It was the Bathing Suit

After a year and some of swim team and many years of swim lessons (screaming his way through at least two years of those), Aidan made his swim meet debut this evening.

There is a swim team uniform, that I, of course, forgot to buy until this afternoon approximately one and a half hours prior to the meet. (I am nothing if not organized. Well, okay, in all fairness to myself I did try to buy it yesterday,but my car broke down in a crowded intersection on my way to the store and well, that's a story for another time.)

When I brought home his fancy, schamncy speedo swimsuit, Aidan's eyes lit up like he won the Olympic medal. He's a swimmer and he looks like one too. He pranced and preened right up until we left for the meet.

When we got to the meet, Aidan confessed he was nervous to swim. I, honestly, was just as nervous for him. The mass of people, the popping of the start gun, the loud announcer - it can all be really overwhelming. My heart thudded as I watched him preparing to dive off the block. He, however, looked calm and composed while he waited for the start.

True to form, Aidan surprised us all, even himself, and took first place in his heat. First place to my baby! I was embarrassingly proud of him. I was that mother, cheering as I ran along the pool, dodging people along the way. I yelled too loud, was too excited, and loved every single second of it.

I was proud of his confidence and proud of his joy. After the match, I heard him tell our friends Christine and Dylan that he only went that fast because of his new bathing suit. Yep, it was all the bathing suit alright.