So my plan was to not even touch the potty training thing until after the baby is born and we’re settled in. I figured maybe late summer I’d take a stab at it. Kate however may have different plans. When I switched back to cloth diapers I didn’t notice a different at first, but then she started telling me when she was wet. Now she pretty frequently throughout the day comes up to me patting her diaper, then goes and lays down on her changing pad. Sometimes she brings me a new diaper. She actually did that to my friend the other day while she was being babysat – layed down with the new diaper, waiting. It’s pretty funny, really. Though it’s inconvenient because I now have to get up to deal with it right away rather than waiting until later!

It hasn’t progressed yet to her telling me before she has to go. Her potty has been out for months, but she still thinks it’s a toy and doesn’t really want to sit on it so I just ignore it.

Today we were swimming at the pool, having a great time. At one point she stopped on the stairs and looked down, patted her swim diaper, and said, “Pee pee.” I twitched a little (I still don’t really care to know that she may very well be peeing in the pool that I’m swimming in – swim diapers hold in poo, not pee), but asked, “Did you go pee pee?” She looked down again, paused contemplatively, then simply said, “Yeah.” Thanks for that, kiddo.

::

Her swimming is progressing along very nicely. For a kid who last summer wasn’t too thrilled with the concept of big pools she certainly has made up her mind in the affirmative. I told her we were going swimming right before we left the house (yes, I have learned already not to mention things too much in advance, less there be a delay and subsequent tantrum), so she was happy to get in the truck. When I parked I immediately hear from the back seat, “Swimming??” when we got to the pool I had to make sure to get down the stairs before she did, I’m not sure she would have waited for me!

She likes “jumping” in from the side (though she usually sits and slides in, or crouches down really far before gently stepping in – she still a little too cautious to do full body jumps!), and from the stairs. She sat on the stairs for a while, sitting, stepping down, jumping into my arms then turning around and reaching for the stairs to do it again. I swished her around the pool a few times, spinning her in circles or just walking around holding her afloat under her chest. She was actually doing a very rudimentary doggy paddle in the beginning, using both arms and legs! (Then I think she got lazy and let me do the work, lol.) She loves to grab the side and pull herself out. I keep my hand on her bum in case she slips, but I let her climb out herself – I figure it’s a good skill for her to have, just in case. A few times she was a little too enthusiastic and dunked the lower half of her face in the water when jumping in, mouth wide open. She still hasn’t figured out she needs to close her mouth. She spit out water and coughed a couple of times, but didn’t even whine or complain about it, just kept on going.

For this summer I’m going to be purchasing a swimsuit for her that includes foam pieces sewn in to help keep her afloat. The style I’m getting allows you to take the foam pieces out one at a time as they get more proficient, which is awesome. I’m not a fan of arm swimmies or anything like that because I feel like it just teaches them the wrong way to float. So we’ll see what I think when I get the swimsuit. I really don’t know how much swimming we’ll be able to do with her, since she still needs constant help and I’m going to have a newborn. If the baby is okay chilling out sleeping on her own I might be able to take Kate in, otherwise we’ll have to wait for weekends or evenings when Den can handle one of the kiddos. I really do want to take her in as much as I can, though, because I just love watching her learn and get so excited about it. I will set up a small pool for Kate to play in while I hold the baby, but that’s not quite the same thing. (But still fun!)

Someday I’ll actually be able to go swimming again without holding a child. I kind of miss it, since all I do now is follow Kate around every step/swim she makes! No actual swimming for mama.