First Swim!

Baby girl wore her first swimsuit last night, for a leisurely dip in the hot tub!  Although the water temps are still a bit too cold for the little ones in the pool, my parents have been gently heating their hot tub so the kids can splash and play around (and we can too).  The hot tub seems to be the one place that Hayden and Pierce will play together without all the drama and wildness that typically takes place in our house.  They have different interests in the hot tub; Hayden likes to head underwater to retrieve his dive sticks, and Pierce likes to stand on the bench and drive his cars along and splash.  So they manage to exist fairly peacefully for literally hours on end!  It's a wonderful way to spend a day or evening, and I'm so thankful that my parents have such a fab back yard.

It's funny, because Hayden immediately took to the water as an infant, and has never looked back.  He was a little fishy by his second summer - wearing his safety vest and swimming the whole length of the pool, jumping in from the side, and getting thrilled when we would dunk him underwater.  Conversely, Pierce has always maintained a healthy fear of the water, and refuses to budge from a safe spot on the bench in the hottub or the shallow ledge in the pool.  I wonder how his skills will develop over the summer, since we literally spend every afternoon in either my parent's pool, a neighborhood pool, or at a waterpark.

Ruthie seems to be leaning more toward her brother Hayden's affinity for the water.  She took to it immediately (this was her second time in the hot tub - the first time was impromptu and she went nudie haha), with a relaxed smile on her face.  She was content to be held or to float around on her tummy in her baby raft.  Shockingly, she even tolerated the rather uncomfortable level of splashing courtesy of her two big brothers.  What is so wonderful about my parent's backyard is that it is entirely shaded by giant oak trees in the afternoon, so the kids can play safely without the hot sun beating down on them.  It's just a perfect little oasis, and I'm SO looking forward to summer!