I took Alex swimming for the first time this morning at a fantastic public pool nearby. The Wilson Aquatic Center opened in August 2009 and entry is free to D.C. residents. Being so new, the whole place was really CLEAN - no dodgy broken tiles or mouldy showers here. A friend and her baby daughter go regularly and suggested that we join them, which was just the prompt I needed to finally try and squeeze into my pre-pregnancy swimming costume and test the water. I was slightly apprehensive about the whole adventure as Alex's previous attempt at 'swimming' was not a huge success (I took him for a paddle in the sea in Mexico and he started screaming as soon as his feet touched the water). However, young Shercliff seemed much more at home in a warm baby pool and after a slightly nervous start was soon splashing and kicking around, whilst I sat waist-deep in the water, held him and chatted with two other Mums. In fact, he was so happy that at one point I looked down to see that he had his face completely submerged and was merrily drinking the water. Not ideal, but I'm pretty confident that the swimming pool water has less chlorine in it than the D.C. tap water, so was not too worried.
The most challenging part of the exercise was changing afterwards, although I had been reassured by the website that the Wilson pool boasted 'family changing cabanas'. Disappointingly, these did not feature a swim-up bar or Hulu girls, but are large cubicles designed to make things easier for parents with young children. Envisage the shower rooms in a British Airways lounge, minus the Molten Brown beauty products, but with the rather useful addition of a baby changing table. Undoubtedly, it was a bonus to be able to strap Alex down whilst I got dressed, but I was in rather a quandary about which order to do things. Should I get him or myself clothed first? Was it worth showering? How long can a 5-month old remain secured on a changing table before meltdown occurs? Luckily the answer to this last question turned out to be at least ten minutes - and Alex amused himself by chewing his toes whilst I got the two of us dressed unscathed.
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