Water Babies

One advantage to living on a river is that on hot days, you can hit the water. Yesterday we drove 2 miles down to a little sandy beach on the river to drop off our cousin, her friend, and their two kayaks. The water babies took off running for the beach. M has no fear of the water and with or without a lifejacket she will wade in up to her shoulders. She loves to float on her back and kick herself around and will do it all by herself (although we stay close because she can get a tinsy bit overconfident). A, who was so scared of the water earlier this year, is now a good little swimmer, putting his face in the water and kicking around with a pool noodle. He was even jumping off rocks into the water. And W, now that he's had some "real" swimming lessons, can swim underwater quite well and so he got to go on the rope swing. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

Tattoo Philosphy

Yesterday, W wanted to know why we can't have tattoos. I reminded him that President Hinckley has asked us not to have tattoos on our body. "But what's wrong with Thomas the Tank Engine?" W wanted to know. I realized that he didn't actually know what a tattoo is, so I explained the difference between real tattoos and temporary ones and that the temporary ones are ok because they wash off. W considered this for a second and then came out with this: "So the people at the Great and 'Bominable Church have real tattoos?" I took a deep breath (so as not to laugh) and said, yes, they might. "But we still have to love everyone, no matter what church they go to," I explained. W decided that he could do that.

Our Pet from the Pond

So Thursday we took W to his swimming lessons at the Strafford Pond. It's really hard for W to concentrate on the actual swimming portion since there are so many other things to be distracted by, like salamanders and fish and water bugs and dragon flies and... it goes on. He started wandering along the edge of the pond, past the safety rope. I watched him go for a while and then called him back and explained it wasn't safe go go past the rope. Of course, the inevitable question, "Why not." "Because there might be leeches," I replied, having no idea whether there really were leeches or not. I forgot all about the leech comment until on the drive home, W claims there's something stuck to his foot and it won't come off no matter how hard he pulls. "It's a leech!" he screeches. Once we get home I check out the matter only to discover that, sure enough, it's a little tiny leech stuck between his big toe and second toe. W starts crying, "This is what I get for going past the rope? A leech stuck to me!" I was able to pull it off and show him it didn't really hurt and it was, after all, only a baby leech. So now we have a pet leech named Sucker. Of course we're only raising him until he's big enough to go to the hospital with Daddy. Why will he go to the hospital with Daddy, you ask? "Because when people get their fingers cut off, the hospital uses leeches to help suck blood back into it." And how does W know this? "Popular Mechanics for Kids. You should watch it, mom. You might learn something."