Saturday Swim Recap: The Daddy/Daughter Swim Meet
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Christine had a professional development opportunity to attend a workshop at the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History. I took care of Ainsleigh while she was attending. All three of us got up about 8:00AM and I dropped Christine off at the Metro around 8:40AM. Halfway home, she called and said that she forgot her Smartrip card (the rechargeable fare card for riding the Metro). An epiphany occurred to me at that moment that I didn’t have to be to the swim lesson until 11:00AM or so and it was only 9:00AM, so I offered to just drive her into the city. This was great. More time with Christine and she sat in the back feeding Ainsleigh her bottle. Double bonus because it was less work for me in the long run.
After dropping Christine off and about with five minutes left of the drive home, Ainsleigh fell asleep.
img src=”http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj138/passiton4life/Popeye.jpg” style=”border: medium none ; margin: 0.5em; float: left; width: 225px; height: 225px;” title=”Popeye the Sailor Man” /It was about 10:00AM when I walked in the door, I could put her down for a nap or try to feed her her solids. I chose the solids route. She ate it all by 10:30AM. No time left for a nap, so we sat down on the floor together and watch Popeye on Cartoon Network’s Boomerang channel. emI think having a kid is the best, because I can revert back to my childish urges to watch cartoons and remain justified that it is for Ainsleigh./em What was ironic is that just about all of the cartoon shorts were with Popeye taking care of his quadruplet nephews, “
About then Ainsleigh started grabbing for me and whining a bit (a subtle cue that trouble was brewing if I didn’t get her down for a nap soon). I asked her politely to hold it together until after the swim lesson, “hold on, it’s almost time to leave for the swim lesson,” I said. “ img src=”http:/> Things were great, we blew bubbles, leaped out of the water, up and down, moved around in circles, sought out water koosh-type balls and then came the kickboard incident. I have a feeling that this will go down as family folklore for ages to come regarding the kickboard incident. img src=”http://www.guzer.com/pictures/semi_car_rear.jpg” title=”Like a semi-truck, it hit her” style=”border: medium none ; margin: 0.5em; width: 240px; height: 160px; float: right;” /It all started harmlessly and subtle. A quiver of the lip, a look at me, a chattering of the jaw indicating a colder than normal body temperature. We scooted around for about a minute or two. It was a lot of fun. Then, all of the sudden, out of almost knowhere like a semi-truck it hit her. Ainsleigh began to cry, but not a whimper, a true, honest-to-goodness cry that wouldn’t stop. The sour face. The squinting eyes and the look of “why did you bring me here? I don’t like you right now” look of foreboding death and destruction that would befall me if I didn’t do something quick to correct the situation. I got her out of the pool and immediately administered triage to the situation. I had a bottle that I had warmed before leaving the house in the bag. She immediately settled down, but was still a little uneasy. We sat for about two to three more minutes and then the class was over. img src=”http://www.the-nextlevel.com/reviews/xbox/showdown-legends-wrestling/showdown-legends-wrestling-e.jpg” style=”border: medium none ; margin: 0.5em; width: 240px; height: 160px; float: left;” title=”Tag Me In Bro” /With Gary as the lookout for support when necessary like a guy waiting to be tagged in at a wrestling match, I got Ainsleigh changed, poolside. We then proceeded to make a speedy exit to the car, with me still in my wet shorts. There was really no time to change, if I wanted to survive the situation. Once in the car, Ainsleigh, within minutes was asleep in her carseat. No crying, no whining, no playing with her toys, not even the sound of my voice could disturb her. The time was 12:35PM. She was strongout/strong. When we got home I took what was left of the five ounces poured for her, about three or so, and headed upstairs like I was in the ER trying to stop a bleeding patient from dying. I administered the bottle and less than a minute into the feeding, she was out, again. If left to her own devices, she will sleep and eat at the same time. I then put on her rotating light that projects onto the ceiling and sounds of the ocean and autoset it to shut off in sixty minutes. She slept until 3:30PM. It was nice and quiet enough for me to get some grad school reading in. When she woke. I got her into the bath, right away. She had fun with the water this time around. I fed her solids again about 4:00PM or so and then by the time she was finished, Christine called and said that she was on her way home, riding the Metro. Ainsleigh and I picked her up about 5:00PM and that, my friends, is how a dad does it when left alone and unsupervised. Being Mr. Mom isn’t so bad. I quite enjoy it. But if I say that publicly, I may get tasked with watching her by myself more often, so please don’t let Christine know. Over all, I have to say… I’d also like to take a moment to talk about a new Web site that United Cerebral Palsy has developed for parents for over a year now. Since many of the people who frequent our blog are also parents themselves, perhaps you can help spread the word by posting this to your blog as well. Essentially, My Child Without Limits is a comprehensive informational and social networking resource for caregivers of children ages 0-5 years-old with developmental disabilities. It’s a great resource to learn about different developmental stages and quite possibly about different disabilities and how they can affect children. Also, the social networking compent of this site is one similar to a forum. You can post a question, other parents who have been through the same situation, can answer as well as professionals in the field who have expertise in dealing with developmental delays and disabilities. You can copy and paste the code below and host this image on your blog, Web site, emMySpace/em page or using the “Profile Box” application in emFacebook/em. I sure hope you can help spread the word. div style=”text-align: center;”textarea name=”textarea” style=”width: 350px; height: 100px; clear: both; text-align: justify;”lt;div align=”center” style=”text-align:center;”gt;lt;
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I got her ready to go, with the bag Christine packed for me, assuming that I wouldn’t remember everything, and headed out the door about 11:10AM with about a five minute drive to the emRobert E. Lee RECenter/em over by Rose Hill neighborhood. “
Anonymous
Congratulations Will, you survived another event with Ainsleigh – you’ll remember even though she won’t. I can’t believe you drove home in wet trunks as cold as it is there. You are a hearty soul. I do hope she learns to swim this summer so they can enjoy the pool here at the park. Our Board voted Monday night to do some major new State ruled updates soon so it should be great by the time Chris and Ainsleigh arrive in July. We spend big bucks to keep the pool going and only about six households use it. If we have a heat wave a few more do use it then. Looking forward to seeing the new pictures. You two are doing great with the website.BR/Love,BR/Nana
Christine Hull
I am excited she will have a pool to use all summer. Ryan is very excited she is learning to swim and wants to teach her to surf. BR/Will did a fantastic job with Ainsleigh and even though I don’t tell him very often, he is incredibly patient and caring to her. He’s a good dad and she just lights up when he comes into the room.
Will Hull
I guess this is where I can legitimately say, “Who’s your daddy.” and it is appropriate.