oct, 7th - paddling in the thames....

day 1335 / 434:

after spotting the sweet swimming spot on our trip out to Hurley {see day 1330 /429}, we decided to take the next Friday afternoon off and go for a paddle.....

we'd left it too late in the Summer to actually swim but the girls loved splashing about, taking turns with the net and making some mud pies on the banks of the river. next year, we'll head out there mid-Summer and take full advantage of this lovely spot.

mar, 9th - swimming and snow-men....

day 762:

if I asked Limi what she wanted to do after breakfast in Phuket, I would get the same answer every day 'swim swim and eat a snowman'.......a snowman is the name that she gave the upside down cone ice-cream that she had on the very first day......one morning she even woke up and her first word was 'snowman'.....it must have been a good dream.....

it was amazing to see how confident she became in the water being able to swim every day.....she's really loved her swimming lessons from four months and just keeps getting better and better in London {this underwater shoot shows just how comfortable she is} but there's something different about being able to swim outside for hours on end, only stopping to have some lunch and play in the shade during midday.

as for trying to keep hats on, sunscreen applied every 45 minutes and stopping a toddler from launching themselves confidently into the deep end.....that's a different kind of beach holiday to one spent lounging in the sun reading a book.......i appreciate now why my dad would get us to bury him in the sand....it kept us entertained and he could lie and read a book at the same time.

oct, 4th - swimming....

[pic of Limi courtesy of Little Dippers Photography]

day 581:

if there is one thing that you should persevere with as a parent then I think that it's swimming lessons....well also singing, dancing and reading.....and i guess, eating vegetables and potty training (probably not a good idea to give up on either of those two)......but swimming is such an easy one to give up on.....especially in the cold, blustery, Winter months in London. although, I do need to caveat that by saying that it's now Jae (Limi's nanny) who tackles the cold and wet on a weekly basis.

[pic of Limi courtesy of Little Dippers Photography]

but between the three of us, I'm so glad that we have persevered every week since she was 4 months old. not only because Limi is now obsessed with water and swimming (and who can deny someone 30 minutes a week of such unadulterated glee) but also because I am astounded by how comfortable she is in the water. instead of clinging to us, it's more a case of us clinging to her to stop her from swimming off.

[pic of Limi courtesy of Little Dippers Photography]

years ago, I did an underwater shoot at a baby swimming school in Cape Town and having seen beneath the surface just how comfortable these babies were in the water, I was sure that it was the most natural thing to learn to swim from as young as possible. i am so happy that water for Limi is something wonderful and safe rather than foreign and scary. and also incredibly grateful to Jae for obviously making it such a fun lesson.

[pic of Limi and Jae courtesy of Little Dippers Photography]

this blog is very rarely used for preaching....but people, swimming....seriously.......as important as carrots....in my opinion.

[pic of Limi courtesy of Little Dippers Photography]

aug, 6th - provence: swimming in rivers....

day 539:

whenever i think of the South of France, i picture beaches, with soft fields leading up them...what i didn't realise, before we started researching for this trip, is that there are also wonderful fresh water spots scattered throughout the region.....we're not talking about beating-a-path-through-some-brambles-to-find-a-sludgy-pond type spots but as with most things French....fresh water swimming is done in style. 

most spots have dirt paths leading you from a carpark down to the 'beach-style' banks of a river. the one that we visited (which was in fact across the border in Languedoc) had crystal clear water, no sign of sludge and a beautiful view of the bridge. and then of course there's the crowd, stylish and armed with water accessories, they build eco-styley sun-shields and stroll around with uninhibited-European-abandon.

the only blip in this whole picture-perfect scene was that the water in our river was bitingly cold and pretty shallow but.....

if your youth involved throwing a towel over your shoulder, following a snake of friends walking barefoot to the banks of a river and spending long afternoons jumping into fresh water....then these spots in France will bring all those memories splish-splashing back. hopefully, we can return to this area in the future create these same memories for Limi. 

look here for a list of swimming spots in the South of France.

jul, 18th - swimming in provence....

[pic by A.]

day 520:

top 10 things for today......

1. fresh water swimming on shiny pebbles, at Collias (see pics above)

2. Limi learning to roar like a lion

3. the Arles photography festival in the most incredible venues (more to come)

4. strawberries at breakfast that taste exactly like strawberries should

5. falling in love with a vintage tricycle...honestly, in love completely and utterly and then.....hearing the price

6. singing endless rounds of 'derglumph went the little green frogs' in the car.....with Limi joining in for the 'la, la, la's'

7. amazing street performers

8. Limi's first carousel ride (more to come)

9. beach sand floors

10. a simple boat made from twigs, plastic bags and polystyrene (see pic above)

jun, 5th - paddling pools....

day 482:

saturday was another glorious day........we are now doing a tour of all the paddling pools in London.

jun, 4th - late night at the v&a....

day 481:

friday night was a gorgeous summer's evening in London.....not one to be wasted......so we bundled Limi into a black cab and headed to late night at the Victoria and Albert Museum {we last visited on day 378}

late nights have now been extended to every friday...excellent.....so we had a brief look around the exhibitions...very brief....quite a race around really.....

there's a current exhibition on South African photographers at the Museum, it features 17 photographers who live and work in the country. i've been desperate to see it.....there's also a separate exhibit by David Goldblatt one of my all time favourite South African photographers.

