Hatchling has never been big on the water. Baths he likes... as long as you don't try to wash his hair... Here's his first bath. He looks excited, no? And can you believe this is a newborn? Look at that poochy belly (in honor of that belly, I've been sporting some belly fat of my own for the last 4 years. I'm such a giver.)! Gosh I miss that miss mad little face. It was far more charming on a 2 week old than it is on a melodramatic 4 year old.


In addition to his water aversion, Hatchling happens to think that he knows everything. He gets this from his father. All of his bad qualities are not from my genetic makeup. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. This particular quality makes him rather un-teachable. He's smart as a whip (if leather braids are indeed intelligent), but convincing him that you know better than him and he should listen to you is a daunting task. I could never in a trillion years homeschool this one. Oh no. He would break me in about a day. Oh wait, he already has.

Quick story- in the car yesterday, Hatchling informed me that the sun is a big ball of fire in outer space. You don't want to touch it. The earth is a big ball in outer space and it's full of people. There are other planets in outerspace, and they are full of aliens. I broke in to inform him that we really don't know if there are aliens in outer space, though Mommy and Daddy are inclined to think that they don't exist. Hatchling replied, "Uh, no mommy. Aliens are real. And they live on planets in outerspace. There are good aliens and bad aliens. And we have to kill the bad aliens." There's just no arguing with logic like that.

Anywho... back to the water. We decided to put Hatchling in some swimming classes at our gym this summer, hoping we can get him to actually like water and want to do more than take all the water out of the pool to dry on the sidewalk. We signed up for two two-week classes. That makes a month of lessons for those of you who do math like me. Yesterday was our first class, and H was rearing to go. It is a beginner class, in which they accomplished blowing bubbles in the water and kicking while being pulled in a noodle for their first triumphs. I watched anxiously from the sidelines. Not because I feared they would let him drown, but because I knew they might need help handling him. Here he is getting in the water with his teacher. I believe this is when he was telling her there was no way he was going under water. Not going to do it.


Let's take a moment and talk about his teacher. Yes, she has actually given birth before. You too could look like this. I have no idea how, but I have to believe it's possible. We all deserve the dream, ladies.


Throughout the class, while one teacher led the kids through the exercises, the other had to pretty much be on Hatchling patrol. I felt for them, I really did. He looks like trouble, doesn't he?


And it is not that he was being bad, really. He just has more personality than a little 4 year old body can contain. He was splashing (ok, that was being bad, and disobeying... but it did look fun), he was climbing out of the water to inspect the stack of toys the teachers had dumped at the side of the pool for use later in the lesson, he was getting toys they had already used and practising blowing bubbles, all while staunchly refusing to put his head under water. He also declared he didn't need to be pulled in the noodle, cause he could just walk around this pool. Who can fault such logic?

But he had fun, and he did learn a little. If it will brighten up outside, we are going to the pool tonight to show Daddy his mad noodling skills.


First though, we have to take me to the Dr to talk about asthma medication. Perhaps I will feel like a new person if I am (more) medicated. Here's hoping, anyway.