Bikini Baby

Now that I'm the mother of a girl, I know why they make bikinis for babies. It's relatively easy to get a squirmy little boy into a swimmy diaper and then a pair of swim trunks. Now, try to get a chubby, wiggly little girl, slippery with sun screen, into a one-piece bathing suit. I imagine the experience is similar to making sausage. The two-piece make the process much easier, both on mom and baby. And who doesn't love seeing that fat, little belly.

Last year, Charlotte was a relatively easy companion on the beach. As an infant, I'd tuck her away in a sling and there she would sleep most of the time. At times, I'd dig a little seat in the sand, cover it with a towel and she would sit there, under the shade of the umbrella, quite content.

This year, a trip to the ocean is an adventure for both of us. As a new walker, she loves toddling around. Every so often, she'll plop onto her bottom and excitedly dig both hands into the sand, then throwing it up into the air like confetti. When walking gets too tiring, she crawls. The sand must scrape her little legs, so she prefers to crawl up on her hands and toes, little bottom sticking up towards the sun. In yoga-speak, I think they call this "downward facing dog."

We're often annoyed by uninvited seagull visitors. They strategically fly overhead like vultures, waiting for children to drop morsels of pretzels and goldfish crackers. Charlotte enjoys their show, calling out "dog, dog," her generic word for any type of animal. She takes steps towards them, as if she might like to catch one. As she learns to run this summer, she'll be a great way to shoo away these beach pests.

And what baby can resist a tasty sampling of sand for a snack. Not Charlotte, that's for sure. She enjoys eating it by the handful, leaving her with a sandy, five o'clock shadow on her chubby cheeks.

The sand is fun, but the ocean is better. She loves to wade into the surf, holding up her dimpled little hands to mine. At first, she would strategically lift up her feet as the waves would slide in. But now, as the cool water washes up over her toes, she giggles and stamps her feet.

Pure joy.