Seven Months

Today Mary is seven months old. Wow. I just cant believe how quickly time has flown by, and how much she has changed from the tiny creature we brought home in January.

I keep thinking about how lucky we are to have her in our lives. Not only does she bring an amazing amount of light into our lives, but she is a good baby too. She has slept through the night since she was 5 weeks old, she is always cheerful, and she loves people. She is very good at entertaining herself, so long as she is fed, her diaper is clean, and she gets cuddles every once in a while, she is happy to play on her own. I hear other people talk about all the work their babies have been, and I am thankful that Mary isn't like that.

Of course, not every day is smiles and chuckles. She gets cranky, and sometimes she is inconsolable. She is a constant source of worry for me...Why doesn't she crawl yet, why doesn't she have teeth, she's been sleeping for 12 hours now, is she still alive? Her skin, and constipation are a constant challenge, and it's difficult to find foods for her that wont make her skin even worse. It took months of work to get her to eat solids, and it is still touch and go. She is a lot of work, and it is hard to get anything done during the day, I cant imagine what it would be like with a more "difficult" baby.

We are getting to the time now that I have to think about going back to work, and it terrifies me. The thought of trusting someone else to raise her makes me sick, I just cant do it. I know how much work she takes, and I just cant imagine her getting the care and love she needs in a daycare where there are several other needy children, and workers who make barely more than minimum wage. I think that it is a terrible thing that our society makes it so difficult to be a parent and raise our children. There is all sorts of subsidies for daycares, in fact, they are revamping the daycare subsidy program as we speak to make it better, yet there is absolutely no help for parents who would rather raise their own children than go to work. The worst thing about me going back to work is that even if I go back to my old job and work full time, after the alarming cost for daycare I will be bringing home even less than I do now on Employment Insurance. Unfortunately, because Ian brings home more than $24,000 a year, we do not qualify for all those nifty subsidies. I would like to sit down with someone and find out how they expect a family whose income is $25,000/year to survive. It's almost worth it for us to just go on welfare, at least then we would have the help we need.

But I digress. Mary is 7 months, and time has flown by. She is a joy, and she learns new things every day. I cannot wait to see what else she learns to do, and what other surprises she brings into our lives.

On Sensitivity

A while back, when we were first introducing Mary to the concept of solid foods, we discovered to our dismay that she has a sensitivity to wheat. As her pediatritian put it, a sensitivity is an allergy we hope she will outgrow, usually by her first birthday. So, unless we want a seriously rashy baby, we do not feed Miss Mary anything with wheat in it until she is a year old. Simple, right? Well, last week we bought some jarred baby foods to feed her. We got some of the mixed stuff for babies over 6 months, and I decided to give it a try. I could not understand why on earth her eczema got so bad overnight. I hadn't given her any wheat...Or had I? I looked at the food that I had given her, and saw that I was feeding her a puree of vegetables and pasta. Pasta. Pasta, which is usually made of wheat. Sigh. As soon as I stopped, her eczema when back to normal, which is bad, but not horrifying. I guess I wont be getting the Mummy of the year award this time around.

Dear Anonymous

For those of you who regularly read this blog, well, this post is directed to only one person. That would be the coward who posted anonymously, in an attempt to make me feel bad for things that happened three years ago, for which I have felt bad about already, and have moved on.

Yes, you are right, I did leave L practically at the alter, and I did say as much on my anniversary post. I did not put that Ian was L's best man, and best friend, and roommate, because he wasn't. Yes, L and Ian had lived together, long before I met either of them. Yes, Ian was a friend of L's and a groomsman, but L's best friend was his best man. Not that it matters, this all happened 3 years ago, L is happily married, and so am I. Honestly, I am thankful that I was able to leave L at the alter, instead of being married to him for a year or two, and getting a divorce, which is what most likely would have happened.

What bothers me most about your cowardly post, is that you are obviously someone who I know, and possibly someone who I think is a friend. You must have known me for some time if you know the "details" of the incident, as warped and incorrect as you have them, and you obviously feel quite resentful towards me for what I did. Seriously, if you have a problem with me, grow some balls, and speak to me face to face. I can take it, although to be honest, after three years of silence, I really don't think that you have any right.


There. Now that I have that out, I must go feed Miss Mary. I have other things to worry (and possibly blog) about later. I have decided to disallow anonymous posts for the time being as well so that this doesn't happen again.