we got to see glimpses but really we'll have to come back sans Limi to fully appreciate these exhibits. we did get to enjoy a drink from the bar in the main foyer....

i am seriously in love with the tile work at the V&A.

on previous visits, we've also spent time in the inner courtyard....sitting on the grass, appreciating the magnificence of the building. every year the V&A hosts a village fete where the courtyard gets turned into an art fair....it's worth a visit.

 never before have I paid particular attention to the huge splash pool in the middle.....Limi did........

and was devastated when we had to go.....

a lovely evening and a fantastic start to the weekend.....

nov, 4th - what do we do with our days....

day 265:

playdates, swimming lessons, little gym and music classes......so much organised activity that i never knew existed. problem is......limi loves it all and i can't resist her huge grins and flapping arms when we enter the pool/gym/hall....

luckily we're not planning 5 kids...can you imagine doing music classes from start to finish 5 times! there's only so many times that i can sing: IT'S MONKEY MUSIC TIME!

aug, 27th - graduating...

[still not able to take pics at the pool, so another pic from the bath]

day 196:

today, limi graduated from her first term of swimming (yes, it is that serious...even at 6 months). next week, we have a mid-term break and then we're back for term 2.

so, from day 161 she has learnt the following:

• to catch a duck....i learnt to say: reach, reach, reach....hold, hold, hold
• to close her eyes when anyone says Go!.....which may not be useful one day when she's doing the 100 metre sprint....but for swimming it helps because Ready! suggests that she's about to get splashed in the face or plunged under the water....and Go! means the splash or plunge is now happening
• to float on her back (while only being cupped by her cheeks) and listening to a gurgling, underwater version of twinkle, twinkle little star
• to play water polo...okay, slight exaggeration....to pad away the ball when it comes towards her
• to Splash....and Splash some more
• to swoop under the water from the teacher towards me (amazing to watch, especially below the surface)
• to be plucked from the side of the pool and plunged under the water for 2 seconds....and not cry
• to kick....again, this may be a slight exaggeration as it's quite freeform.....you could say that she currently has an interpretative swimming style
• to hold onto the side of the pool.....which usually has an attention span of until she sees the duck/frog/ship float past

i definitely think that swimming is the highlight of her week....she fizzes with excitement as soon as we walk in the door.......bring on the next term and triple twists from a diving board.

jul, 23rd - swimming....

[sadly, due to child safety, we can't take any pics of the lesson...so, here's a bath shot instead...her eyes are still blue but they seem brown here....she's not wearing contacts!]

day 161:

for swimming i am definitely missing two arms and a dry pouch (kangaroo style)....actually, it's not for the swimming part but for the pre-swimming and post-swimming part. for the actual in-the-water-swimming part, i'm missing a foot in height (although don't tell A. as I've convinced him that i'm really tall.....i wish!)

it was limi's first lesson today...we tried to find a dry spot in a very wet changing room; squeezed into a costume....hopping about, trying not to get the dry outfit on the wet floor and managed to drape around a warm towel...all whilst holding a baby (yes, that was just to get me ready)....

the next challenge was to negotiate the diving pool steps with limi taking up a vital arm (okay the teacher helped on this one) and stepping into a very deep 'shallow' end (the height issue....and i wasn't even the shortest in the class....although spending 30 minutes treading water whilst holding a baby afloat is going to get them back into their skinny jeans at a much faster rate.)

so finally, we were both dressed (undressed) and in the pool without extensive flashing or swallowing of water on either part. hooray!

the rest of the lesson was pretty uneventful in comparison. some of the tips the teacher handed out at the start:

1. don't try and get into/out of the pool without her help.

2. make sure that you don't walk the length of the pool with your babies' face in the water (it was happening...especially by the shorties in the class)

3. don't feed your baby less than an hour before swimming

limi Loved it All. 

she splashed vigorously from start to finish...i had to try and keep her away from the other dry-faced babies...she was literally dripping from eyelashes, nose, mouth the entire 30 minutes....(i may even have to wear goggles next week). when it came time for the teacher to splash water over their heads, the other babies were slightly startled (but bravely no-one cried) and limi thought that it was hysterical....AT LAST someone else was joining in. they also did floating on their backs while only supported by the head...which she also seemed to enjoy (and luckily inherited from me as A. cannot float....a surprising fact that he hid from me for years......i would have questioned having babies with someone who can't float!!!!) and finally had to reach and hold a rubber duck(the start of the safety lessons although you'd be unlikely to throw them a rubber duck in a time of crisis.)

anyway, having successfully negotiated the change pre-swim, post-swim, we all made the fatal flaw of dressing our babies first and then trying to get ourselves ready whilst stopping a dry, warm baby from rolling into a puddle (a mistake we will NOT be making again.)

next week it's the big dunk....limi is going underwater for the first time in the outside world (well intentionally anyway...think that there may have been some unintentional dunking during bath-time with A.)

may, 8th - turning up the heat.....

day 90:

after 82 days of negotiating winter in London with limi.....muggy Hong Kong requires a rethink on:

- the sun....carrying sunscreen, a hat or seeking shade during the day

- hydration...making sure that she doesn't get dehydrated

- temperature of her room at night...optimum temperature for a babies' room is 16 - 20 degrees. so, when outside is 30+....bringing it down requires some effort

- mosquitos....lots of lunging at flying mites and making sure that you resist your natural urge to whack them as they land on her

on the plus side.....the best remedy for the heat is swimming. so limi had her very first swim...

which she loved!