The Daily Hailey

As I mentioned earlier on Facebook, we went swimming again today. We were well prepared, having gone yesterday, so packing up our stuff was fast. We got Dekker up and fed him breakfast while we put the finishing touches on packing. And then we discovered that schedules change at pools, and since the pool we were going to go to was attached to a school, there was school swim from 1-3pm. That was right when we were going to arrive. I wondered if we should even go. I thought the only thing we’d really have going for us would be that we’d be going to the same pool as yesterday. But that was out of the question, and we were determined. So we looked up some more hours, picked a different place, and headed in again.

Upon arrival, we realized there was no family change room. I’ve been to this pool tons in my life, but not in several years, and I had mixed it up with one across town. We had packed everything together – all bathing suits in a bag, all towels in a bag, all toiletries in a bag, etc. It was a real nuisance to piece it all out in the hallway with our hands already full of children. But we worked it out and both took our respective gendered children to get ready. Laela and I beat the boys out to the pool only by about a minute. And, you guys, it was perfect. This pool area was so much bigger and had less people. It was quieter. there was just generally less going on, which was perfect!

Dekker didn’t cry when we walked into the water. He didn’t have a death grip on Bradys neck like he had on mine last time. He seemed cautiously interested. Laela really couldn’t be bothered, honestly. She sucked my shoulder pretty well the whole time, except occasionally breaking off to suck her lips. Salty.

A lifeguard brought out a milk crate full of toys for us. I picked him a watering can. I know he should be able to pick his own toy, but it was intentional. I picked it and poured water on myself. I poured water on Laelas back and Bradys arms around Dekker. I then poured water on Dekker and he squealed happily. I passed him the watering can and he poured water on us and on him and really enjoyed it. He got comfortable much quicker this time around, and was splashing and bouncing in no time. After a little while, I moved away from the boys, telling Dekker that Laela and I were going to jump into the pool off the side. We picked a spot just a little ways away, and I stood Laela on the side, counted to three, and lifted her into the water with me. And Dekker wanted in. He was frightened, I could tell. He would stand on the side with his watering can, legs physically shaking, but he would kind of lean and fold in half and eventually fall into Bradys arms. We did it over and over, until he was standing on the side bellowing “Two! Four! Boom!” and falling right into Brady. He loved it. Once or twice, he took a bit of a face full of water and choked pretty hard, but even then, there were no tears. The most fun he had was “swimming” with Brady. Brady would set him up on his tummy and whip him around the little pool making boat noises, and Dekker was just full of smiles the entire time. They would arrive back at Laela and I and Dekker would immediately point back to the other side of the pool, requesting “sween!” (swim) We were in the water for about an hour and fifteen minutes before Laela was almost dozing and Dekker was noticeably cold, so we packed it in. Total. Success.

Instead of rushing out afterwards to meet another deadline, we went out for lunch. This was a risk for us, actually. Without sounding mean or unloving, Dekker in a restaurant can be a big challenge and, more for everyone else in the place, we find it easier to go through the drive-thru and eat in the car. He just really struggles in crowds. But we were having lunch around 3pm, so we figured it was worth the risk. We hit up a Wendy’s for some burgers and fries for the boys, and a chicken wrap for me. I say “wrap” in the loosest sense of the word. Literally…

But Dekker was happy. He didn’t fuss. He ate half his burger, and some fries, and drank his water without complaint. Granted, he had been working hard at the pool, and was a hungry boy. He had eaten a Ziploc of corn pops between the pool and the restaurant 🙂 Laela slept through lunch, which was actually pretty great.

 

We had a really enjoyable time together, drove everyone home, the kids napped, and we rested. It was awesome. Sadly, we won’t be able to go for the rest of the week, and possibly not next week either 🙁 But it was fun while it lasted.

Here’s hoping this all translates to the bathtub…