Friday baby blogging

We like to call her Mark when she is dressed in this sleeper. It is the only time I will accept people telling me how handsome my little man is. When she isnt wearing this, she can be found in pink, frilly, extremely girly outfits. 

Little known fact of the day

When it rains and rains, making the cement incredibly slick, you will fall very differently when holding a baby than you ever would without. All sense of self preservation goes out the window, and you tend to really harm yourself. Thankfully, not one centemetre of my sweet little Mary touched the hard, cold, wet ground. I need to go apply hydrogen peroxide to various now-skinless parts of my poor, aching body.

One whole year

Wow, it's really hard to believe that Ian and I have been married for a whole year. The last couple of years of our life have been incredibly busy with buying a house, getting married, and having a baby, and it doesn't look like things will be calming down any time soon. We will work to pay off our debts, I will find a part time job, and in a year or so, I think we will work on giving Mary a little sibling.

Ian really means everything to me, he has given me more than anyone ever has before. He tolerates my moods, he looks after me, he loves me, he works so hard to keep me happy. He is incredibly responsible, and although he isn't as romantic and sensitive as I sometimes wish, he loves me, and that is something I never doubt.

I think that I started to love Ian the first time I met him. He was strange, and a little scary, and he couldn't get through a conversation without warning someone not to touch him. But he was funny, kind, and he had an awesome tattoo. I was dating someone else for the first couple of years that we knew each other, but Ian quickly grew into a friend that I counted on for a lot of support. He was there when my boyfriend at the time and I argued, he was there when we got along. He took me shopping and to the movies, which L (the boyfriend) flat out refused to do. He gamed with me, and listened to me, and gave me a shoulder to cry on. When Ian's girlfriend took me out for coffee and told me that she had broken up with him, I just wanted to slap her. What was she thinking? I knew that if I had Ian, I would never ever let him go. Things in my relationship with L were going very poorly, both of us were unhappy. I remember laying in bed at night, thinking about how when L and I got divorced, I would go to Halifax to find Ian. I knew that something had to change, but I was afraid to do anything. You see, L and I were engaged to be married, and the wedding was coming up very quickly. Finally, one night, about 2 weeks before the wedding, something happened, L and I fought, and I knew that it wouldn't be fair to either of us to go through with the wedding. I called it off, and Ian was there for me, as usual. I knew that I loved him. It was a horrible, difficult thing to do, calling off that wedding, I was terrified that my friends and family would hate me. I felt particularly guilty because I was practically leaving L at the alter, and moving directly into a relationship with Ian. I did loose some friends because of that decision, but honestly, I have gained so much more(and L is now married, and very happily from what I hear).

Anyways, I know that I made the right decision, and I have never ever regretted what I did. I don't believe in "soul mates," but if I did, I'm sure that Ian would be mine. I love him more now than I did a year ago, and I cant imagine growing old without him.

So, our anniversary was nice, and low key. We went to Brewsters for lunch, mostly because we didn't have the baby, and that isn't somewhere we could go with her, and then we went and saw Batman Begins (fantastic movie!). Then we picked up the baby, brought her home, and just hung out. We didn't even drink the champagne we have been saving since our wedding. Maybe we will drink it next week, or maybe we will wait till next year.

Upsetting

So, the man that the London police shot five times in the head in front of a subway car full of commuters has been cleared of any connection to either bombing. That must make his family feel really good, don't you think? Oh, and how about all the other swarthy skinned people in London who are afraid to go out in public wearing a coat, or carrying a backpack. My dad and brother are going to London mid-august, luckily for them, they both have fair skin and light coloured eyes. Even though they aren't safe from subway bombs, they should be safe from trigger happy cops.

Thank God for extended warranties

Angus (The Black) has pooped out on us. For the last several days, every morning, the engine light has come on on the way to Ian's work. Every morning he has used the little gadget to find out what it is, and he has got the same code each time. Although he can change oil with the best of 'em, and is very handy with his hands, he didn't know what the code means. The first time he figured the care just hiccuped (I didn't know they did that), but after the 4th day in a row, I convinced him to call the dealership. When he called them, they were quite concerned, so Ian tried to make an appointment for next week. They said no, come in tomorrow. Yikes. So, Angus (The Black) is going to the doctor tomorrow, and I have not been able to drive him at all today. I did take him to swimming lessons, and the way he was acting, I wasn't sure that we would make it home. I cant imagine being stranded on 97th street with the baby. It would have been quite distressing to say the least. Anyways, we made it home, and haven't gone out since. It's really too bad, I needed to go buy Ian a gift and card for our anniversary, I'm not sure how I will manage it before Sunday now. The woman at the dealership told Ian what the code meant, and Ian figures that the part alone is $600-800. I say again, Thank God for extended warranties. It just paid for itself.

