Arddun never stood a chance, really. Both sides of the family have a history of eczema with varying degrees of severity. So it was only a matter of time before the poor tyke broke out in a hideous rash every time she went swimming.
There goes the Australian dream of turning a promising young cutie into an Olympic swimming star, I suppose. Truth to tell, Arddun merely tolerates swimming classes. She enjoys soaking in the bath and would merrily kick away like a champion in her tiny blue tub. But put her in the pool, and she freezes up like a stunned cockroach. In the final lesson before we decided to quit, she even got to the stage where she could kick a couple of times underwater by herself before resurfacing into daddy’s arms. But she would always lose it before the proverbial bell would ring and class was officially dismissed.
Still, she has tonnes of energy to burn. So we decided to try her out at Gymbaroo.
Went to a trial class with Sara and Jett yesterday, and we all had a ball. The set-up is great – it seriously is a gym for babies, with colourful equipment to climb and roll and bounce and swing on. Each session is 50 minutes and alternates between carers taking their babies through the equipment, and getting into a classroom for actions and songs. Learnt a few things about baby exercises and how they figure out how their little bodies work. We’re definitely coming back next term.
Arddun enjoyed it for the most part, except one of the activities called The Parachute, where all the babies lie on their bunny rugs and a huge parachute-like sheet with segments of solid colours gets flapped above them. Most babies loved it. But Arddun first grabbed the edge to chew on it, and then promptly wanted out.
On a side note – that’s what I’m noticing more, lately. Arddun’s started to understand and express fear. She doesn’t like sustained, loud noises – so she cries when I turn on the vacuum cleaner, and she doesn’t like boisterous children (she yells at them or at me when little girls shriek past her.) I can now add “parachute” to the list. And while I know it’s a very human thing to fear the unknown and to have a few phobias here and there, a part of me feels sad because my baby now understands that the world IS sometimes a scary place. Innocence lost, just a little.
Anyhoo – enough of the plug and the boo hoo. Here’s Arddun, enjoying her first swing ride.
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Finding The Happy 