Week Seventeen: Yay for Nakedness

Let me start out with a little disclaimer.

The human body is an amazing and wonderful thing. And Generally we, as Americans, do not celebrate the beauty of all body shapes and sizes enough. Americans in general, are prudes. A little nakedness never hurt anyone. So my basic philosophy is yay for the human form, yay for not being embarassed or stared at for breastfeeding, yay for feeling comfortable with who you are, and well, yay for nakedness.

That said.

What is with the showers at public pools? Why does it never fail that there is an enormous naked woman in them?

Emily sarted swimming lessons again, which is great, and the facility at Pullman High School is wonderful (a far cry from the pool where I grew up, believe me). But I'm a little afraid Emily is developing some kind of complex about public nudity.

And worse, I have no idea of how do deal with this.

Yes, it's okay to wear your suit to the pool (saves me the trouble of trying to juggle Will and get her changed). Yes you have to shower after you swim, but no, you don't have to take your swimsuit off. But no, you cannot wear your soaking wet suit home under your clothes. And no, you can't stare at the the huge naked woman who's been in the shower for twenty minutes.

But I stand by my philosophy.

Will's at the age where he loves being naked. The second I take that diaper off, he's all smiles, squeals, and screams, grabbing his feet and feelin' the breeze. This, unfortunately has resulted in a lot of um, showers. He'll be lying there, and all of a sudden everything's wet and I remember that boys are different than girls. With Emily, I could just lie her on a cloth diaper and she'd be great. But now, nothing's safe if this boy's not wearing a diaper.

Then again nothing's safe even if he's wearing one. We had a major blowout today. It's like he goes a few days with no poop, then, BAM! Poop everywhere.

But I should enjoy these last few weeks of inoffensive little baby poop because Will has started eating solids! So far he seems to enjoy it quite a bit. He actually sucks the cereal off the spoon, and doesn't spit it back out too much. We've only tried it a few times, but so far so good. And he also seems to like his high-chair quite a bit. Sitting there at the dinner table like a regular person. Wow.

The downside to Will getting nutrition from other sources besides me is that Emily wants to be involved. Doesn't sound too bad? Well imagine a five-year-old perched on her stepping stool so she can "see better", hovering, and talking to poor Will, who is having enough trouble staying focused as it is. The scene is very similar to bathtime, where Emily is, uh, just as "helpful". Needless to say the novelty has not worn off yet.

But I'm starting to question whether it will at all. Emily is just so taken with Will. I know the second time parent's biggest cliche is "He/She is such a great big brother/sister", which is probably true if you call not biting the new baby being a great big brother or sister. But Emily? Can you say overachiever?

The happy side affect to Emily's interest in her little brother is that Will is compleatly taken with her. He saves his biggest smiles for her, and it's so funny to watch him watch her. It's like he's studying for a PhD in kidology, which I guess he is.