In other news, someone asked me the other day if the police in London still don't carry guns. I said that I wasn't sure, but I thought that they do. I can safely say after watching the news today, that yes, the police in London do indeed carry guns. I spoke with my somewhat intolerant father about it today, and even he agreed that it would be a terrible thing if they shot some poor Arab looking fellow who was wearing his winter coat on the subway today. I'm sure that they had good reason to shoot that guy, but I always wonder how they can be so sure that they have the right person when they are shooting a man to death.

Friday baby blogging

I bought Mary a new toy a while ago. If you bump it, it rocks and spins and lights up, and it makes music too! This is her initial reaction to it, right before she starts screaming in terror. 

Babies have it hard. Mary spend a long day yelling at me, and finally she passed out in her exersaucer. 

Here she is enjoying her gym. 

I'm not surprised

You scored as Romanticist. Romanticism encourages society to look backwards to find our solutions. Your rationale is that things were much better a few hundred years ago so we should thus look back to those times and replace them in our modern society. You believe in a simple life and that the complexities of the modern world have turned it upside down. Romanticist 94% Fundamentalist 69% Idealist 69% Cultural Creative 69% Existentialist 38% Postmodernist 25% Modernist 19% Materialist 6% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

Message boards

There is a message board group that I go to from time to time. It is all mothers who have had their babies around the same time as Mary was born, and they are largely all American. Not that it should make a difference, but I really think it does. For every reasonable American on that board (Goody), there seems to be 3 (or more) religious nutters, who delight in quoting the bible during every debate, and justifying their intolerance and closed-mindedness with said quotes. It is really quite amazing, and oftentimes hard to read for someone who considers herself to be a Christian. There has been talks about homosexual marriage, homosexuals adopting children, abortion and eating meat (one non-Christian poster started a thread comparing eating meat to abortion, and that got hot pretty quickly). Anyways, I have from time to time considered posting to one or more of these threads, but I know that either my opinion would be shot down in flames, or ignored altogether.

Aside from the "hot topics" board, there are several other ones, where these mothers ask advice from each other on feeding, medical issues, they compare milestones, they gripe about their husbands, all sorts of things really. The one emotion I get when I read these forums (aside from extreme irritation) is uncertainty. I mean, these forums are there to help, but I generally come away from reading posts feeling like I am doing things wrong with my own baby. Mary doesn't crawl, but all the other babies do, what's wrong with her, or better yet, what's wrong with me? I don't breast feed, I'm poisoning my baby, what's wrong with me? I'm not comfortable watching a woman breastfeed, what's wrong with me? Mary eats solids, oh no, Mary doesn't eat enough solids, we have a bumper in her crib still, I don't stay home for her naps, I do stay home for her naps...So, I don't think I'm going to go back, no matter how train-wreckish the hot topics forum is.

Anyways, the reason I started talking about this is that in the hot topics forum, there is a discussion about religion (go figure). Someone has posed the question "if you woke up tomorrow to a world without religion, could you carry on? I think that it is an odd question to ask. Is she asking about religion, or about God. Now, if she is asking if I woke up in the morning, and the Anglican church, and all the other churches and religions had decided to dissolve...Well, I just don't think that would happen. So long as there is something to believe in and worship, and people already had a common culture, they would organize to discuss and worship their god - and that in my mind is the definition of religion, an organized group of people with the same set of beliefs and faith, who come together to worship their god (which is why the term organized religion drives me bonkers, religion is by definition organized). Sure, it wouldn't have the same structure as our religions do now, but it would be religion.

If we woke up in the morning and there was no God, well, how would you prove it. So long as people live, I think that people will have faith in something. So long as we do not, and cannot know what happens after death, people will have some sort of mythology about it, and mythology is the basis of religion. The majority of people will always have faith that there is something more, I think, even if they don't know exactly what it is. I have a friend who was working toward his doctorate in bio-chemistry, and instead of letting science prove to him that there was no god, he instead wrote a paper on how science proves that there is a god, and that it is the catholic God at that. There will always be people like him out there, and really, I'm okay with that.

