Huckleberry Ben

Maybe it's just me, but Ben's little baby sunhat always makes me think of Huckleberry Finn. I know it's not a straw hat, nor does he have a corncob pipe, but nevertheless it always comes to mind. So Huckleberry Ben is yet another of the many nonsensical nicknames Ben has acquired: the big guy, the big man, little man, booger bear, the amazing standing baby, etc. The good news is that as he grows up none of these nicknames will stick.


In other news, after much deliberation and investigation, Ben and I made our first foray to the pool this past weekend. I was a little nervous about juggling all of the various baby gear, not to mention the actual baby. I also wasn't sure of the exact baby-to-pool protocol: should I put his swim shirt and swim diaper on at the house or keep him in a regular diaper as long as possible, given that the pool is 10-15 minutes away? Is it better to apply sunscreen before leaving the house or should it be applied just before entering the pool? Can you take strollers to the pool or is that regarded as a majorly obnoxious, oblivious mom move? What exactly is a swim diaper and is it really any different from swimsuit bottoms? Would the other babies and baby Moms look down their nose at Ben if he was wearing the disposable Pampers swim diapers? (I feel it's important to note here that he was not wearing the disposable Pampers.) Lastly, if Ben poops in the pool do I pretend not to notice and casually exit the area, as I do when I walk Mortimer and forget to bring a bag?

Fortunately Ben did not poop in the pool. Despite all my anxiety, we had a successful trip. We hung out in the baby pool for about two minutes, as it was pretty boring (and it also kind of looked like maybe some of the other babies had perhaps pooped in the pool). So we moved on to the big pool, where we bounced our way around for a while. He appeared to enjoy the experience, though in a very subtle way. I suppose your first trip to the pool is a lot to process. But he was not at all fussy or scared, so that was good. We only stayed for about 30 minutes, as I wanted to make sure we left on a high note.

As with most baby events, preparation for the event was much lengthier than the actual event itself. I haven't actually done the math but it appears that it's about a 3:1 ratio (if not higher) in terms of time spent planning and preparing versus the event itself. I am hoping that this ratio gets better with age.