Splash

The fun thing about having kids I guess is that there' re a lot of firsts to look forward to. When they first smile (6 weeks) , roll over (9 weeks) right to when their first teeth come out (last week) and then some.

Today was another first. We took them swimming or rather, we took them splashing. Once again, I'm amazed that two beings who shared a womb for 9 months and are created out of genetic material that is Packrat and I can be as different as day and night. Jordan was quite pleased to be in the water, she kicked and writhed round, waving her arms and gasping excitedly when I splashed water onto her head. I love the cheeky expression she has on her face as she watches her older cousins cavort in the water.

There are no pictures of Evan for one simple reason. The poor boy absolutely hated the water. When I lowered his feet into the water, he screamed and clung onto me for dear life. I thought maybe it was the initial shock of the water being cold so I waited for a bit, let him watch his sister splash around before trying again. Some reaction, flicking his wrists in frustration and anger like "Why Mommy??? I told you!!! I don't like this!!!" So I gave in and figured I'd try on a warmer day. So, I sat there, watching Packrat and Baby J splash around while he nuzzled and burrowed as deep into me as possible. And when it was time to take Baby J out of the pool, that was when she screamed blue murder.

I suspect it has to do with new experiences that he doesn't like. The same set of reactions was seen later when I showered them. Because we were at my brother's place and he had no need for a baby tub, I only had the shower to use on them. Once again, Baby J was puzzled by the new experience but was game to get her hair wet, water raining down on her and tiny jets of water plummeting down on her. Evan however, clung and clawed, cried when I turned the shower on, slithered and struggled when I tried to stand him up to soap him. He went to bed last night with unshampooed hair because he wouldn't let me get close to his head and all I had time to do before he went ballistic was to rinse off the soap I had already lathered onto him.

Thankfully, he calmed down after that.

What I remember most vividly about swimming was that I was always very pooped after that. As were my children. I think it was helped by my bro's uber luxurious Ritz Carlton quality mattress. They fell asleep very quickly and were sound asleep before I even left the room. When I came back in to get them before we left, they had really made themselves at home on the bed. So please Uncle Mark, can we sleep in your bed more often?












Anyway, lessons from yesterday my son is very timid and fearful of new things. My daughter is gung ho and has no fear in trying new things. I guess, in her mind, if she didn't like it, she could always get angry. My poor boy. Now, I need to figure out how to make a braver little boy out of him.

But till then, we can keep trying at Uncle Mark's on the weekend and they can fall asleep in his big bed, which makes me think of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, by the way.

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