Religion has been the justification for some atrocious acts, and continues to be so today, but I really cannot imagine a world without it, because a world without religion would be a world without faith and hope. In it's purest form, that is what religion is all about.

A concern

So, I am seriously thinking about shutting this blog down. Mr. Marx (hahaha, isnt he funny?) has taken several of my posts, going all the way back to the conception of this blog, and put them on his own blog, along with pictures of Ian, Mary and I. He took comments I made out of context, and to be honest, I am really bothered by what he has done. A friend of mine equated it to cyber-stalking. Now, I should probably not be surprised or upset by this, right? I mean, I have been putting personal information and pictures on the web for a while now. What bothers me is that I chose to put that stuff where I put it, and if I still have a modicum of control over that information. I can shut down my blog if I want. Mr. Marx has stolen my information, and pictures without even a by your leave, and that really really bothers me. It bothers Dave too, who was also one of Mr. Marx's (did I mention how clever and ironic his chosen name is?) targets. It bothers Dave so much that he has shut down his blog for good. I dont know if Anne and Janet have seen the blog, they too were victims of this funny little joke. One of the things that bothers me the most is that this person is likely someone we know, and speak too. Whoever it is has also justified his actions by calling it a "social experiment." Right. Keep your experiment away from me and my family, asshole.

Friday baby blogging

I tolerate this, but only because Mummy has so much fun. 

Well, it is now friday, yay! Days don't really mean much to me, to be honest, what's the difference between friday and monday when youre a stay at home mum? Anyways, I have decided to copy some other people, and post a picture of little Miss Contrary every friday.

Yesterday was our last day of swimming lessons. Mary did very well, and is ready to swim on her own if you just go by her report card. I decided we (read: I) had so much fun with it that I would sign us up again, so we are starting a whole new class of the same stuff on monday. This time around we shouldnt need to miss any of the lessons, as she has no doctor's appointments scheduled.

Today was Mary's big Neonatal ICU follow up appointment, and she did very well. I think that the clinic is more for the premie babies, so they arent used to seing such large, advanced babies like Mary. She saw a physical therapist, who said she is doing very well, and is slightly advanced for her age, and the audiologist said her hearing is fine. The doctors were nice too. I did think that being made to see a social worker was a bit much, but all in all the morning went well. I think that all the poking and prodding tired Mary out even more than her swimming lessons.

Anyways, I should stop typing, and go watch the very odd football game that is on tv. It's Edmonton and Winnipeg, and it is an amazingly poorly played game so far. Both teams are sucking hardcore, but Edmonton is winning (YAY! I hate Winnipeg with a burning passion).

Oh, and by the way, thank you very very much to those of you who offered to look after Mary for us. Our anniversary is next sunday (the 24th), and one of you may be hearing from us very soon.

Blah

I really haven't got much to say. I've been thinking about what I can write about here, and I just cant come up with anything. Life is going well, that's all. Nothing exciting is happening.

Um. Lets see. Our wedding anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks. We haven't really got any plans as we don't really have anyone to look after the baby. Ian said that he would talk to his aunt and uncle, but he hasn't yet, and I don't have any great hopes that he will. So, we will likely spend the night at home, drinking our champagne, and going to bed early.

Mary has been constipated again, it got really bad yesterday, poor little thing. She likes prunes, so hopefully a few meals of those will straighten her poor bowels out. Other than that she is well, happy as usual, enjoying the swimming lessons a little more, she smiled a lot in the water today, and we even went into the big cold pool.

The cats are good, still pains in my ass, but I love them, so it's okay.

White Wolf is up to no good. I wont get into it here, cause the people who know what I'm talking about know what I'm talking about, and the people who don't, don't - and likely don't really care. Needless to say, I am not impressed, and I am not about to fork over my money and personal information to an american company who just wants to send me junk, and sell my personal info.

Anyways, that's all for now, I guess. A boring blog, I know, possibly something exciting will happen to me later on...but I lead a pretty sedate life, so I doubt it.

Notice

Just a quick FYI....Puree'd stewed prunes look much the same coming out as they did going in. Go figure.

