Truly a beach bum, Elle has enjoyed beach trips virtually since birth. Her swimming experience even preceded that...
Barely a few weeks old, she got her first glimpse of the ocean (amidst overprotective mommy efforts to shield a seemingly breakable newborn from the heat, UV rays, sharks, jellyfish, and untoward effects of the all-you-can-eat Bennet's calabash buffet).
At this point Elle didn't sleep at night. At. All. So we rationalized that she might as well not sleep at the beach. Apparently showing off her newborn bikini bod and flexion reflexes was effective because we actually scored (a few) nighttime hours of sleep on this The First Beach Trip. Of course there was the night Jay returned from a 2am trip to CVS with armloads of various baby soothing products, including something strangely named "Gripe Water" in effort to calm the fretting creature we had so recently added to our family. Luckily, the CVS employee was very gracious the next morning as I returned $57 of merchandise. I thinks he wrote "Purchase made in Daddy Desperation" as the reason for return.
Beach adventures continued, as did the accumulation of thigh rolls and need for additional seasonal accessories. Somewhere there is a baby photo of Elton John that looks strikingly similar to this...
Teeth came in with the tide, and crawling turned to walking turned to... well... full out running with wild arm flailing and various motion related sound effects.
The "dirtiness" of the sand is still met with apprehension (that's my girl!), requiring constant wiping off of hands, feet, toys, and a futile attempt to "clean" a sand castle. Alas, there isn't much left when the sand is removed...
We hope Elle never takes for granted the grandeur of the ocean, the sunrises we're awake to see more often than not, and the chance to relax with family and friends a little away from it all.
Going to the beach now necessitates a Suburban full of toddler gear, early am wake-ups, dinner at senior-citizen hours, evening activities restricted to whispering decibel levels after 7:30 pm, and hoping the combination of swim diaper and potty training will protect our fellow pool mates. Between mid-day naps and around-the-clock snacks, I think I can get used to the new regime.
