Puddle Ducks

Having a baby has really brought about a whole new look at the city of Charlotte. Before, Mike and I were interested in new restaurants opening and festivals and gatherings that often involved the history of, the development of, or the enjoyment of....drinking. You know, like Blues, Brews and BBQs, or Gallery Crawls where you were expected to start the crawl at a bar vs. an art gallery.  Not that we're all on the straight and narrow now. Don't get me wrong, we still enjoy our adult beverages. But for the unforseeable future I'm clearly more focused on fun activities for the baby. Which brings me to today when the idea popped in my head to look up swim classes for the Monkey.

There is a giant aquatics center in Uptown Charlotte that I've passed probably 1 million times and never once stepped foot inside. I've always wanted to go there but just haven't. They have tons of swim classes, Lifeguard and CPR courses, and even Ray's Splash Planet. Oh, and one claim to fame, they hosted Michael Phelps this May for a swim meet. Cool.

Anyway, off I went to find the Monkey a swim class and I discovered "Puddle Ducks" - ages 6 months to 2 years - a parent and child program that introduces your baby to a fun aquatic environment. How fun!  The Monkey will be 6 months old December 11 so I signed us up for the January class. Every Saturday from 10am - 10:30am we will meet with other parents and little nuggets in the "warm pool" (yes, I purposely chose this class because it takes place in what is called the "warm pool" - figured that had to be a plus.) to splash around and have some fun.

I'm really excited to introduce Eloise to the water. She loves bath time and so I was eager to see how old she needed to be in order to participate. 6 months it is so we'll get her in there right after the new year. My only dilemma will be finding swim diapers and a swim suit for the Monkey in the dead of winter. Best start looking now!