Vaccine day

Mary is sleeping now. Finally. This is the first nap she's had since she woke up this morning at 8. Vaccine day is never fun. She has been yelling like crazy since we came home. She doesn't want to eat, doesn't want to be held, but screams till she's blue (literally) if I put her down. When she moves her legs, she screams, because she got poked in both legs. She has started to fall asleep, then moved one of her little legs, and woken herself up. I feel so bad for her, but there isn't anything I can do for her. I gave her some tylenol and she finally fell asleep in my arms, so I put her in her crib, and she promptly woke up, you guessed it, screaming. I sat there and tried to soothe her, and she finally fell back asleep, but it seems to be fairly restless, I'm not sure how long it'll last. Thank God that this is the last vaccine until she is a year old, I don't think I could do this again any time soon.

Needless to say, we missed our swimming lesson this morning, which is too bad. Today was pfd day, so we were going into the big pool instead of the kiddie pool. It would have been interesting to see her reaction to that. I'm sure we will do it again next week, I just hope it isn't Friday again, as we have a 3 hour appointment at the Glenrose. I am really looking forward to this appt, actually. Some good things come out of having your baby in the ICU after being born, and this is one of them. Her appointment is with a doctor, nurse, speech pathologist and physical therapist, and they see her every 6 months until she is 2 or so, I think. Because she was tongue tied, I am a little worried about her having speech problems like my brother did, so I'm really happy that we get to see the speech pathologist.

I spoke with my dad last night, and it sounds like my cousin, her fiancee, and my aunt in London are all okay, but a little shaken up. Thankfully they were at home, and not taking the transit yesterday morning. I was a little shocked by the venom that my dad was spewing when I spoke to him, he is getting more intolerant the older he gets, and he had some choice things to say about the "bloody Arabs," as he put it. It's hard not to agree with him a little bit, hate is far too easy though, and I really don't think that genocide is the answer.

Things are going poorly in the mother-land...

Wow. Things are looking nasty in Great Britian. I heard about the explosions in the London transit this morning while dropping Ian off at work, and was suprised to find my eyes welling up with tears. When I got home, I went to CBC.ca and read a little more about what happened. I remember taking the underground, the first time I ever got on the train in London was at King's Cross station. They are saying now that they think at least 40 people died. I know that it isn't close to what happened in New York, but still, it's horrifying, and seems much more personal to me. I've been to London, I love it there. I have family there. Right now I'm just praying that Karen or her fiancee weren't taking the tube to work this morning. I'll have to call my dad tonight and find out if he knows anything.

Meanwhile, further north in Scotland, the peaceful protesters at the G8 have started rioting. I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I have never been one to protest in the streets, and the thought of being even on the fringe of a riot scares me so much that I don't want to leave my safe little house. I can see why they are protesting, and I understand that a mob of people will do very different things than each individual would ever do on their own. Still though, I really don't think rioting is going to make the G8 nations any friendlier, or liklier to listen to your opinion, no matter how valid it is.

In other, happier news...the swimming lessons are going well, I guess. I have fun at least. I am fairly certain that there are many many things that Mary would prefer to be doing...but she doesn't cry much. I have to admit, yesterday I dunked her whole head under the water. She didnt mind the dunking, but when she comes out of the water, she sniffs, and ends up inhaling the drops of water on her nose. I think we are going to miss the lesson tommorow though, she's got her vaccine appointment first thing in the morning, so we are likely just going to take it easy for the rest of the day.

The long weekend and more

So, the last several days have been busy ones, I suppose. Last Thursday, the sinus cold which had been threatening really kicked into high gear. Sweet Baboo came home a couple of times during the day to check on Mary and I, to make sure that I hadn't passed out and she wasn't starving because of it. Luckily, Mary was feeling a little under the weather that day too, so we both got lots of sleep throughout the day. That night, Ian had to work late as it was month end, so Mary and I watched football and drank beer. We missed BP's, and honestly, although it is nice to see all our friends, it was a really nice quiet evening at home. (Note : CFL football, another thing I would miss if I got rid of the TV.)

