2012 Weekly Recaps (8 of 52)
It was a “Father of the Bride” moment. The 1991 Steve Martin movie version, specifically the scene of the night before the wedding where Dad dreams about his favorite moments of his daughter’s growing up (first day of school, riding her bike, playing basketball, etc.) Troy steered clear of this movie in 1991, while I watched it and rewatched it probably 20 times. So I had to explain exactly what a “Father of the Bride” moment was. But when I did, Troy wholeheartedly agreed that the moment captured above (sorry for the blurry cell phone photo – it’s all I had) was indeed such a moment and will forever be etched in our memories of Madelyn’s growing up years.
Backing up a little bit, Madelyn started swim lessons last week – without Mommy and Daddy in the pool! I think it is safe to say that she is the littlest and youngest one in the class because the minimum age is three. But she has been asking to take this class for months now, so we knew she was ready. She spent most of the first class on the edge of the pool because she was too distracted watching the bigger kids on the other end and failed to hear her instructors say that she had to specifically ask them to get into the pool. She also got quite a bit of attention from the lifeguard as she leaned over into the pool as far as humanly possible to play with the pool toys without leaving the edge.
In the second class, we were a little confused at her lack of exuberance. She hardly reacted to her instructors other than when she got her one-on-one kick and paddle time. After listening closely, we finally figured out that they were calling Madelyn “Aubrey” (I think it was the name of a little girl who was not there) and Madelyn did not correct them – nor did she respond to them whenever they called to her. After a few minutes of debating back and forth between ourselves on whether it was appropriate to step in, I finally walked over and told the instructor Madelyn’s name. THEN things turned around, with about five minutes left in class. The little girl who had remained silent through almost two entire classes asked if she could get in the pool with her foam pool noodle (green to match her swimsuit of course). And then Madelyn asked “I do it all by myself?” The instructor was shocked, but acquiesced. And THAT is what you see above. The most exuberant glee we have ever seen on Madelyn’s face as she paddled herself around her corner of the pool. I think she drank about a gallon of the pool water, but she did it! And she was SO proud of herself – and we were even more proud of her.
The rest of our week was pretty quiet as we all three recovered from colds at the same time. We did make a little time for cleaning and organizing, however, as this is how future Mei Mei’s room recently looked (the site of to-do projects and all other things that I generally try to keep out of sight and out of mind):
I’m happy to report that the room is now much more likely to pass a homestudy visit.
We also made time for a Madelyn and Mommy tea party so that we could work on our grown up conversation skills. The cutest outcome of this is that Madelyn now asks me how my day was every time we sit down to eat. Love it! I know I can't keep Madelyn from growing up too quickly, but I certainly will treasure these moments forever.
- Tricia Olson, 2012
1 comments
Loved that she picked the noodle that matched her swimsuit... So Madelyn! I love how much joy Madelyn finds in everyday things! Glad you are savoring each moment!
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