Scenes from the pool

The pool officially opened this weekend, so I took the kids this afternoon for the joy they’ve been asking about, oh, ever since the pool closed last August. It was packed, but that didn’t bother them a bit.

Camille did the usual. After talking about putting her head underwater for 24 hours before we went, she decided she didn’t want to get her head wet once she got in. Until she was good and ready. Then it was, "Mommy, watch!" while she dunked under for progressively longer periods of time. As with last year, she made a quantum leap on her very first visit.

Last year, she progressed from "I don’t want to go into the big pool" to staying in the big pool the whole time and putting her head underwater for the first time. On the first visit of the summer.

This year, it was striking out into the deeper water. She started venturing out little by little (last year, she wouldn’t even go deeper than her chest unless I was holding her). Then she was going in deep enough that she had to bounce on her toes to keep her mouth out of the water.

She reached her limit, finally, and shouted, "Mommy, get me back to land!" Which I did, both of us laughing all the way.

Abby, despite an ear infection that had her crying with pain yesterday, was begging to go in the deep end, dive off the diving board, etc. The doctor had cleared her to go swimming, but not in the deep water where there would be pressure on her eardrum, which was close to actually bursting.

She was content just to get to go the pool — until we got there. "Puh-leeze? Pleeeeze let me go in the deep end!? I promise I won’t go under, Mommy!"

I stood my ground, and she still has two intact eardrums. 

Coming soon to a blog near you: The moms that don’t get wet.