Friday was Canada day. We all got up relatively early, and had a fantastic day. We took the bus downtown, and went to city hall. I took Mary to a petting zoo (no, it was not for me, although I did touch all the animals!), and she seemed to enjoy it, especially when a pot bellied pig nibbled on her toes. There was a little goat laying in the middle of the fenced off area sleeping so hard, that I thought it was dead. Anyways, after that, we wandered around the wading pools for a while, and then decided to take the LRT down to the University. We had a lovely walk from the University all the way up Whyte avenue. We looked at all the odd people, and I gave money to a couple of panhandlers. I swear, they can tell that I am a soft touch.

On the LRT a fellow who looked down on his luck came over and asked us about the baby. He told us he has two kids, and he loves them very much. I felt so bad for him, it was obvious that he was separated from his wife, and didn't see his babies anymore. We also thought that he was wearing everything he owned on his back. I wanted to invite him over to our house for supper, but Ian wouldn't let me. Really, Ian is a good influence for me, if it were up to me, I would be inviting the prostitutes down the street over for tea. I have a hard time in this neighbourhood, I wish I could do more for all the people (and there are lots of them around here) who are down on their luck.

Anyways, after a long day of walking around, we went out with G&K to celebrate both Mary and K's half-birthdays. Then we went back to their place, watched more football, ate cake, and watched the fire works from their balcony. All in all, it was a lovely day.

Saturday, nothing really happened. We went to play D&D, and stayed up far too late.

Sunday I slept in, and wasn't feeling great again. We went to Rona and bought ant poison and a doorbell, and then went grocery shopping. When we got home, I suddenly felt much better, and very industrious. I cleaned up the baby's room, and the living room (which was a HUGE mess), while Ian put up the new doorbell, and the baby gate. Our house is presentable enough to have people over again! I must invite someone quickly before it gets messy again...

This morning, Mary had her first swimming lesson! It was great fun, and she did so well, I am very proud of her. She is the youngest in her class by about a year, the class is for 6 - 24 months, so there is a huge variation in the abilities of the students. There was one little girl, about 2 years old, and her mother kept going "See! That baby isn't crying! That baby is doing what her mummy says!" Really, Mary is little enough that she doesn't know that she should be protesting. I felt bad for the little girl though, her mother also kept dunking her head under the water to get her used to it, then when the little girl would sputter and cough, she would tell her that it served her right for not holding her breath. yikes. I am looking forward to the lesson tomorrow though, it should be fun!

Six months and more

Well, Mary hit the 6 months of life mark on Thursday. She had her regularly scheduled doctors appointment the day before, and I am happy to report that she is now 17lb 4oz, and 27 inches long. She has nearly doubled her birth weight, and let me tell you, it sure feels like it when you're packing her around the house. She hit a couple of milestones this months, she can now roll over both ways, although she rarely does, cause she hates it. I suppose if I left her, she would roll back over onto her back, but, I don't, the minute she starts screaming, I flip her back over onto her back where she is happy. I am such an enabler. She has always despised being on her belly with a burning passion, and the few times that she has rolled over, she has gotten very very angry. She also sits up, and although she cant pull herself to a sitting position, she tries, very hard, over and over and over, I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

She has been getting pretty cranky in the evenings, the doctor says that her teeth are right there under the gums, and we should see them any day now, which is quite exciting, I guess. Especially if it ends the misery of teething for a little while. She isn't too bad during the day, but nights are a chore. We have so many things that we do in the evening too, I suspect we are going to have to cut down our social calendar pretty soon. She still doesn't have a routine for bedtime, because she often goes to bed so late, and I would really like to change that.

What else...oh yes, solid foods. We tried rice cereal, and she got terribly constipated, so we tried a wheat cereal, and apparently she has a sensitivities to wheat, when she ate that, her eczema got so bad that it made me itch. We tried sweet potatoes, which she thought were poison, I gave those up when she started flinching every time she saw a spoon. Now we are trying a barley cereal, which seems to be going okay. She still refuses to open her mouth for the spoon, but I am determined, and bigger than she is. I can do this, right?

We start swimming lessons tomorrow, which I am very excited about. I suspect the first few will be a lot of screaming, and not a lot of fun, but I am determined that she will not be like her father, and she will actually enjoy swimming. When I phoned about the lessons the first time, the girl I spoke too told me that yes indeed there is a swimming class for babies 6-18 months, but I really should know that it is a parented lesson, and I would need to be there. Really? I thought they would just throw 10 babies into the water with a teenaged instructor, and see who is still kicking at the end of the 30 minute lesson.