has been consuming him for three weeks now, and hopefully we can go swimming. That way I'll have another adult around so I can take pictures of these hooligans swimming by themselves!